Progressive Art Three-Day Residency in Johannesburg

Today we announced the participants for our first residency in Johannesburg, South Africa, taking place from 03 February to 05 February 2017. Having successfully premiered the Progressive Art film in Amsterdam, Johannesburg and Cape Town, the residency at Ants will be the final phase of the film’s tour. The residency will also showcase photography from the Progressive Art magazine edition with a pop-up shop of the Progressive Art capsule collection, alongside independent artists from South Africa and the United States.

Screenings of the Progressive Art film 

Following on the successful independent release of the Progressive Art film in 2016; the film will be screened during the three-day residency. Filmed during July 2015 across two European cities, Progressive Art is the second docu-feature film by Phsics Media. Further screening details will be communicated through Phsics Media’s Digital Timeless platform on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Amsterdam - 30 April 2016 

Johannesburg - 16 June 2016  

Cape Town - 09 August 2016 

Live performance by Thandi Ntuli 

The opening night will include a live performance by South African jazz musician Thandi Ntuli. The solo performance will feature new music from Thandi’s upcoming album Exiled that is due to be released in 2017, and music from her debut album The Offering.

Solo exhibition by Nia Keturah 

During the residency, a series of artwork by Washington D.C based artist Nia Keturah will be exhibited for the first time in South Africa. The selection of artwork will demonstrate how the world is viewed through the eyes of a progressive artist. The solo exhibition will also show new works by Nia Keturah.

Line-up for the residency 

Progressive Art. The Film trailer coming 1 November 2015

It’s been six years of Phsics.Media and I’m at a point where I  no longer see the need to point out our achievements. We recently completed shooting our second feature documentary film called Progressive Art. The amount of stress that comes with putting  together these kind of projects always bears fruit, and that’s positive no matter how you look at it. Jared Soule met up with me in Germany to do something cool again. Our stay in Berlin was amazing. We met some incredible people there. Jared also touched base with Joya Mooi in Amsterdam. Without giving much away, I’ll just say that Joya is the star of this project. Progressive Art is comprised of a magazine issue, a film, and a capsule collection. The trailer for our new film will be released on 1 November 2015.

We’d like you to keep up with all the updates from our side regarding screenings and Pop-up events which we’ll be hosting all round the world. Who knows, we might be coming to a city near you. Please subscribe to the Digitaltimeless Youtube channel , or find us on Twitter @digitaltimeless or on Facebook Phsics.Digital Timeless. Blessings

How do we brand tradition?

                                                      photography credits: SA brand Okapi

I don’t want to approach this subject from a creative process standpoint. A lot of marketers tend to place tradition at the forefront of their brand communication. A certain French champagne brand has been around since the 1950s, but brands itself around 17^th century ideals. There are many brands which do exactly that, and we've come to accept them. My understanding of what tradition is, is that it is ‘the way in which things are done’, or ‘a certain way of doing things’. A grape cultivator has the objective to cultivate his crop in a manner which best suits his business. The grape cultivator can either choose to stick to an existing method, one which has existed for centuries, or he could ‘innovate’ and begin a new method which he’ll be credited for starting. To my understanding, the former case would be following a particular tradition, and the latter case would be beginning one’s own tradition. Both these scenarios are important to be able to distinguish because of the luxury industry’s present state; be it wines, chocolatiers, hotels, fashion, publishing, any sub-domain of the luxury industry hasn't succeeded yet at effectively defining what tradition is to them. 

Closely positioned alongside tradition is the notion of heritage. This is when a certain tradition is passed on from generation to generation. In this case, the grape cultivator has inherited all of his knowledge and skills application from his ancestry. Heritage is interesting because it’s a broad subject matter. I've encountered brands which define themselves as having an “African heritage” for example. To be fair to those brands, that’s completely acceptable provided that their heritage is in line with what their ideals stand for. Heritage can be overused, or understated. It can also be effectively communicated. But the one thing I've realized with setting heritage as a unique selling point is that its appeal tends to narrow the potentials of a brand. It’s more of a ‘core clientele’ prerequisite. There are brands which balance these two centers very well. But not all brands have a unique attribute to their heritage, and not all brands view tradition as their core differentiator. 

Perhaps we need a broader scope of assessing a brand’s legitimacy. We cannot only use tradition and heritage to validate the way a brand prices its products. We should also observe other dimensions of that brand. Critical aspects such as the provenance, the product quality, the technical application, material, methodology, design, refinement, and the brand’s core ideals, are just some of the differentiators which could be applicable, along with looking at its tradition. Luxury branding has never been this accessible to so many people. There’s a 2.5 billion middle-to- upper income population globally that’s just waiting to hop onto all things ‘luxury’. They possess the buying power, the tools, and the knowledge. But can they identify with what they’re consuming? Branding ‘tradition’ is like slapping a gold encrusted label onto an empty cardboard box. It’s really easy to be grabbed by the detailing of its packaging, but it’s still empty! 

Mabu by Ntokozo Kunene

A friend of mine recently launched her brand at the South African Fashion Week (SAFW) earlier this month. I’ve known Ntee for about 3 years now, and I can say she inspires me a lot even though I hardly tell her that. She’s currently finishing off her fashion design degree at a prestigious fashion academy in London; where she’s been based for the past three and a half years or so. It is through her ‘passion for fashion’ that she took upon this journey to pursue a career in fashion overseas. 

 Ntee burst into the scene last year when she was selected as a finalist for Elle’s young designer competition. I remember I had been in South Africa that July and the show was to take place around September. I got my invite through our ‘once in a while’ Gmail updates, but would miss the show because I had to be back in France when in took place. It was only this January that I got the news of the SAFW participation as Mabu, a brand which she has dedicated to her mother and to women.  This would be Ntee’s time to shine. 

 I believe that Ntee will accomplish great things through Mabu. She definitely sees things in a new light… a breath of fresh air through the industry back home. I also admire how she pushes herself; this is somebody who only started the Mabu collection late last year under short notice.I am proud to be associated with people like her, and I wish her all the best.