Siemon Allen

Siemon Allen (born 1971 in Durban, South Africa) is a South African installation artist known for large-scale "collection projects" using mass-produced artifacts — postage stamps, newspapers, records, and trading cards — to interrogate South African national identity and branding. He represented South Africa at the 2011 Venice Biennale and is a visiting professor in the Department of Sculpture and Extended Media at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Quotes Ironically, most of my work is the result of my being in the United States, where I find myself looking at the image of South Africa as I might reconstruct it — through historical artifacts (stamps), through current media (newspapers) or through received audio (sampled sound works). To some extent, it speaks to what I feel is a kind of separation from the source, and leads me to consider how much of this work is, at its core, an investigation into notions of branding and identity through displacement. "Inside the Artist's Studio: Siemon Allen" by Georgia Kotretsos, Art21 Magazine, July 29, 2011 My work reflects a number of distinct, but interconnected activities. I collect, organize, and display artifacts. I sample sounds from various media sources and re-configure these to produce audio works, some integrated into sculptural works, and others covertly presented in specific sites. I construct large hand woven panels with cast off movie film or videotape that operate between painting and architectural enclosure. I design and produce limited edition artist's books. The thread that runs through all of these seemingly varied practices is my need to reconcile my interests in the world of the political with the language of the aesthetic. "Siemon Allen", AtWork artist profile I try to approach any given project with an attitude of detached research. I want the social critique that inevitably arises out my work to operate subtly and to reflect what I see as the contradictory and complex nature of South African identity. "Siemon Allen", AtWork artist profile Perhaps the very notion of the national pavilion will come to be regarded less as a given and more as an opportunity to critically explore how nations are defined and how individuals operate within that construct. The very idea of a national pavilion is particularly interesting when considered in light of the global movements of so many contemporary artists, and the current debates around national identity and the provisional nature of borders. "Inside the Artist's Studio: Siemon Allen" by Georgia Kotretsos, Art21 Magazine, July 29, 2011 As with all of my 'collection projects,' I am interested in how mass-produced items (newspapers, stamps, magazines, records) function as carriers of information and operate in the construction of national identity. For me, these records and CDs behave as a kind of voice of a particular period in South African history. "Inside the Artist's Studio: Siemon Allen" by Georgia Kotretsos, Art21 Magazine, July 29, 2011 To be honest, I can't recall. I think I have always lived in the present, and currently I feel like each moment generates the next. This is probably how I lived then. "Inside the Artist's Studio: Siemon Allen" by Georgia Kotretsos, Art21 Magazine, July 29, 2011 External links Category:Artists from South Africa Category:Installation artists Category:1971 births Category:Living people