LookingOutwards-04

For this particular Looking-Outwards post, I looked at an artistic piece of Otobong Nkanga named Wetin You Go Do?. In this particular artistic piece, a distinctive sound can be heard from three of the balls. The sound is very carefully edited and layered in a specific way. The sound is edited to portray a part narrative and part song, with shifts between stream of consciousness and profound statements in English, French and Nigerian Pidgin, an English-based Creole language widely spoken across Nigeria.

Symbolism plays a part where each sphere represents a different imaginary character. The ropes connecting the spheres suggest networks within society.

I admire the simplicity yet the strong importance of symbolism behind this artistic piece. Additionally, the sound editing plays an essential role in conveying this symbolic message. The algorithms behind the sound editing is a bit hard for me to guess but I assume that there is definitely a distinct pattern between the usage of different languages and sounds.

The artist’s artistic sensibility especially shines in the simple way he successfully conveys a very distinct, clear, and “loud” message. The message can be loud without having to be physically loud by sound.