Update on Key Projects

This is a podcast where we talk art and art processes. This week I'll be flying solo, unpacking my research into the pro versus anti vax debate. I also give you the low down on an exciting project involving a youth and street parliament.

Transcript

Wesley: [00:00:00] Everybody Wesley Pepper here and you’re tuned into my podcast, Wesley Pepper’s, art Lexica, which is brought to you by spudcaster and baobulb. Thanks everybody for tuning in, uh, greetings to all my new and existing listeners. Thank you for coming. I mean that, I think. Um, yeah. Thanks for coming in. Thanks for tuning in, man.

[00:00:28] Yeah. Um, let's start off with, um, a recap on last week's episode. Thanks. Thanks to Ikaye for coming through, my brother. Really enjoyed your, uh, your energy. I really enjoyed the energy guys, a very passionate guy. Um, I'm sure you could have heard and really cool coolest insight, I thought it was really insightful how we described, you know, the behind the scenes, side of documentary making the technical side.

[00:00:50] I really enjoyed that. I also enjoyed his opinion on COVID cause he was really honest and I like the way he said it'll change. So I took, I understand you. I, and I understand what you're saying. Yeah, man. Um, moving on to today's episode, uh, I had 

[00:01:07] I had to move this episode up by two weeks. 

[00:01:12] Actually I was going to do it in a roundabout, uh, round about the 9th of July, but, um, My guests, my originally scheduled guests, um, there was a bit of a scheduling problem, you know, Blessed.

[00:01:25] I mean, he's, he's son, you know, his lady gave birth to his son and Zama also had a bit of a. Yeah. A bit of a scheduling thing, so I had to move things around a bit, but no stress, man. Um, I'll be. Yeah, those, those are two episodes I'm really looking forward to because they're all going to be based all around poetry, which is, I actually never done an episode, which is just about poetry.

[00:01:48] So definitely looking forward to talking to those brothers. Um, and I'll be giving you guys like, you know, I'll be telling you guys when. You know, when they'll be coming up, um, on my social media pages in those handles, I'll give to you at the end of this episode. 

[00:02:02] Um, so today's episode I’m flying 

[00:02:05] solo and, um, I'm actually going to talk to you about two things.

[00:02:08] Uh, firstly is a project, a really cool, uh, Action research project that I was part of last year with south Africans city network, and Ebukhosini solutions with Baba Buntu. 

[00:02:21] It was really, really dope, man. I'm going to explain to you guys why, 

[00:02:24] um, also a lot about, um, being by being part of this, um, research project also gave me a lot of insight to, uh, You know what I wanted to invite on this platform because we came up with some really, really intresting data and I would explain it to you guys, but about my, um, my role in it, you know, um, I was a creative coordinator.

[00:02:44] Um, it was really interesting. It was really interesting. So I would unpack that a bit, but, and I will also tell you is, um, give us a bit of a recap, which I think is kind of necessary because as you know, I've been asking my guests every single week about their opinion on, um, COVID-19 so I will give you guys a bit of a recap because I think it's really.

[00:02:59] And it's really something that I'm 

[00:03:01] really glad that 

[00:03:02] I started, uh, monitoring from the beginning of the year, because I just see it just growing and growing. So, yeah, man, that's, what's, that's, what's going to happen today. Um, I hope you guys will find today's episode kind of interesting. I hope you do, uh, I’ll be doing my best.

[00:03:16] Uh, yeah. So I'll talk to you straight after this. 

[00:03:21] spudcaster: [00:03:21] baobulb.org is a podcasting platform and a medium for storytelling. This podcast is also available on all the major podcasting apps, including apple and Google podcasts, podcasts, your life with baobulb.org, 

[00:03:39] Wesley: [00:03:39] Hey everybody. Yes. Wesley Pepper here again. Uh, yeah, let's get straight into it.

[00:03:43] Um, as I said in the intro, I'm going to be talking about two topics in particular, the first being the. The data that I collected so far on, um, on, uh, 

[00:03:54] the pro versus anti-vax, 

[00:03:57] um, top, um, theme that I've been asking all my guests. So just to recap very quickly, I've been doing that since the, uh, since the first episode this year.

[00:04:06] Um, and, uh, I've been asking all my guests right towards the end of the, uh, uh, of the interview, um, reason for doing that is because by that time we were a bit more comfortable and a bit more easier talking to each other. And I will sort of get an honest, um, answer, which is what I was looking for. And the information I've been getting was was, was a lot, um, that's the right word to say, but it was substantial.

[00:04:31] And, um, I've got, um, I categorise it sort of in three. Um, and the first one being the guys who was like, hell no, the, the, the guys in the middle who says, like, we don't really have a choice and the other 

[00:04:41] guys were like, nah, or like, well, yes, 

[00:04:44] but, uh, You know, there's always a bit of a, but, um, and I guess the, but there at the end of the day is

[00:04:51] I don't think anybody really 

[00:04:53] was like too keen to get like that jab in there. 

[00:04:57] Um, you know, I can't pick that up. I don't know. I think if, if, if anybody had a choice, they would have probably just said no, but you know, circumstance 

[00:05:05] has it that we don't really do. And that's part 

[00:05:08] of the reason why. You know, I’m doing this.

[00:05:10] And, um, most of the guys, what I, what I've noticed that the overwhelming majority, um, of my guests are working class people, you know, artists 

[00:05:21] who are working, 

[00:05:22] they've got responsibilities, et cetera, et cetera. And, uh, You know, we have careers and the career usually comes first. And in order to, I guess, to have a career, you don't really have, have a choice.

[00:05:35] So, um, most of them, um, um, well, we don't really have a choice and that's, that is, that is the vast majority actually, uh, 

[00:05:45] of that. I would say 

[00:05:46] they, they, they, in about the plus 40% of, uh, you know, uh, just over, let’s say under 50%, definitely. Um, but of that 40 let's just give it a round figures, a lot 45% of them, of those 45%.

[00:06:05] Some of them and don't have the, uh, well, some of them, especially 

[00:06:08] the south Africans, uh, I don't have an exact number, which I 

[00:06:12] was what I was trying to say. I like, like, we don't really have a choice and some of them are like, yes, we believe in the science, 

[00:06:21] but that's like, no, I don't really have a choice.

[00:06:22] I just got to work. And I don't really have a choice. The guys who were 

[00:06:22] I just got to work. And I don't really have a choice. The guys who were 

[00:06:25] saying no. Um, like, hell no, like 

[00:06:28] keep that shit away from me. Um, these are the guys, uh, who's mostly coming from a Pan Africanist, uh, black consciousness train of thought. And, um, these are the guys who are like, who's using 

[00:06:42] there history to 

[00:06:43] justify those because as you know, black people, black bodies has been used as experimental things for everything.

[00:06:50] It's not, you know, it’s for everything for years. So that's 

[00:06:54] just like, I get them, I get them. But, um, 

[00:06:58] Well, geez. I guess time will tell 

[00:07:00] a and then the last 

[00:07:01] group, 

[00:07:02] the ones who are like, yes, yes, yes, 

[00:07:04] yes. We believe in science and everything. That's like really the smallest, the smallest group. Um, and, um, I'm part of that group.

[00:07:11] I'll add actually two of my, uh, guests as I, um, you know, w when I was interviewing them already, um, were vaccinated or, um, One was and one was in the process of doing that. So that was also pretty interesting given that here in South Africa, the, uh, the vaccination drive has been, uh, very slow and it was just too many politics around that, but it is very interesting because what I'm going to do with all of this data is, um, till the end of the year I'm going to see, um, how people's perceptions and perspectives has, um, has changed.

[00:07:46] If they have, and I'm going to be sort of conceptualise the artwork around that. It'll definitely be a public. Okay. Maybe not definitely, but. It'll definitely have a interactive nature of audit because I think that's kind of important. Yeah. Uh, given that it is so important and like just my last and closing point on where I am so far in this experiment is that everyone is very opinionated about it.

[00:08:13] Um, everybody has an opinion out of all my guests. I can only recall. Yeah, no, actually only one. Now that I'm looking at his name that was like, you know, I never really 

[00:08:24] thought about it. 

[00:08:25] And the reason is, because I challenged them on that, was that they were never really, you know, confronted like, okay, I need to travel.

[00:08:32] I need to move. I need to, they were like, ah, I'm okay for now where I am. So I won't think of it. And it's going to be interesting to see how those guys perspectives change over time. So yeah, that's regarding the, uh, let's just call it the project that I'm running. 

[00:08:50] Um, the 

[00:08:51] anti versus Pro-vax project that I'm running.

[00:08:54] And, um, I asked a whole bunch of people, um, and they were from all over the world, really from, from Europe, from the us, from them, from SA, um, from Botswana. So a little bit from everywhere from . So, uh, I would say I've got a, yeah, let’s just cost the net and say I've got a good. Yeah. Pool of people I'm getting all those data from.

[00:09:19] So, but we'll see how far I get towards the end of the year. That's going to be really interesting. And I'm going to be asking, um, yeah, we're going to see how they're going to change and, um, 

[00:09:28] actually that's actually a good point to end off on, um, and moving 

[00:09:32] into my, um, Into the next thing I want to talk about today, um, is my, uh, the, the project that I was involved in with south African city network and Ebukhosini solutions.

[00:09:43] Um, so it was a, um, I was drafted. I don’t know if that’s the right word, 

[00:09:49] but I became part 

[00:09:51] of this project. Because of the work that I've been doing as a street artist in Johannesburg, 

[00:09:57] um, I worked. I was more active as a 

[00:10:00] street around about between 2013 to about 2016, 2017. After that, like, you know, things just change.

[00:10:10] And I mean, I definitely the last, uh, mural, uh, or it wasn't well it was a mural, but it was a mixed media mural was in 2018 that I did. Um, and that was there in Newtown and Andrew and I were still collaborating with on, um, on that, uh, 

[00:10:27] And, uh, yeah, 

[00:10:28] that one should still be there, but I know all my other murals around the inner city, I know that, or being worked over or just sort of like disappeared within the inner city, you know, like pollution and dirt, you know, eventually people paste all these posters over.

[00:10:43] And so they sort of like, just become part of the city's landscape eventually, which is sort of part of the, you know, the idea behind it. But yeah, I mean, I got pulled into that, um, because of the, uh, Because all the projects that I used to do on the street was to do with interactive was having people interact, physically interact with art and, um, sort of, you know, that was the experience.

[00:11:05] That was what we were doing was, was what was allowing people to come into the sort of creative space and enjoying the art and then 

[00:11:14] leaving and not ask them to buy anything. 

[00:11:17] So, yeah, it's with that, that I've got that I got pulled in and. Just to give you guys just a recap on what the project was. So it was a, it's a research project, um, that are trying to document the experiences of young people in urban areas with the aim of understanding their concerns, that South Africans, uh, You know what, trying to understand their concerns.

[00:11:41] Um, 

[00:11:42] and so you, why, or sort of understand why there's this gap between the youth and like the rest of us, 

[00:11:48] because as we know, um, and what we understood from the research there was that there's this huge gap because the, the, the youth and the youth are, uh, to, to be specific or. Well people from the age of 14 and 35.

[00:12:03] And, um, our research was based only in Gauteng. Um, it was on the east and the west rand, we asked, um, quote unquote, predominantly poor neighbourhoods. Um, but because of COVID-19 because the project was going to be hands-on and we're going to have like actual physical events, but then COVID, you know, the lockdown hit and we had to restructure everything and it was quite stressful, um, and exciting because all of a sudden.

[00:12:29] It's not like, you know, this, this virtual world 

[00:12:32] was, was, was, was, was, was foreign to us, but now it was our only way of communicating. And at that time, you know, I still left my apartment in Johannesburg, come back to Kimberly. And, uh, so I physically wasn't there 

[00:12:45] and, uh, most of the other, so yeah, there was all 

[00:12:49] of those complications at first, but then secondly, um, What I really enjoyed as I, everybody just came together teams.

[00:12:56] Okay. This is what we dealt with. How are we going to work with it? And what happened was that Ebukhosini and Baba Buntu. They got six uh co-researchers and these guys physically went out into these respective, um, neighbourhoods and, um, They, uh, they were in touch with the area's youth groups, uh, organisations and stuff like that, youth organisations and stuff like that.

[00:13:19] And, um, they literally went there and they asked, uh, you know, a bunch of kids between the age of 14 and 35. Well, I don't think there was anybody who was in their 30’s Um, not to my knowledge at least. And, um, but yeah, you kind of get to the bracket and, um, we will asking them a whole bunch of questions, but it was mostly around like, what, you know, what would they 

[00:13:41] change in the neighbourhood?

[00:13:42] What do they need? And. Just before I explained to the, the, the 

[00:13:47] data and how we collected that, because that was really key to this project was why we did that. And this is why I was so passionate about it. And, um, I was really, it was just very, very cool working on it and it’s, still ongoing is the fact that, um, we unfortunately live in a society where 

[00:14:05] the, the distance between the, 

[00:14:08] what the youth, um, You know, you know, between the youth parents.

[00:14:12] Oh, let me just say youth in government. Most of these kids have no, are actually quite, um, woke to the idea that their let's call it plight, for lack of a better word will never be heard by government. And they are, it's not like they okay with it. They actually quite angry about it, but that gap is huge.

[00:14:34] Right. So part of this was to understand why and how can, uh, a decision-making bodies sort of come down to their level. And that's where we use the creative or the creative let’s just call it application for now. And that's sort of where I came in. So as part of asking, because if you have researchers going, ask, going out and asking people questions about like, what do you think about government.

[00:14:56] I mean, it’s kind of boring and, um, young people got lots more energy than 

[00:15:02] not all old 

[00:15:04] people. I like to believe I've got more than most, but you get what I'm saying 

[00:15:08] and, um, So, yeah. So when these 

[00:15:12] researchers went out, um, we asked them, or  to sort of, um, give us feedback on how they see their neighbourhood.

[00:15:21] What do they think needs to be changed? You know, and things like that. But, and they did all that is, um, as artwork. So some people wrote poems. Very beautiful poems. Some people performed it on, um, um, like videos. Some people 

[00:15:34] took photos or 

[00:15:35] they say like, these are the problem areas. And this is what we think can be changed.

[00:15:38] Um, some people did a mosaic and they arrange a bunch of images, um, which represents sort of the ideal utopian 

[00:15:50] um, world or 

[00:15:52] that, that they sort of looking for. Some people did very interesting artwork as well, and somewhat quite graphic in terms of like what they say. And, um, it was under those categories that I looked at all of that and I had to catalog them and, um, we came up, there was three main, uh, Topics that the youth was looking for.

[00:16:11] And the first one, which I thought was really blew me away, which was also, I tried to carry that same energy through the podcast was a lot of the youth was looking for was gatvol of government just coming in and having parties in these neighbourhoods, which something, and that blew me away because 

[00:16:29] the level is, you know, whenever there's an, any event in the neighbourhood, it'll always be a party 

[00:16:34] a bash or whatever.

[00:16:36] And these guys wanted, 

[00:16:37] uh, 

[00:16:40] you know, they, they, they, they, they wanted events with this entrepreneurs where they can be 

[00:16:44] inspired. And then how can I start my own business? Who do I go and speak to? How do I access funding? Um, how do I get...