Peripheral Thinking
The project began with an invitation to show a selection of my work in a museum in Beijing. Curiosity, flattery are part of the equation. What is it in my work that would interest people there? I wanted both to find a link to it and to make a work that would refer to this question. Drawing, film, performance, posters, sculptures – all was possible, everything was open. The project began as many do with a distracted reading and looking. I read the books of Lu Xun, a modernist whose sensibility placed him with Japanese writer Aktagawa and European writers in the tradition of the absurd modern like Gogol and Kafka. Books of revolutionary posters. Here the language pulled me in, the exhortations, the instructions, the clamour of incredible and unstoppable enthusiasm.
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+ Credits
Notes Towards a Model Opera
2015
3-channel HD video projection
11 min 22 sec
Choreography and dancer
Dada Masilo
Music composition and arrangement
Philip Miller
Additional music composition
Johannes Serekeho
with music performed by First St John Brass Band
Video editing and construction
Zana Marovic
Janus Fouché
Bham Ntabeni, Moses Moeta
Tlale Makhene, Thato Motlhaolwa
Trombone
Dan Selsick
Trumpet and Spoons
Adam Howard
Tuba
George Fombe
Guitar
Charles Knighten-Pullen
Stroh Violin
Waldo Alexander
Bham Ntabeni,Thato Mothlaolwa
Thabani, Edwin Ntuli
Members of First St John Brass Band
Members of African Immanuel
Making
The model operas were theatre pieces exemplary in revolutionary content, the form of the Peking operas re-worked with revolutionary stories: through passionate song, speech or dance, a peasant, a young soldier, a young communist, roused their fellows to fight the Kuomintang or the Japanese. There is singing, ballet or martial arts with its precise percussion. Many red flags are waved, the enemy is defeated, and then there is a singing of the Internationale. Seeing these films of the opera started the project.
It was the model operas that held me. A notebook was begun with the inscription Notes Towards a Model Opera. The work on the project itself began with a morning’s improvisation with Dada Masilo, a South African dancer with whom I had worked before. We watched some of the films of the model operas. In the first hour on the dance floor, there were strangenesses, unexpected connections and collisions in the dance, and the dance in relation to the music from the model operas, of music from the 1950’s, African colonial dance bands. It was already clear the project could not be abandoned – even though it was unclear (as it is still unclear now) what the final piece would be.
Notes Towards a Model Opera
Three channel film installation
Installation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks FilmStill from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks FilmInstallation view, "William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance", Marian Goodman Gallery London, September 2015
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks FilmStill from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks FilmStill from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks Film
Drawings
- Drawings for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Bird in Flight)2015Indian ink on found pages31.5 x 43.5 cm
17094Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Eight Abstract Birds)2015Indian ink on found pages90 x 80 cm
17095Kentridge - In Mockery of Progress2015Red watercolor on found pages90 x 380 cm
17096Kentridge1 - In Mockery of Progress2015Red watercolor on found pages90 x 380 cm
17096Kentridge2 - Less Brocade on the Jacket2015Digital prints on found pages80 x 350 cm
17097Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Abstract Bird II)2015Indian ink on found pages90 x 130 cm
17098Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Torn Bird)2015Ink on found paper21 x 17 cm
17099Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Bird II)2015Indian ink on found page21.5 x 17.2 cm
17101Kentridge - Untitled (Listen for the Echo)2015Indian ink on dictionary pages380 x 215 cm
Listen for the Echo WK_15_135_Iris MGG london_2056 - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Cast Out Fear)2015Indian ink on found paper327.5 x 187.5 cm
Cast Out Fear - Good Vegetables and Exemplary Deeds2014Indian ink and red pencil on found text231 x 252 cm
Good Vegetables and Exemplary Deeds - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Journal Officiel I)2015Indian ink on dictionary pages363.5 x 191.5 cm
WK_14_122_drawing_MG_3921 - Untitled (White Iris)2014Indian ink on dictionary pages346 x 250 cm
Large Iris NTMO - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Journal Officiel II)2015Indian ink on Century Dictionary pages333 x 187 cm
Journal Officiel II - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Flowers in Vase I)2015Indian ink and red pencil on found text (FM - WIP can get more detail from Philip Tinari)98 x 72.5 cm
WK_15_124_Drawing_7564 copy - Untitled (Preserve the 16 Private Thoughts)2014Indian ink on found paper296 x 252 cm
WK_15_125_Flowers_Draw_3214 - Untitled (Mao Zedong II)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6256 - Untitled (Bird on Branch)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6264 - Untitled (Mao Zedong I)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6273 - Seize the Ego2015Indian ink on found encycolpaedia pages29 x 210 cm
WK_16_148_texts_7892 - Eat Bitterness2014Indian ink on found text297 x 143.5 cm
Eat Bitterness - Long, Long, Long Live the 4 Modernisations2014Indian ink, red pencil and digital print on found text pages342 x 176 cm
7b WK_Draw_14_111_5326 copy - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Bird I)2015Indian ink on found page23.2 x 16 cm
17102Kentridge - Sharpen Your Philosophy2014Indian ink, red pencil and digital print on found pages310 x 178.5 cm
Sharpen Your Philosophy - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Mort Aux Voleurs)2015Indian ink, Digital print and Collage on found paper104.5 x 73 cm
WK_15_127_Draw_9124 Crop - Untitled (Sparrow on Branch)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6269
Sculpture
Side view, "Head (Model Opera)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 6
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureInstallation view, "Head (Model Opera)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 6
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureSide view, "Head (Brushwork 1)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 4
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureInstallation view, "Head (Brushwork 1)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 4
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureSide view, "Head (Brushwork 2)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 4
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureInstallation view, "Head (Brushwork 2)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 4
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks Sculpture
Prints
Tapestries
Exhibitions
Installation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks ExhibitionsInstallation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks ExhibitionsInstallation view, "William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance", Marian Goodman Gallery London, September 2015
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks ExhibitionsInstallation view, "William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance", Marian Goodman Gallery London, September 2015
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks ExhibitionsInstallation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera" retrospective, UCCA Beijing, June 2015
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks ExhibitionsInstallation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera" retrospective, UCCA Beijing, June 2015
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks ExhibitionsInstallation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera" retrospective, UCCA Beijing, June 2015
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks ExhibitionsDetail, "Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Journal Officiel II)" 2015, Indian ink on found paper
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks Exhibitions
More
- Untitled (Long, Long, Long Live the Motherland)2014Indian ink on found paper326 x 321 cm
Long Long Live 7419 - Untitled (Studio Flowers II)2014Indian ink and red pencil on found text371.5 x 387 cm
Studio Flowers II - Untitled (Hold the Open Heart)2015Indian ink on dictionary pages.304 x 169.5 cm
Hold the Open Heart WK_15_136_Iris_Wiese's_4417 - Untitled (Lu Xun)2016Indian ink and red pencil on found ledger pages92 x 69 cm
Lu Xun WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6225 - Untitled (Patrice Lumumba II)2016Indian ink and red pencil on found ledger pages86 x 77 cm
Patrice Lumumba II WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6220 - Untitled (Kwame Nkrumah)2016Indian ink on found ledger pages91 x 72 cm
Kwame Nkrumah WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6217 - Untitled (Against Dogmatism)2016Indian ink and digital print on found ledger pages80.6 x 67.5 cm
Against Dogmatism WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6208 - Untitled (Madame Mao)2016Indian ink on found ledger pages90 x 74 cm
Madame Mao WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6201 - Head (Model Opera)2015Laser-cut stainless steel, painted with acrylic based paint178.5 x 115 cmEdition of 6
1 17121Kentridge sculpture 2 - Head (Brushwork 2)2015Laser-cut stainless steel, painted with acrylic based paint172 x 111 cmEdition of 4
2a 17123Kentridge sculpture 4 with floor - Bunch of Flowers in a Vase2017Lithograph on Korean paper169 x 128 cmEdition of 18
WK_17_180_Print_3540 - Head (Brushwork 1)2015Laser-cut stainless steel, painted with acrylic based paint178 x 103 cmEdition of 4
2 b 17122Kentridge sculpture 3 with floor - Capture the 7 Wishes2016Indian ink on found paper216 x 150 cm
2a WK_16_145_HYACINTH_5924 - Hold the 4 Hopes2016Indian ink on found paper191 x 119 cm
2b WK_16_145_HYACINTH_5932 - (Untitled) Frantz Fanon2016Indian ink and red pencil on found ledger pages91 x 73 cm
2 WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6212 - Untitled (Patrice Lumumba I)2016Indian ink and red pencil on found ledger pages87 x 76 cm
4 WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6203 - Untitled (Patrice Lumumba III)2016Indian ink and red pencil on found ledger pages87 x 79 cm
6 WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6198 - Untitled (Chairman Mao)2016Indian ink and red pencil on found ledger pages91.5 x 75 cm
8 WK_16_146_Ink_Drawing_6195 - Be Not So Magnanimous2015Indian ink and charcoal on paper56.5 x 116.5 cm
3 Be Not So Magnanimous William_Kentridge NTMO
- Peripheral Thought No. 12015Hand-woven mohair tapestry270 x 330 cmEdition of 6
Peripheral Thought Tapestry Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_001Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_002Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_003Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_001Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_002Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_003Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_004Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_005Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_006Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_007Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_008Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_009Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_010Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_011Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_012Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_013Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_014Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_4_015Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_005Still from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_006Installation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_007aInstallation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_007bInstallation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_007cInstallation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Film_Page_007dInstallation view, "William: Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance", Marian Goodman Gallery New York, January 2016
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Sculpture_Page_003Installation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Sculpture_Page_004Installation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William_Kentridge_NTMO_Artworks_Sculpture_Page_005Side view, "Head (Model Opera)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 6
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureSide view, "Head (Brushwork 1)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 4
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureSide view, "Head (Brushwork 2)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 4
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks SculptureInstallation view, "Head (Brushwork 2)", 2015, Laser-cut stainless steel and acrylic paint, Edition of 4
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks Sculpture- Journal Officiel (Faits Divers)2015Indian ink on found paper54.3 x 86.5 cm
5 WK_15_135_Journal Official MGG London_2024 Installation view, "Notes Towards a Model Opera", Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, January 2016
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks FilmInstallation view, "William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance", Marian Goodman Gallery London, September 2015
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks FilmStill from "Notes Towards a Model Opera", 2015, Three channel film installation
William Kentridge NTMO Artworks Film- Drawings for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Bird in Flight)2015Indian ink on found pages31.5 x 43.5 cm
17094Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Eight Abstract Birds)2015Indian ink on found pages90 x 80 cm
17095Kentridge - In Mockery of Progress2015Red watercolor on found pages90 x 380 cm
17096Kentridge1 - In Mockery of Progress2015Red watercolor on found pages90 x 380 cm
17096Kentridge2 - Less Brocade on the Jacket2015Digital prints on found pages80 x 350 cm
17097Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Abstract Bird II)2015Indian ink on found pages90 x 130 cm
17098Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Torn Bird)2015Ink on found paper21 x 17 cm
17099Kentridge - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Bird II)2015Indian ink on found page21.5 x 17.2 cm
17101Kentridge - Untitled (Listen for the Echo)2015Indian ink on dictionary pages380 x 215 cm
Listen for the Echo WK_15_135_Iris MGG london_2056 - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Cast Out Fear)2015Indian ink on found paper327.5 x 187.5 cm
Cast Out Fear - Good Vegetables and Exemplary Deeds2014Indian ink and red pencil on found text231 x 252 cm
Good Vegetables and Exemplary Deeds - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Journal Officiel I)2015Indian ink on dictionary pages363.5 x 191.5 cm
WK_14_122_drawing_MG_3921 - Untitled (White Iris)2014Indian ink on dictionary pages346 x 250 cm
Large Iris NTMO - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Journal Officiel II)2015Indian ink on Century Dictionary pages333 x 187 cm
Journal Officiel II - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Flowers in Vase I)2015Indian ink and red pencil on found text (FM - WIP can get more detail from Philip Tinari)98 x 72.5 cm
WK_15_124_Drawing_7564 copy - Untitled (Preserve the 16 Private Thoughts)2014Indian ink on found paper296 x 252 cm
WK_15_125_Flowers_Draw_3214 - Untitled (Mao Zedong II)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6256 - Untitled (Bird on Branch)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6264 - Untitled (Mao Zedong I)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6273 - Seize the Ego2015Indian ink on found encycolpaedia pages29 x 210 cm
WK_16_148_texts_7892 - Eat Bitterness2014Indian ink on found text297 x 143.5 cm
Eat Bitterness - Long, Long, Long Live the 4 Modernisations2014Indian ink, red pencil and digital print on found text pages342 x 176 cm
7b WK_Draw_14_111_5326 copy - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Bird I)2015Indian ink on found page23.2 x 16 cm
17102Kentridge - Sharpen Your Philosophy2014Indian ink, red pencil and digital print on found pages310 x 178.5 cm
Sharpen Your Philosophy - Untitled (Eurasian Tree Sparrow)2016Indian ink on found paper
Sparrow - Drawing for Notes Towards a Model Opera (Mort Aux Voleurs)2015Indian ink, Digital print and Collage on found paper104.5 x 73 cm
WK_15_127_Draw_9124 Crop - Untitled (Sparrow on Branch)2016Indian ink on canvas
WK_16_147_Drawing_6269
Credits
Notes Towards a Model Opera
2015
3-channel HD video projection
11 min 22 sec
Choreography and dancer
Dada Masilo
Music composition and arrangement
Philip Miller
Additional music composition
Johannes Serekeho
with music performed by First St John Brass Band
Video editing and construction
Zana Marovic
Janus Fouché
Bham Ntabeni, Moses Moeta
Percussion
Tlale Makhene
Trombone
Dan Selsick
Trumpet and spoons
Adam Howard
Tuba
George Fombe
Guitar
Charles Knighten-Pullen
Stroh Violin
Waldo Alexander
Dada Masilo,Tlale Makhene
Bham Ntabeni,Thato Mothlaolwa
Thabani, Edwin Ntuli
Members of First St John Brass Band
Members of African Immanuel