pictures: cale waddacor the writing’s on the...

15SundayMagazineSUNDAY TRIBUNE

MARCH 22 2015

PHARRELL Williams is going to authorfour picture books, and the first will bebased on his hit song Happy.

The books will be published by Putnam,a division of Penguin-Random House,known for the Where’s Spot? series. Happy!will be filled with photos of children fromaround the world “celebrating what itmeans to be happy,” reminiscent of the 24-hour music video released with the song.

“I’m humbled by the global success ofHappy, but especially in awe of the song’syoung fans,” Pharrell said. “Mycollaboration with Penguin allows me tocontinue a dialogue with these children in afresh, new way.”

Pharrell is a writer at heart. Before hewas a household name, the 41-year-oldhelped write dozens of chart-topping songs,including Nelly’s Hot in Here, Gwen

Stefani’s Hollaback Girl and Kelis’sMilkshake.

In 2012 he wrote his first book, Placesand Spaces I’ve Been, about his work and“contribution to contemporary culture”.

After the release of his album Girl (andthe explosion of Happy), the artistchannelled his knack for sexuallysuggestive pop anthems into more kid-friendly, soundtrack-ready hits.

Happy appeared in Despicable Me 2,Shine was made for Paddington, andPharrell reunited his hip hop trio N.E.R.D.to create three songs for The SpongeBobMovie: Sponge Out of Water.

Next step: books for SpongeBob fans andtheir positive message-loving parents.

Putnam will print 250 000 copies ofHappy! which will be released onSeptember 22. – Washington Post

NEO MADITLA

WARWICK junction, the transportinterchange in the heart of theDurban, does not come to mindwhen one is showing the best of

what South African art has to offer. This is simply because, to a lot of

residents, it represents a noisy, crowdedtransport interchange and informal marketwhere you can get just about anything,while making your way to another part ofthe city.

Yet, if you look closely, you will see thatsome of the walls at the junction have beenpainted with giant murals by artist Faith 47.

These walls invite the visitor to seeWarwick Junction as more than just a placeof the noise of taxis and buses but a placewhere people come to eke out an honestliving to support their families.

Depending how the city’s law makersview these murals, will determine whetherthey remain or are removed as othersaround the country have been.

How does one preserve an art-form thatis always evolving? Is it is art or is graffiti?Is street art illegal? How do you make it intosomething we can be proud of ?

For photographer Cale Waddacor, 28, theonly way to do this was throughphotography, first on his website and now ina book titled Graffiti South Africa.

His book features pictures andinterviews with some of the local artistsinvolved in painting the country’s walls,trains and everything in between –people like Faith 47, Falko, Rasty,Mak1one and Mars.

There are pictures fromCape Town, Durban, Joburg,Pretoria, Port Elizabeth,and more. The book featuresmurals, productions, pieces,throw-ups, trains, street artand action shots.

“I have traced the history

of the movement in South Africa, as well asin the three primary centres. The book ismainly pictures but makes for a veryinteresting and informative read. There isalso a glossary so anyone who is unfamiliarwith graffiti lingo can understand whatwe’re all talking about,” he said.

Waddacor, a sound engineer andphotographer working in the film industry,also runs a website with the same name.

“I have always wanted to release a bookon our graffiti and street art scene. I set upthe site after my book was rejected around2008/9 and I needed some way to share mypictures with the world. I kept the idea of abook in mind and am glad that it only cametogether recently; the timing was spot on, asboth the graffiti-scene and I have grownimmensely.”

In fact, the scene has grown so muchthat even international artists likeShepard Fairey – who made the Barack

Obama image that was used duringthe 2008 elections in America – havebeen in the country to paint walls,

most notably in Braamfontein inJoburg where he painted a large

mural of Nelson Mandela.Waddacor asked graffiti

photographer Martha Cooper – the womancredited with having published the world’sfirst book on graffiti in New York in the1970s – to write the foreword.

“Martha Cooper is a legend. She’s verycharismatic. I was so happy to have herinvolvement in my book after meeting herin Joburg in 2012 and 2013. She soon saw mymock-up and was impressed.”

But as the artform moves away from theold days where people used to only associateit with Satanism or gangsterism, it has alsoamassed different names. Some prefer tocall it graffiti while others call it street art,mural art or even urban art. Waddacorlaughs when asked the difference.

“I know what you mean. Although I dosee a real difference – graffiti is more aboutthe letters. Street art is when people areusing stencils and putting up wheat pastes.Mural art is when people are painting large-scale pieces with brushes and cans. That’smy view, at least.

“I think of it as making the scene bigger,just like the different classifications oftraditional fine art, and music too. Graffitiwas once a sub-culture of hip-hop, but nowit has its own culture. Urban art hassomewhat crept its way up to become thebroad term for all of the above.”

Graffiti, like hip-hop, has proved that ithas enough innovative artists and stayingpower to keep transforming itself to stayrelevant in today’s pop culture scene. But,like hip-hop in South Africa, it is still veryhard to find women who are participatingin the movement.

“This could be because of the secretivenature of the work or perhaps there are alot of women out there painting underpseudonyms. No one knows,” he said.

But one thing is for sure and that isGraffiti South Africa will, at least, serve as adocument of South African graffiti.

● The book will be launched on March 28 at Open Plan Studio.

The writing’s on the wall

PharrellWilliams iswriting achildren’s book.You’ll neverguess what it’sbased on, writesJessica Contrera

‘Happy!’picturebooktoastsmeaningof joy

Pictures: Cale Waddacor

Picture: Geoff Brink