Resego Sefora

VIRTUAL TOUR

ARTIST CATALOGUE

Diphala

My artistic practice this year delves into the realms of sonic installation art and camera-less photography. I look at sonic materialism and its ability to exist as a language. My immersive soundscape is made up of selected found tracks of diphala, namely Ebenezer performing ‘Thato Ya Hao’, Diale Brass band – song unknown, Amogelang brass band – song unknown, Diale brass band performing ‘Sediba’ and Sedibeng Marines performing ‘Lona ba rata hophela’. I use diphala as sonic bridge for the cultural and identity disconnect in my experience of moving from different parts of the country and as a form of philosophical understanding as a fundamental heretical heritage that offers radical new ways of understanding my existence.

‘Diphala’ is a rich, resonant brass band music commonly found around the North Western parts of South Africa. I drew from the sounds of diphala as a carrier for my voice as it serves as one of my core introductions to the sonic as a form of bringing people together. My work seeks to explore and articulate my sonic ontologies of my black being, the ways in which sound and music shape and reflect my lived experiences, identity, and worldviews. This is not merely an aesthetic exploration but an inquiry into sound as a carrier of history and culture, a space of resistance and empowerment, and a distinctive way of being in the world, intricately woven with identity and place. 

To create these works, the selected found tracks are played through a speaker with a tray of water above, which converts the audio into vibrations. I also present the photographic paper drumming technique, through stretching photographic paper on an embroidery loop which mimics the drum shape and then dipping drum sticks into fix and drumming according to the sound of music onto the photographic paper, flashing the photographic paper and developing the image the sounds are "drummed" onto the paper, creating patterns and textures that are a direct imprint of the sound's physical force. This technique underscores the inherent materiality of sound. The resulting images are not just abstract forms; they are direct visual echoes of the Diphala, capturing its intricate rhythms, deep tones, and historical resonance as a tangible form. Through this work I am making the invisible, visible and extending my voice through the sonic.