STOF – THE PRIMAL MUD
STOF Is the Afrikaans word for dust. The Germanic word for matter. matter and energy, is the building material of everything, plofstof are explosives, ignition dust – Tankwa is all about dust, stuff – materials – the stuff we work with stuff- materialism…we have too much stuff, too many belongings kool stoff is carbon, the base of all life the stuff in my head…..what to do with it! Stof is fabric, the fiber of our being Stof is felt, its drapery, It is to mold…to shape our own reality Stof is soil, clay, sand, the elemental silt Stof-suier – domestic applications Dust to dust, substance, energy , particles, kick up dust.
For four years running we have headed into the desert with all manner of different intentions. A kind of alchemy happens, creating a moment where we are reminded of our primal state; joy, playfulness, imagination, survival, community, celebration, invention, exhaustion the real stuff. With this theme we invoke the primordial mud, archetypes, the base materials, which make us. Like the stof/dust that gets into every part of your car, camping gear and the inner most parts of your psyche.
Larry Harvey, when describing the first effigy (of a man and a dog) that he and Jerry James produced, in reflection said:
“what turned out to be most important…was that we happened to do it in a public space. It was done impetuously as a pure gesture. That was a part of the culture I had absorbed, the culture of the self-expressive gesture, this bohemian notion that you could manifest your spirit by acting on creative impulse and have the courage to do it in a public way. It was sort of spiritual extravagance”
What is inside? What is the stuff that you put inside this thing we do out there. What does that STOF do to you, where does it take you? Be reminded that you can make AfrikaBurn what you want it to be, make the world what you want it to be. Engage with the substance, what it is that you put inside that thing we call AfrikaBurn. Engage.
