VISUAL ARTS
GRADE 12
PAPER 1 
NSC PAST PAPERS AND MEMOS
SEPTEMBER 2017

INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION 
Read the following instructions carefully before commencing marking: 

  1. This memorandum consists of EIGHT questions. Candidates had to answer  any FIVE questions for a total of 100 marks. 
  2.  It is MOST IMPORTANT that allowance is made for the candidates in many  instances: 
    • Candidates must be given credit for providing their own opinions and ideas  in answers. 
    • Credit must be given for lateral thinking. 
    • Arguments and statements must be well reasoned and qualified by  reference to specific factors.
  3. Questions and subsections must be numbered clearly and correctly. Bullets  usually act as guidelines to help structure candidates' answers. 
  4. Information and artworks discussed in one answer must not be credited if  repeated in other answers, but artworks may be cross-referenced. 
  5. Where applicable, candidates must name the artist and title of each artwork  mentioned. 
  6. Where appropriate, candidates may discuss both two- and three-dimensional  artworks in any answer. 
  7. Remember that many candidates will be discussing these examples, never  having seen them before. Markers therefore cannot expect factual, academic  information. They should draw upon their own experiences, cultures and  interpretations of the artworks, within the context of the question. Therefore,  markers need to be open-minded and flexible in the marking process.  

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR MARKERS  

  • This memorandum is to serve as both a guideline for markers as well as a  teaching tool. Therefore, the memorandum for certain questions is in  greater depth, as the information may be used as learning material. Other  parts of the memorandum may merely be a suggested guideline. 
  • NOTE: Markers are encouraged to reward candidates for what they  know, rather than punish them for what they don't know. 
  • Although the information for the questions is given in point form,  candidates must use an essay/paragraph format discussing their  information in a holistic manner. 
  • Candidates must answer all the questions in FULL SENTENCES or  PARAGRAPHS, according to the requirements of each question.  Answers in point form cannot receive full marks.

GUIDELINES: 
It is expected of the CANDIDATE to demonstrate the following: 

  • To answer any FIVE questions for a total of 100 marks.
  • Questions and sub-sections to be numbered clearly and correctly.
  • Information already discussed in one question, not to be repeated. If  repeated, marks are allocated the first time only. Cross reference to works  of art is allowed.
  • That answers will be in full sentences and paragraphs, according to the  instructions for each question. POINT FORM WILL EARN ONLY MINIMAL  MARKS. 
  • The use of correct art terminology.
  • The use and implementation of visual analysing and critical thinking.
  • Writing and research skills within a historical and cultural context.
  • Placing of specific examples within a cultural, social and historical  context.
  • An understanding of characteristics/peculiar creative style.
  • The identification of the professional practice of local artists. 

It is expected of the MARKER to demonstrate the following: 

  • Acceptance of substantiated reasoning within the context of the question.
  • Keeping in mind information already supplied above in some of the questions.
  • To mark according to guidelines supplied to the candidates above.
  • To recognise that this memorandum is to serve as both a guideline for  markers as well as a teaching tool. For this reason the information for some  answers is in greater depth and information concerning other answers, may  merely be suggested guidelines.
  • To reward learners for what they know, rather than discrediting them for what  they do not know.
  • To refer to the Visual Arts SAG document rubric (p24) as guideline to  assess levels of achievement. (See next page) 

NOTE: 

  • Remember that many candidates will be discussing these examples never  having seen them before. Markers therefore cannot expect factual academic  information. They should draw upon their own experiences, cultures and  interpretations of the artworks, within the context of the question. Therefore,  markers need to be open minded and flexible in the marking process.

ACHIEVEMENT RATING CODE 

TOPIC 4: VISUAL CULTURE STUDIES 🖲 

7  
Outstanding  
80–100% 

  • Demonstrates exceptional ability to respond to and analyse artworks in  relation to their cultural, social, political and historical contexts. 
  • Shows outstanding ability in the use of appropriate visual arts terminology.
  • Demonstrates extremely well-developed writing and research skills in the  study of art.
  • Shows exceptional insight and understanding and uses divergent  approaches. 

6  
Meritorious  
70–79% 

  • Demonstrates a well-developed ability to respond to and analyse artworks  in relation to their cultural, social, political and historical contexts.
  • Shows excellent ability in the use of appropriate visual arts terminology. 
  • Demonstrates highly developed writing and research skills in the study of  art. 
  • Shows excellent insight and understanding. 

5  
Substantial  
60–69% 

  • Demonstrates substantial ability to respond to and analyse artworks in  relation to their cultural, social, political and historical contexts.
  • Shows substantial competence in the use of appropriate visual arts  terminology.
  • Demonstrates well-developed writing and research skills in the study of art. 
  • Shows a good level of insight and understanding. 


Moderate  
50–59% 

  • Demonstrates moderate ability to respond to and analyse artworks in  relation to their cultural, social, political and historical contexts.
  • Shows moderate competence in the use of appropriate visual arts  terminology. 
  • Demonstrates competent writing and research skills in the study of art 
  • Shows a fair level of insight and understanding. 

3  
Adequate  
40–49% 

  • Demonstrates adequate ability to respond to and analyse artworks in  relation to their cultural, social, political and historical contexts.
  • Shows adequate competence in the use of appropriate visual arts  terminology.
  • Demonstrates adequate writing and research skills in the study of art. 
  • Shows an adequate level of insight and understanding. 

2  
Elementary  
30–39% 

  • Demonstrates only basic ability to respond to and analyse artworks in  relation to their cultural, social, political and historical contexts.
  • Shows little ability in the use of appropriate visual arts terminology. 
  • Demonstrates basic writing and research skills in the study of art.
  • Shows an elementary level of insight and understanding. 

1  
Not achieved  
0–29% 

  • Demonstrates little or no ability to respond to and analyse artworks in  relation to their cultural, social, political and historical contexts.
  • Shows extremely limited ability in the use of appropriate visual arts  terminology. 
  • Demonstrates limited writing and research skills in the study of art.
  • Shows little or no understanding or insight. 

MEMORANDUM 

QUESTION 1: THE EMERGING VOICE OF BLACK ART IN THE 1950s AND  1960s 

1.1 Subject Matter 
FIGURE 1a
is a figurative expression of life in the township that shows an everyday scene of people going about their daily business. Three women with  their backs to the viewer hold their young ones as they rush to a salesman’s  truck, to help themselves with the grocery pick and return home before the  turbulent gusty weather worsens into a storm that the dark grey blue sky in the  background portends. The fact that the women are moving with their children  suggests they have nobody to leave them with in their care at home, as the men  are out at work or minding their own business. In the background on the left of  the truck, a man holds on to the swaying stem of a tree that threatens his  existence, while on the left the milk salesman cycles while going about his daily  rounds. The chimney smoke in the houses speaks of the cooking that is going on  the coal stoves in the houses, as the occupants had no electricity. 
FIGURE 1b: The physical effect of the Group Areas Act on the lives of people is  shown in this gouache painting. People were relocated from the places such as  Simonstown and District Six, which were then classified as ‘white areas’ by the  governments. They were moved to new developments on the Cape Flats such  as Atlantis, Bonteheuwel, Lavender Hill and Ocean View. The new communities  were located in sandy areas without proper roads and they were far away from  jobs and town centres. This was part of the suffering caused through the  displacement of previously close-knit communities. In the work Clarke depicts the  experience of people having to walk to their desolate homes on the sand-dunes  struggling against the strong ‘Cape Doctor’ (south easterly wind) for which the  peninsula is famous. Three people, a young woman with a bag and a man with  a child are walking towards three meagre corrugated iron houses. 

Composition and focal point 
In FIGURE 1a three women and their young ones all stand with their backs to  the viewer, occupying the foreground with two trees, one visible on the extreme  left and one partially visible on the extreme right, all making the viewer appear  to be following at a distance. The central part is an open space occupied by  lean dogs represented in profile that are engaged in nose-to-nose threat play. 
The background is dissected in to two parts by the truck. On the left a house,  two trees and a figure and on the right, the cyclist, milk man, the tree and a  house. The set up makes the composition asymmetrical. The viewer’s eye first  picks up the three women, particularly the one in a red dress. The direction they  are facing directs the viewer’s eye to the form of angular truck rendered to  emphasise the use of linear perspective. The strong red dress of the woman  in the foreground attracts the viewer's eye as a dominant focal point which is  then picked up in the red scarf on the other form and the shirt of the man on the  bicycle. In this rectangular composition, the truck in the middle distance also  serves to lead the eye into the composition. The strong contrast of the warm  yellow of the earth advancing towards the viewer is very reminiscent of the work  of both Gauguin and Nolde. The cooler blues of the sky in the distance gives a  sense of recession of space. 

In FIGURE 1b the three people with their backs to the viewer are portrayed by  employing a linear perspective. This makes the viewer seem to be following  in their seemingly long and tired trudging footsteps. Everything is leaning to  the right, the sparse grass on the dunes, the ripples on the dunes, the tree and  the figures that speaks of the strength of gale force experienced. The inclination of the two figures to the left paralleled with the diagonal lines of the  sand dunes and the line in the sky all create a sense of rhythm that speaks of  a shared experience. The artwork can be divided into two parts; the creamlike dull greens occupying the foreground and the purple blues and whites in the  background sky. The focal point is the girl with the bag. She is not only the  largest figure in the work but the lines of the sand dunes lead the eye to her.  The houses confirm the use of linear perspective. There is also use of aerial  perspective that resulted in light colours and less defined shadows on the  smaller figures and sand dunes in the middle ground. 

The use of colour 
FIGURE 1a:
The painting is mainly characterised by the use of strong  contrasting colours such as greens, yellows, reds, blues and browns for the  different aspects. This is except for the woman on the left and her son who are  painted in dull cream and cream-brown. The figures are painted in strong  colours that quickly capture the viewer’s eye. The woman in the central  foreground is painted in strong red that links her to cyclist in the background. The one on the left is in strong yellows with her baby’s dress and head dress  being in red. The trees and their foreground from which they stem are treated  with strong greenish yellow that contrasts with the very warm yellow used for  the central part and background. The strong contrast of the warm yellow of the  earth advancing towards the viewer is very reminiscent of the work of both  Gauguin and Nolde. The cooler blues of the sky in the distance gives a sense  of recession of space. 

FIGURE 1b: In contrast to Maqhubela, Clarke uses colour that is subtle; mostly  white, cream, brown, grey and blue, accurately recreating the washed-out  colour of the Cape Flats on a windy day. The dark browns are repeated  throughout the composition in long shadows on the little girl and the man, and  the girl’s blown hair and dress. The yellow house at the top gives a little warmth  and may be symbolic – after the struggle against the wind, the simple house  at least gives protection against the elements and difficult social conditions. 

Style 
FIGURE 1a: Maqhubela creates a lively scene full of expressionistic colour  and vibrancy. His figurative expression of life in the township shows the  everyday scene of people going about their daily business. Maqhubela uses  strong contrasting colour which are very marginally tonal to render it almost  flat. He employs a dark thick broken outline to enhance the definition of his  shapes and form and rough surface outlines for texture. Maqhubela like Van  Gogh uses thick impasto paint that forms strong lines and winding  brushstrokes creating a sense of energy and life in the trees.

FIGURE 1b: Clarke used subtle colours, mostly white, cream, brown grey and  blue, accurately recreating the washed out colour of the Cape Flats. The  cloudy sky has been treated schematically. There is simplification in and  angularity in the shapes that shows an expressionistic influence. Everything is  stripped down to basic shapes as the sand dunes are, by representing them as angular shapes. This angularity is repeated in the sharply defined shape of  the girl’s dress and more painted rippled surface of the sand dunes. Clarke’s  ability create stylised geometric rhythm throughout the whole composition is represented in this painting. 

The atmosphere and mood 
FIGURE 1a: Energetic/Excited – Everything depicted is active and busy. 
FIGURE 1b: Sad and Depressing – Experience these people had to walk  back to their desolate homes on sand dunes, struggling against the ‘Cape  Doctor’ (south easterly wind). 
Accept relevant and insightful commentary, with substantiation. 

The use of the figure(s) in each work 
FIGURE 1a: Figures are used to speak of suffering that was caused to them  through displacement. 
FIGURE 1b: Figures are used to show how people went about their daily  lives with enthusiasm in spite of the odds. 

Artwork that has the greatest visual impact 
Accept relevant and insightful choice with substantiation. 
Candidates must score at least a mark from each bullet. (8) 

1.2 Learners to write an essay of at least 1½ pages in which you discuss and  evaluate examples by any TWO artists you have studied whose works reflect  ordinary people going about their daily lives in a manner that expresses calm  endurance of their painful experiences or an atmosphere of bustling activities  that masks these experiences. 
Their discussion should include the following: 

  • Name of artist(s) and artworks
  • Subject matter
  • Use of compositional devices 
  • Formal elements
  • Style and techniques
  • Message conveyed 

(12) 
[20]

QUESTION 2: SEARCH FOR AN AFRICAN IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICAN ART  SINCE 1950 
2.1 Subject matter and composition 
FIGURE 2a: The Kraal one of Preller’s poetic interpretation of Ndebele life and  culture. It is a modern painting featuring African women in a village. In the bottom  right corner, a woman with red hair walks toward the centre of town. The shirt she  is wearing only covers the top half of her breasts and the expression on her face  is solemn. She is about to pass a woman in a pink dress sitting hunched away  from the viewer. A woman’s face is very near the bottom centre of the picture, her  hair is either very unusual, or there are objects protruding from her skull. The  bottom left corner feature four women, none of them wearing shirts, with slouched  postures. One of the women is lying down in the street. 
The centre of the painting features a red llama-like creature balancing on an  abstract object, with a giant candle on its back and tiny figures dancing around the  flame of the candle. Toward the left of this oddity is a naked woman hugging a  candle that is twice as tall as she is. One of the homes in the middle of the scene  has large chunks of roof missing. The house to the left of it has flags and blankets  draped over it, possibly hiding more holes. 
The work is a visual universe of the exotic, exhilarating and strange – an ancient  African universe. A personal romantic vision of an archetypal African tribe. Still life  objects as elements of the central theme: domestic or household gods, masks,  patterned vase, shells, mangoes and eggs. 

In FIGURE 2b the fishermen are drawing nets. Battis painted a naturalistic scene  of the daily tasks of a group of African people. The people are represented as  anonymous silhouettes which is reminiscent of the figures represented by the San.  The figures can be divided into two groups: The diagonal line running in the left 
hand corner of half-bent figures with one standing that seem to be steading the  boats and in the upper part another parallel diagonal line of figures, facing the ones  below, majority of which are bent-double trying to haul the catch in the nets. The  composition suggest that the viewer is standing from an oblique aerial position  looking down at the activity, such that the flat blue tonalities of broken brush strokes  do not suggest much spatial recession, thus making the background relatively flat. 

Symbols 
In FIGURE 2a one makes observations of tribal life and rituals from the mysterious  surviving ruins, fetishes and symbols from the art of the primeval past. The village is divided into two sections: The foreground section that is occupied by women,  many of which are half-dressed and occupy the margins of the section and the men  in section at the back. 
The centre of the painting features a red llama-like creature balancing on an  abstract object, with a giant candle on its back and tiny figures dancing around the  flame of the candle. Towards the left the candle is repeated and enlarged to be  twice as tall as the naked woman hugging it. Behind it two other naked women sit  on the floor facing the candle. The candle is white and lit. It could be symbolising  the importance of purity and virginity celebrated by the virgins of the tribe. 
This is probably done before a senior mother sitting in the doorway who is tasked  with the duty of mentoring young girls to keep their virginity sacred. Purity becomes  the drum-beat of transition to womanhood. In the men’s section four naked men are  dancing around a giant phallic structure that appears to double as a bird’s nest. And  in the very top right corner is a giant egg, sitting alone in a fenced yard. The structure  could be symbolising manhood that is celebrated by men after circumcision. An egg  alone in a fenced yard representing how virgin women are guarded until the time is  right to lose their virginity – the egg hatching. There are many white birds in the  picture; there is a belief that that they are the souls of human beings who have  reached a high state of perfection. The bird is the freest of the free, the fattener, the  fertiliser. It is also known that Northern-speaking people never cut these trees down. 
Why? These are the trees upon whose branches migratory birds rest, when they  come into southern Africa at certain times of the year and birds are symbols of  sacredness and fertility. 

In FIGURE 2b Walter avoided symbolism that we encounter in his Symbols of life and Mantis man. 
Accept any substantiated symbolic interpretation. 

Formal elements 
FIGURE 2a: Preller employs a format that balances the horizontal and vertical to  create harmony, peace and unity in the work. The horizontal landscape speaks of  peace and calm while the vertical represented in the structures and the figures that  speak of spiritual and cultural power and strength in the community. He also uses a  hard-edged precise outline that defines the forms and figure which has a textured  soft thin for naturalistic textural qualities and stylised patterns. Preller also uses  strong contrasting colours; reds, browns, yellow-greens, white and cool pithalo  blues. The warm colours are mainly used for the forms in the foreground punctuated  with a few whites, like on the candles and birds and cool pithalo blues on the faces  of the walls. The background is rendered in cool pitalo blues to enhance the spatial  recession. 

FIGURE 2b: Lines-Batiss applies a relatively horizontal format, filled with thick black  angular lines that are shaped silhouettes representing the black fishermen.  Diagonal curved lines are used to suggest the shape of boats and the tugging of the  nets. Linear effects of calligraphic marks can be seen in his handling of the  squirming fish. Colours – Batiss used mixed reds and oranges for the boats and  nets to contrast them with the variety of blues that were used to depict the water, thus creating a feeling of three-dimensional depth.  

Style 
FIGURE 2a: The style is surrealist with elements and imagery of the real and the  non-real combined to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Intense colour and  distortion is employed to create a perfectly balanced palette. Stylised; sound  structural composition, with discrepancies in scale, particularly of the figures, in  relation to the perspective is used. The work has decorative qualities. Strong  contrasting colours are used and paint is smoothly blended in true surrealistic  style.

FIGURE 2b: Batiss painted a naturalistic scene of the daily tasks of a group of  African people. It is most probably a scene that he witnessed and recreated in an  expressive style. It is related to the fauvists’ decorative composition and it can also  be seen in the rhythmic spreading of figures in combination with the diagonal  curved shapes of the fishing nets. The blackness of the figures contrasts starkly  with the background in which the loose brushstrokes create the feeling of  movement of water and abundance of the fish caught in the nets. (10) 

2.2 Learners to choose and interpret any TWO works by any other artist(s) they have  studied, whose work has been influenced by African- /indigenous art forms  (1 page).  
They should refer to the following: 

  • Name of artists and titles of the work 
  • Influences 
  • Visuals that relate to Africa-/indigenous art forms 
  • Use of material and style 
  • Content and meaning 

Award marks for each of the two works as from 5 + 5. (10)

[20] 

QUESTION 3: ART AND POLITICS: RESISTANCE ART  
3.1 Learners to study the visual source FIGURE 3a and in a paragraph discuss how  this work reflects abuse and exploitation of cheap Black labour: 
In FIGURE 3a Zylla used a complex cast of characters to tell the story of South  Africa in 1985. Four young black boys are relaxing on sand dunes in the centre of  the work; then we realise that they are behind a dartboard with darts being thrown  at them. In the top left-hand corner, the scoreboard tells us the game is called  Killer. This ominous feeling is reinforced by the cast of figures who encircle the  boys. There are a lot of military figures who are attacking the boys. These figures  are based on model soldiers and include Roman soldiers and knights in shining  armour. On the left-hand side, there are parliamentarians watching the game. Their  desks are huge bank notes, the two larger smiling figures are previous ministers of  finance with their eyes blinkered by banknotes. There also skyscrapers made from  stacks of money and a large pair of hands pushes more money under the army  attacking the four boys. On the right, there are cars parked so that the people  inside can view the game. At the top are matchbox houses of Khayelitsha which  ironically means ‘new home’. In the work Zylla shows how money played a huge  role in upholding the apartheid system. Those in power wanted to retain financial  power and needed to exploit the huge pool of cheap black labour at the cost of the  labourers’ lives. (6)

3.2 Learners to study the visual illustration and in a paragraph of about ½-–¾ page  answer the following: 

  • Describe and explain what they perceive to have happened. 
  • Discuss the different aspects of the medium used and how they enhance the message 
  • How the title adds to the message conveyed 

FIGURE 3b was inspired by a news video that shocked the world. The footage  showed how local SAPS dog unit policemen trained their dogs by letting them loose  on illegal African immigrants from Mozambique. The dogs attacked three men and  probably killed one of them. The incident is a brutal reminder of how much racism  is still a part of South Africa. It is also upsetting that a member of the dog unit filmed  the incident. The work is an installation of a series of life size sculptures, partly  representational and partly constructed from discarded objects. A victim lies in pain  while a dog attacks him, while a policeman watches and another policeman makes  a video. The two policemen are monumental figures who are focussing their  attention on the victim. One holds a chain trailing a dog muzzle. They are terrifying  figures. The installation is accompanied by an audio track of the dogs barking, the  cries of the victims and the crude language of the policemen. The title of the artwork  is ironically the same as a pop song of the time. Bester reminds that all too often  in our society the ‘dogs are let out’ and those who let them out pretend not to know  anything about it. (6) 

3.3 Choose ONE specific artwork that you have studied that make us aware of the  injustices in our past and present. Discuss this works in detail (1 page). 
Refer to the following: 

  • Name of the artist and title of the artwork 
  • Subject matter 
  • Influences 
  • Media and technique 
  • Stylistic characteristics 
  • Success of art as a tool for making us aware of the injustice 

(8) 
[20]

QUESTION 4: ART, CRAFT AND SPIRITUAL WORKS MAINLY FROM RURAL  SOUTH AFRICA 
Many rural black South African artists have been influenced by Christianity which has  been combined with traditional spiritual beliefs and customs. 

4.1. With reference to the statement above, learner to analyse and interpret the given  illustration FIGURE 4a by writing an essay of ½-–¾ page. They should refer to  the following in their essays: 

  • Influences 
  • Medium and technique 
  • Subject matter 
  • Composition 
  • Style and significance of the text 
  • Meaning of the artwork 

FIGURE 4a: Muafangejo’s Christian influence started at the Anglican Mission  Station at Epinga where her mother had relocated with him after his father’s death.  His talent for drawing was noticed by an uncle who encouraged him to draw  everyday life. An American priest, John Mallory, suggested that he should study  further in art at the Rorke’s Drift art centre. Muafangejo trained at the centre  between 1968 to 1969. There under the influence of Azaria Mbatha Muafangejo  developed his artistic ability and preference for linocut, a medium used for  FIGURE 4a. 

FIGURE 4a is a personalised representation of the birth of Christ: In the forefront,  Mary partially facing the viewer kneels in a prayer posture on the extreme right. On  the extreme left Joseph rendered in profile faces Mary. Between them in the centre  baby Jesus lies in an oval shaped manger. Behind the manger two cattle look down  upon the new born Christ. In the background bending branches of vegetation and  angular stylised shapes and patterns punctuate these branches to create an  atmosphere of thick vegetation. In the work, Muafangejo’s simplifies his figures and forms to shapes with clear cut  white outline. Thus his style can be described as an expressive version of reality  which reveals a deeper insight into life as perceived and experienced, for instance  the scale of Christ is much bigger and older than a new-born which emphasises that Christ existed before birth. Another example is the ranking of the divine figures  where Jesus and Mary are accorded haloes whereas Joseph is denied one. In  combination with the expressive way in which he captured experiences, he also  created a highly decorative style with repetition of lines and shapes which then  resulted in pattern-like style. Through this decorative style he created strong  rhythmic effects in the contrast of flat black areas as discernible in the figures of  Joseph, Jesus and one of the cattle or lines seen in the positive and negative forms  for instance the floor of the manger, Mary’s dress, one of the cattle and the angular  forms in the background amidst the branches at the top.
Typical of his style, Muafangejo has provided a text in this work – “The birth of  Christ in 1977”. Since the work was probably completed in 1977, this statement  could be stating that completion of the work that year was at the time of celebrating  the birth of Christ. 
Accept any other explanation with logical substantiation. 

FIGURE 4b is a shrine figurine and is therefore supposed to be housed in a shrine  for religious purposes. The sculpture would be regarded as a power figure and the  tribal people would pray to her and offer her gifts. (7) 

4.2 Learners to discuss the forms and features of the sculpture that render it a typical  rural African carving and show how the posture of figurine speaks of its spiritual  power. 

  • The features tend to be geometric simplifications. The head is a simplified  cone with mask like shape of the face; big round eyes; breasts are sharply  pointed cones etc.
  • The head carries a head dress that is markedly pushing out into space. It is  designed to attract and concentrate spiritual power.
  • The neck, torso and arms are elongated.
  • The body is small as it is less important
  • The mother figurine is carrying a little baby on her back suggesting she could  be a fertility ancestral figurine. 
  • The mother figurine is kneeling in a respectful/and honouring posture  expected of an African woman serving her husband or a higher spiritual. Her  eyes seem closed as if in prayer. The posture could also be viewed as a  posture of a figurine expecting to be honoured in a manner of her posture  and offerings to her should be placed in a receptacle she is holding out. (6) 

4.3 Refer to FIGURE 4c: Credo Mutwa merges culture and nature which led him to  be defined as an ‘indigenous environmentalist’. 
With the above in mind, Learners to define the characteristics of the statue within  the context of the following 

  • Title 
  • Scale 
  • Site  
  • Forms and features 

The earliest written dated literal references to the term “Mother Earth” occur in  Mycenaean Greek. Ma-ka (transliterated as ma-ga), "Mother Gaia", written in  Linear B syllabic script (13th or 12th century BC). Mother Earth is a living Goddess.  This belief has been held by numerous cultures throughout history, and, in certain  traditions, such as shamanism, is still regarded as central in terms of both  philosophy and practice. In many of the world’s mythologies, mother nature refers  to the earth goddess. An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth, in the sense  of fertile soil – producer and feeder of nature. The title of the artwork derives from  this.
The artwork is a huge, broad sculpture of a woman towering three times the height  of the shrub where it is sited. This speaks of the size of the earth as a producer  and nurturer of life. The site of the statue – Shamwari Game Reserve adds to the  interpretation of the role of mother earth; produce, feed, nurture and  conserve/protect which is the purpose of this huge game reserve-conservation. 
Mother Earth has three breasts that represent birds, fish and animals on land. The  figure is holding a mealie-kob which speaks of mother earth, the feeder, the  provider of food to the land creatures. The skull she is leaning on represents the  ancestors which play a vital role in the Xhosa culture. The dolphin is seen by Credo  as man’s connection with nature and god. According to Mutwa both the whales and  dolphins were supernatural creatures and incarnations of a dead god. According  to Mutwa, the San were able to communicate with the dolphins by using a series  of clicks and other sounds that are close to the Khoisan language. 

Accept any other substantiated definition of the characteristics. (4) 

4.4 Learners to review the three visual illustrations and show how is the notion of  procreation is emphasised in the three artworks. 

FIGURE 4a: Birth of Christ 
FIGURE 4b: The shrine figurine is carrying a baby 
FIGURE 4c: The three large breasts which are a source of food for creatures  they represent (3)

[20]

QUESTION 5: MULTI-MEDIA AND NEW MEDIA – ALTERNATIVE  CONTEMPORARY AND POPULAR ART FORMS IN SOUTH  AFRICA 

“It’s very easy to say, ‘I could have done that,’ after someone’s done it. But I did it. It  didn’t exist until I did it.” – Damien Hirst  

5.1 With reference to the above statement and visual source, FIGURE 5a,  learners to write a paragraph (at least ½ page) in which they discuss the  above statement by considering the following:  

  • The medium used
  • The message of the artwork 

FIGURE 5a was made using the following medium: glass, painted steel,  silicone, monofilament, shark and formaldehyde solution. 
The fact that the main focal point of observation is the shark naturally created  and that all Damien had to do was to find a way of creating an illusion of it  being alive expressing a life-threatening attack appearance, invited critics to reintroduce the question raised during Duchamp’s times of whether ready mades should be considered as art and resulted in comments being made to  suggest that it was not art as anyone could have done it. Hirst responded, “But I did it. It didn’t exist until I did it.” 
The message of the art work lies more in the interpretation of the title within  the context of the art object – the shark in the tank. The piece consists of a  dead tiger shark suspended in a tank of formaldehyde. It is intended to shock  – and it certainly does – but its meaning goes much deeper. It could be  meaning that in the mind of the living, the idea of life after death remains alive  even though there is clear evidence of physical death, thus making physical  death impossibility in the mind. Life after death remains an illusion in the mind  and is represented in the physical appearance of the shark seeming to be  alive and its appearance conserved so. This meaning kind of pokes fun at the beliefs of many religious denominations. 
Once the initial shock of the shark’s presence subsides, you can engage with  deeper conceptual layers of the piece. 
This carcass is a raw chunk of nature, and yet there is something otherworldly  about seeing a shark in this highly unnatural context. The blue liquid emulates  the shark’s natural habitat – which makes for a startling juxtaposition in the  environment of an art museum. The shark is not surrounded by undulating  schools of fish, but rather, by museum patrons leisurely strolling around it with  audio guides in hand. It puts your senses on edge, and you begin to wonder:  is it museum-quiet at the bottom of the ocean? Inside the tank? On the other  side of death?
The shark is both ghostly and ghastly. Its glowing whitish pallor grants it an  ethereal presence in the murky formaldehyde, and yet it is in a visible state  of decay. The shark tank functions as both a casket and artistic pedestal. The  artwork constantly reminds you of two simple facts: This thing is dead. And  when it was alive, it could have killed you. 

Accept any other logical interpretation with substantiation. 
Learner can only be allocated a maximum of two marks from an answer on  each bullet. (4) 

5.2 Also with reference to the above statement learners to analyse and discuss  FIGURE 5b in essay format (at least ¾ page). They should consider the  following: 

  • Application of art elements and principles 
  • Mediums relevant to the concept 
  • Meaning or message 

For the Love of God is a sculpture by artist Damien Hirst produced in 2007.  It consists of a platinum cast of an 18th-century human skull encrusted with  8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in  the forehead that is known as the Skull Star Diamond. Basically, the sculpture  takes the shape, spaces (positive and negative) and forms of the original skull  except for the teeth which are real; natural ready-mades. The encrusting of  the skull with the diamonds not only transformed the texture from smooth to  rough but also transformed the appearance from frightening white to shiny  ornamental look. 
The skull’s teeth are original and were purchased by Hirst in London. The fact  that the original from which the cast was made was a ready-made-natural  and the diamonds encrusted were also ready-made reverberates the issue of what is considered art, as opposed to not art. As an art form, found objects  tend to include the artist’s output – at the very least an idea about it, i.e. the  artist's designation of the object as art – which is nearly always reinforced  with a title. There is usually some degree of modification of the found object,  although not always to the extent that it cannot be recognised, as is the case  with ready-mades. In this case there is discernible modification which in spite  of the fact that the title was just coined and says little about it, the work  remains Hirst’s artwork. 
The artwork is a Memento mori, or reminder of the mortality of the viewer. The skull is out of this world, celestial almost. It proclaims victory over decay.  At the same time it represents death as something infinitely more relentless.  Compared to the tearful sadness of a vanitas scene, the diamond skull is  glory itself. What looks ornamental, precious and long-lasting carries death  beneath it. 

Accept any other logical interpretation with substantiation. (6)

5.3 For this question learners may not use a work which appears in this question  paper. However, they may use a different work by one of the artists used in this  paper. 
In essay format, of at least one page, they must recall, discuss and  compare at least TWO works in multimedia which you have studied,  substantiating each of the following: 

  • Name the work/s as well as the artist  
  • Media 
  • Messages and/or meanings 
  • Influenced by which style of art 
  • Presentation (10)

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QUESTION 6: POST-1994 – DEMOCRATIC IDENTITIY IN SOUTH AFRICA 
In FIGURES 6a and 6b Thembinkosi Goniwe and Churchill Madikida critically deals  with the issue of identity as a social construct respectively. While Goniwe deals with  contemporary “unspoken racial constructs” that are visible today, Madikida questions  imposed Amaxhosa traditions that infringe on one’s freedoms. 

6.1 With the above in mind, write an essay of about ¾ of a page in which you  discuss how each artist deals with his issue in the visual sources. 
Refer to the following: 

  • Mediums used 
  • Style and technique 
  • The commentary these artists make 
  • Which one makes the strongest impact, with reasons for your choice 

FIGURE 6a deals with the “unspoken racial constructs that are visible and implicit  in our ‘Post-Colonial’ and Post- Apartheid era”. The Band-Aid strips are the  misnomer of the so-called ‘flesh’ colour. The pink adhesive bandages point out  that society is still white-orientated and that it is impossible to buy a brown  bandage. The works makes a clear statement of the deep wounds left by  Apartheid. Goniwe said, “We need to rupture white privilege and open up a two way dialogue.” From the work we learn that it was not for the racial constructs (symbolised in the pink bandage) that create a division between the two races,  that the two-way dialogue is very much a possibility. As ‘white’ Payne is dressed  in black and placed against a dark background and ‘black’ Goniwe is dressed in  white and placed against a white background. Both share a lot of each other.
Churchill Madikida is a conceptual artist who makes use of a range of  contemporary media such as video, photography and installations. 

FIGURE 6b are stills from his video work titled Struggles of the heart. The  video work starts with sound and a click of the tongue that speaks of the  Xhosa language. The stills show a white covered face of an initiate  (Madikida) whose creased face appears to have porridge forced into his  mouth. The stills also speak of him choking and forcing it out. His eyes are  pressed tightly closed in concentration and the mouth is wrinkled in pain.  
The consumption and regurgitation of pap is a metaphor for the initiation and  circumcision of young males in the isiXhosa tradition. Madikida’s face is  painted white, which refers to the spiritual realm of purity. The video shows  how the tradition of initiation is force-fed to him and how he rejects it. He  therefore questions his identity as an isiXhosa man. 
Learners to choose from the two artworks which work they think makes the  strongest impact and give reasons for their choice. (8) 

6.2 Candidate to choose TWO works done at a formal or informal  school and to discuss these. THEY MUST NOT CHOOSE THE  SAME WORKS AS ON THE QUESTION PAPER.  
Learners to pay attention to art elements, compositional arrangements  which show modernity or not, and how messages can be interpreted from  the imagery. (12)

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QUESTION 7: GENDER ISSUES 
FIGURE 7a is a self-portrait by the artist Frida Kahlo. The Mexican artist’s personal  life and history is directly portrayed in her art. Her work bears harrowing witness to  her own physical and mental suffering. Nandipha Mntambo’s work ‘Emabutfo’ on the  other hand deals with the representation and perception of the female body. 

7.1 With reference to the statement above and FIGURES 7a and 7b, learners  must discuss the possible meanings of these two works and how their work  pertain to gender issues and gender identity. They must refer to the following: 

  • Use of title  
  • Subject matter 
  • Composition  
  • Style and approach 

Both titles are directly portraying/depicting gender-related topics.

FIGURE 7a:  
Frida’s work bears harrowing witness to her own physical and mental  suffering after getting involved in a road accident when the bus she was  travelling on collided with a tram. In this painting, The Broken Column, Frida  expresses her anguish and suffering in a most straightforward and  horrifying way; she opens her torso to reveal a fractured column  symbolising her injured spine making the split look like an earthquake  fissure. The nails are stuck into her face and whole body. In the background  is the earth with dark ravines. At the beginning, she painted herself nude  but later covered her lower part up with something that looks like a hospital  sheet. A broken column is put in place of her spine, hence the title The  Broken Column.  
The column appears to be on the verge of collapsing into rubble. Penetrating  from loins to chin, the column looks phallic, and the sexual connotation is all  the more obvious because of the beauty of Frida’s breasts and torso. Her  broken body is supported by a steel corset. This is one of her most direct  portrayals of her suffering – she cries white tears an expression of pain and  suffering. Notwithstanding the portrayal of physical suffering, she retains her  femininity seen in her long loose hair and exposed breasts showing she is still  a sensual woman. Often in her work, the portrait is centralised to confront the  viewer. She places herself against a background of an empty landscape,  which could be symbolic of her life and yearning for a child. 
Her work is a mixture of naivety, naturalism and Surrealism with strong  Mexican folk Influences. Generally her face and figure is painted  naturalistically but the nails on her body and split in her torso reveals the  broken and the barren background that gives the work an aura of  surrealism. 

FIGURE 7b: The title of the work Emabutfo means warriors from the Swazi  regiments to the royal residence of the king. The title makes reference to  the cow hide moulds of her body that are displayed hanging in ranks like  regiments marching to war. The tail hides hanging from the sides in the  place of arms allude to the traditional hairy hide bands worn by both Zulu  and Swazi warriors. But the hides are not of men but of females who are  hairy. The hide forms become empty floating receptacles, at once beautiful  and repulsive. These hairy feminine shapes defy our notion of feminine  beauty. Their naked form reverberates nudity of the female form that is  seductive and attractive but the fact that it is hairy, it becomes repulsive.  The hairy skin cast in form, is used, to challenge and subvert  preconceptions regarding representation of the female body and to disrupt  perceptions of attractions and revulsions. Although the focus is on the  human female body and identity in sculpture, it critiques the politics and  aesthetics of femininity and beauty and is suggestive of the ways in which  (black) women are re-interpreting their bodies and claiming visibility.
Nandipha has developed a distinctive aesthetic through her use of cowhide  which she tans and moulds onto a casts of her body. She purchases the  hide when it is as raw as possible in order to engage fully with the material  – its smell, its textures causing revulsion but also provoking a  consciousness of the physicality of it. She makes plaster moulds of her own  body and envelops them with the still malleable cowhide that she has  thoroughly cleaned and cured. The hide forms become empty floating  receptacles, at once beautiful and repulsive. (8) 

7.2 Learners to write an essay of at least 1½ pages, discussing the work of any  TWO artists they have studied, who question gender identity. They must refer to specific works of art in their answer, which do not appear in this question  paper. 
The following must be included in their discussion: 

  • Name of artists and titles of the work 
  • Influences 
  • Visuals that relate a questioning of gender identity 
  • Use of material and style 
  • Content and meaning 

Award marks for each of the two works as from 6 + 6. (12)

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QUESTION 8: ARCHITECTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA 
“Africa is land under construction and local talent have stepped forward to shape  the landscape. There is a lot of very good indigenous knowledge on the continent.”  says Iain Low, professor of architecture at the University of Cape Town. 
8.1 Considering the above-mentioned, study FIGURES 8a and 8b, and consider  its relevance in its own time as an example of innovative architecture. Write  an essay of one page, in which you evaluate the innovative  accomplishments. You may include thoughts on the following: 

  • Principles of design applied 
  • Influences and creative thought 
  • Peculiar characteristics 
  • Aims and effective functionality 

The building stands like a sculptural beacon giving a special identity to the  site. The ground floor provides 106 square meters of gallery space. A metal  fire escape which is separate from the building leads down from the top  floor. It allows for creepers to be grown up its length which connects the  building to nature aesthetically as well as improving the supply of oxygen.
There is an adjoining deck which offers views of Jan Smuts Avenue and the  surrounding leafy suburbs. The five hundred tall aluminium slats which form  the spiral are fourteen meters high and totally encase the three-storey  building. 
The building has a dramatic spiral shape and together with the illumination  at night was designed to attract passers-by. 
Further eco-friendly factors are the electricity produced by means of voltaic  panels. Solar heating is used to heat the water. Rainwater is harvested and  used for everything, except for drinking. (8) 
8.2 In an essay of approximately 1½ pages, learners to clearly analyse TWO  commemorative structures a South African architect/s. Discuss the shapes,  materials and design which place them in a category of outstanding impact. 
The following aspects may well be relevant: 

  • Names of architects/companies and buildings 
  • Special features 
  • Peculiar materials, technology and design 
  • Ecological considerations 
  • Environmental issues 
  • Functionality (12)

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TOTAL: 100

Last modified on Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:13