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Sound sculptor BJ Engelbrecht on making art that is perceived by all senses

BJ Engelbrecht talks about the childhood influences that led to his mode of being, and the arts community in which he thrives. The InArt interviews explore culture by asking creatives about their life in the arts, and which artists in other media stimulate them. We spoke to Johannesburg-based researcher and sound sculptor BJ Engelbrecht. When did you first identify as a creative artist? I don't recall a sudden moment of realisation, rather it was a gradual process of discovery. That being said, I was always drawn to the arts. I have vivid memories from childhood of constantly drawing and am fortunate to have grown up in a home surrounded by a wide variety of music. There are two formative influences from my youth that I think had a major influence on me and my artistic life. The first, being a teenager in the 1990s, was hip-hop, specifically graffiti and deejaying. Everything from tearing out the back pages from The Source magazine, to second- and third-generation tape copies, from that memorable bench in what was then Van der Bijl Square, to late-night trains and the colours black and chrome. I can still smell the Black Label and beedis. The hip-hop community of the Nineties had a major impression on my worldview. The second major influence was being a black portfolio art kid in school. Of course, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Michaelis Art Library and the Johannesburg Biennale were invaluable to me, but I was also extremely lucky to have had accomplished mentors and goal-directed friends. Which branch of art most stimulates you? I don't find much in the art world stimulating. If you've been at it for as long as I have, at some point you'll discover that it is simply work. Yes, part of the work necessitates frequent moments of discovery, which are satisfying, and I have the opportunity to be part of a community that consists of some of the most talented, intelligent and interesting people in the country, and that's rewarding, but I don't necessarily feel like this is unusually stimulating. Which artists have inspired you, and why? Again, it's not about inspiration. It's about a mode of being in the world and attending to it in a way that is critical of one's experience. Some of these experiences might include the artwork of others, and it's vital to have a strong understanding and vast knowledge of the work of others, but I think that you'd be somewhat failing if this is where you primarily seek inspiration. What to you is art's most important function? There is a plurality of purposes, one of which is not to have a purpose at all. What is most necessary, given our context, is to be politically engaged. Local creatives who excite you? I'm not excited by a particular artist, but rather the youngsters in general – explorative, technologically-inclined and likely tuned into states of affairs in the world in ways that I will never be. Which artistic work do you return to again and again, and why? GZA's Liquid Swords. It was the first album I bought. It captures something sonically that speaks to my experience of the city, but also it's the genius. What do you think of the AI revolution? I don't think it's a revolution but more of an evolution. It's certainly receiving a lot of attention, partially because of its now unprecedented ubiquity and sometimes undeserved controversy. Although I am not an expert by any means, in the arts it's a tool among many. There are artists for whom AI is a medium and they specifically build models as a form of art, some of which are critical of the means of their creation. These artists often get criticised for being in support of the technocracy when they are, in fact, aimed at calling the complex array of serious issues surrounding AI to light. So there is this oscillation between AI being a force for enslavement or liberation. It is also a question of creativity and what makes up consciousness. I feel like the consensus is that not enough is yet known about human thinking and feeling, or perhaps our approach to understanding consciousness needs to be approached differently. Debates aside, in my practice I still prefer brushstrokes over keystrokes. Any project you're unveiling or wrapping up? I'm wrapping up my postdoctoral fellowship at Wits University and continuing to work with Jurgen Meekel and Jill Richards as a member of the experimental music and sound art collective Playgroup. I have a continued collaboration with the architectural minds from Tshwane University of Technology and an exhibition is in the works for later this year. DM Mick Raubenheimer is a freelance arts writer. This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.