BEAST INTENTIONS
Cameron Platter is known both for his animated videos and for the sequences of large-scale framed images that illustrate these videos. His plots betray a fondness for thrillers and film noir and are crammed full of outlandish but disconcertingly recognisable characters engaging in crazy capers. Penguin gangsters abound, damsels are kidnapped by rogues, large green crocodiles cruise the streets in sports cars and zebras hover above the earth in spaceships, presumably restoring a semblance of order to the chaos unfolding below.
Enigmatic snippets of text occur in several of the works, which go some way towards providing the viewer with useful hints. It soon becomes apparent though that we don't really need to be told what is going on since Platter's favorite themes are archetypical: the Goodies go up against the Baddies in scenarios of love, power and money. The animal protagonists cast in the videos and framed images also help to clarify the themes. After all, who can read a slick, green crocodile as anything other than cunning and untrustworthy, whilst an earnest-looking zebra somehow seems altogether more virtuous.
Platter's works appear uncomplicated, and if it wasn't for the scale of the framed works, (190 x 130cm) could be said to resemble drawings in a child's colouring book. This impression becomes even stronger when we realise that the artist has chosen to use that favourite drawing tool of children — thickly applied pencil crayon — rather than paint, to colour his work. But references to children's drawing practices end here as we realise that there is something distinctly sophisticated in Platter's eclectic appropriation of the styles, themes, and in some places, the titles of other artists. Two of his most prominent influences are the late Namibian wood-cut artist John Muafangejo and the French post-impressionist painter Henri Rousseau.
Platter describes his process of appropriation as a kind of sampling similar to that used by hip hop musicians. In images from an earlier video series entitled Five Easy Pieces, Platter has drawn Muafangejo's portrait in a manner that directly references Muafangejo's wood-cut style. He then appears to take the appropriation process even further in this same piece by depicting Muafangejo in what appears to be an interview situation with a somewhat patronizing tiger-like character. This work could be a subtle reference to a painful event in Muafangejo's life when his application to study at UCT's art school was rejected back in the dark apartheid days. Clearly all is not quite as simple as it seems at first glance.
Platter, by his own admission, is not comfortable with an overly intellectual take on his work, and yet his appropriation of themes and styles lends an erudite complexity that cannot be ignored. His work entitled On Set: Beware the Curves obviously echoes Henri Rousseau's painting The Dream. Both works depict a reclining maiden in a fantastical forest lit by moonlight. But where Rousseau's maiden is portrayed in the classic romantic style of his day, Platter's maiden is a contemporary African femme fatale complete with knee-high boots and sexy lingerie. She wears an ambiguous blindfold which may simply refer to the fact that she has been kidnapped or could have more sinister references to sadomasochism and sexual exploitation. Where Rousseau's jungle is exotic and surreal, Platter's is firmly rooted in an African paradigm with the whole scene being presided over by a sage Kudu.
Platter conveys his artistic message in a brightly coloured, and, for the most part, light-hearted manner, allowing him to appeal to a wide audience whilst still managing to slip in the odd thought-provoking message. For all their appearance of easiness, his art works are in fact cleverly conceptualised and painstakingly executed. Platter intends to start experimenting with wood carving and painted wooden sculptures as an extension to his present zany contribution to the art world. I’m sure this will be something we can look forward to from this hard working and prolific artist.
Jacki McInnes
Extract from: McInnes, Jacki. “Beast Intensions.” The Big Issue, Volume 10, Issue 103, February, 2006, Page 30
