Feedback Sessions kicked off

We caught up with Dr Pieter Binsbergen ( Chairman of our judging panel ) at the Sasol Head office when he hosted one of the Gauteng feedback sessions. Entrants were in strong attendance as they eagerly looked forward to critique and comment. The chilly and overcast highveld afternoon was brightened by the upbeat mood of Dr. Binsbergen who defused a tense atmosphere with his honest and forthright comments.

The judging panel had spent the morning looking at a large number of works and were excited about the stand-out pieces selected to go through to the exhibition in Pretoria. He noted that it was encouraging to see artists experimenting with a range of materials and exploring the debate between “aesthetically pleasing work” and “ conceptual work”. Remarks were also made on the issues addressed in many of the works, which were of a serious nature looking at societal questions of past and present. Binsbergen encouraged artists  to avoid work presenting too much information which can result in “system overload” He suggested that audiences need “space to imagine” and “ too much information can destroy concept”.

Speaking to the technical requirements for entry he reminded entrants that  Sasol New Signatures is a prestigious competition and entrants should  pay attention to the entry requirements. It was disappointing  when potential catalogue works were eliminated as entrants had not adhered to the “hang ready” requirements.The top take-out of the afternoon was that presentation can make all the difference and must be “super tidy”.

Binsbergen ended on a positive note and reiterated that artists must “keep knocking on doors” and that the career of a successful artist will fluctuate. He mentioned cases in point where one year an artist was a finalist and the next failed to make the catalogue. Serious artists need to build on experiences and keep going. The Chairman now travels to the regions where he will work through entries with the regional judging panels.