An interview with Nicholas Hlobo on 23 June 2010, before the beginning of his mentoring year with Anish Kapoor.
At what age did you become interested in the visual arts?
There were no art or drawing classes in my primary school in Transkei [a homeland in South Africa for Xhosa people], but when I was eight or nine years old I was already drawing, either on the blackboard for teachers or in my books. At the age of 11, people started saying to me: “You’re an artist.” I asked them: “What’s that?”
Was there a defining moment in your youth when you decided that you wanted to be an artist?
Actually in primary and junior secondary school I was in the choir. I wanted to get into music. I even wrote to the University of Natal to ask for a prospectus for music studies. Then I came to Johannesburg with an idea of taking a short cut into music and tried to get into a band. But I realised that it wasn't as easy as I thought it was. So I just let it lie. I started working to earn a living, and from 1996 to 1998 I had a boring job at a cement factory. I got employed as a pre-set scales attendant i.e. weighing cement bags. In every spare moment I was doing sketches. Some of my colleagues there saw the sketches. They told me: “You’re in the wrong place.” By 1998, I decided I had to do something different with my life. It was clear I was interested in something creative, so I started studying fine arts the following year. At first I thought it was going to be a way of preparing myself for a career in the film industry.
What words would you use to describe your artistic vision?
All I can say is that I want to make each work better than the previous one. Quality is important. Being South African, and coming from a country that is often described as the third world, we have to show that we are proud of our country and create art that demonstrates this. The Xhosa culture [about 8 million South Africans are Xhosa, including Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu] is not respected as much as it deserves. Referencing the Xhosa culture is a way of telling a story, a South African/human story that many have told before, in a way that is fresh. In doing so, I elevate the status of the language that many in the world are not familiar with. Thus introducing isiXhosa [the Xhosa language] into high culture and art. The subjects I deal with in my works are not uniquely South African.
You often use rubber in your sculptures. Why?
The use of rubber is non-conventional. At the institute where I trained, our lecturers impressed on how art-making was not about convention. You need courage to use new materials and you need courage to come up with new ideas. I like using rubber, particularly the inner tube of tyres. They’re related to many aspects of culture and all sorts of references in human life. Rubber is protective, but it’s also stubborn and strong. Somehow it is an ambiguous material and relates to the human body and how men evolved when one thinks of industrialization. In Xhosa, inner tyre tube is called ithumbu lemoto which translates as the intestine of the car.
In your performance/sculptures too you show courage, particularly the one in which you dress yourself in rubber, ties, a hump and a biker’s jacket and you wear a mask of gauze.
Yes, that is called Igqirha Lendlela, which means Doctor of the Road. Igqirha lendlela referenced a Xhosa folk song, popularly known as the click song that got popularized by Miriam Makeba. In this piece, I address ideas around identity and how it can be related to the baggage we carry around all the time. I've taken a break from performances because, though I enjoy it, it takes a lot of emotional preparation. The last time I performed Thoba utsale umnxeba at ICA, Boston, I wept afterwards. When performing, I go into the character. And, yes, courage is essential. To be an artist, I need to be audacious. My grandmother raised me and she told me: “The world is hard, you need to be strong.” If you’re lukewarm, no one will believe you. It’s like a ballerina dancing – it looks graceful and beautiful, but she is working hard. That’s what art is like.
On average, how long do you spend creating a work of art?
It varies, I might work on a small sculpture for three or four weeks, but another work might take six months to complete. It depends on how difficult it is to translate the idea into a sketch and then a sculpture. I don’t make just for the sake of making. I critique myself. Once you graduate from university, you are all on your own. Some people who come into your studio don’t tell you the truth, so I have learned to play my own devil. Plus the work is very labour-intensive.
Did you know much about Anish Kapoor before being invited to apply for the mentorship?
Yes, we studied him at several points in my university studies. His work is great. In 2004, I did a residency in the Netherlands, and I saw some of Kapoor’s work at the De Pont Museum [in Tilburg]. What was interesting in his work there was what was concealed from the eye. It was very thought-provoking.
What happened when Anish Kapoor met you during the process of choosing his protégé?
Meeting Anish Kapoor was very good. Before I went to meet him, I had decided to simply be myself and to take the opportunity to learn a little about him. He was interesting and exciting, and very comfortable and confident as an artist. He asked why I wanted to become a protégé when I clearly had found a direction for my art. I explained that people in South Africa thought I had got what I wanted. But I felt personally that I had not achieved what I was looking for – that would take a lifetime. I wanted to learn wisdom from those like him who have a better understanding of the art world and of creating art.
Does your artistic vision have much in common with that of your mentor?
There are things we have in common. I feel he doesn't want to limit himself at all. And there are differences too. His works have the feel that they are untouched by human hands. In mine, you can see the work of the hand everywhere. His works look well polished, while mine are rugged and rough, I depict an ugly beauty. It will be an unforgettable experience to see what happens during this year of working with him.