In Line, an MFA exhibition by Mark Farmer, will be opened at the Alumni
Gallery in the Albany History Museum at 17h30, Friday 3 February by Prof.
Dominic Thorburn. The exhibition will be open until 3 March, 10am - 4pm and
there will be two exhibition walkabouts by the artist on Thursday 9 February
and Friday 10 February at 3pm.
 
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Brief overview by Ms Tanya Poole, Senior Lecturer in Painting

In a boarding school, a certain amount of discipline needs to be maintained
so that the machinery of regulation is well-oiled. Wake-Up Call is at a
certain hour, as is Lights-Out. Meals are eaten at particular times, rules
are enforced throughout the day and a uniform is crucial. It is not
surprising that minor infractions are always occurring: beds aren't made
neatly enough, illicit food is smuggled into classrooms, boys are late,
untidy and cheeky, their hair is messy and their ties crooked.

While the thought of this rigid system of regulation will make many of us
shudder, a clear look at our social behaviour reveals a not too dissimilar
system in place. It is vital that, whilst living within a system of
conventions, these conventions are challenged and rebelled against. It is
this that allows us to both progress with new ideas and to leave behind
those that no longer work. It also allows us the space to nurture our sense
of individuality and the uniqueness of our contributions.

Mark Farmer is presenting his Master in Fine Art submission, In Line. Farmer
is a 'stooge' (a student assistant who works at a school in exchange for
board and lodging) at Kingswood College High School in Grahamstown, a
boarding school for boys. Critically engaged in looking at the systems of
discipline, self-policing and hierarchy, of which he is part, Farmer has
produced three series of work which hold together and read off of each other
to comprise In Line. 

In Line (the smaller series which gives its title to the exhibition as a
whole) is a series of seven small, to-scale paintings of school ties being
worn by learners. The faces are cropped off so that our only clue to the
wearer's individuality is the manner in which the tie is worn. The medium is
handled tightly, and every detail strictly noted. In direct contrast to In
Line is Leap, seven large scale paintings of uniformed bodies in what
appears to be mid-leap. The medium here is handled with a fluidity and
freedom. While most of these images seem to indicate a bunking out leap
towards freedom, there also exists an ambiguity in the reading; at least one
of the bodies seems to be dangling rather than jumping. 

Farmer does not only work with the boys themselves as uniformed beings. In
his third series, Belongings, a set of charcoal drawings on Fabriano paper,
he has taken note, in their identical cubicles, of the possessions of the
boys, which become stand-ins for their bodies: a precariously balanced bag,
a tight-locked metal trunk, a dog-eared pile of books. These are moving and
quietly observed moments, and careful counterpoints to the images in the two
oil paint series. 

In Line presents us with questions not only about the efficacy of
institutional regulation, but about the nature of community versus
individuality. It appears that it is in direct proportion that as much as we
need to control, we seek to transgress.

Dominic Thorburn

Professor and Head of Department

Fine Art Department

Rhodes University

PO Box 94

Grahamstown 6140

South Africa


Work: (+27) 046 6038193/4

Cell:     (+27) 0828099107

Fax:      (+27) 046 6224349

e-mail: d.thorburn@ru.ac.za