May Okafor, Living On The Edge, details, Eva Maria Ocherbauer 2017.
Born Nigeria, lives and works in Nsukka, Nigeria
Living on the edge 2017
styrofoam
Courtesy of the artist
Artist’s statement
The 2012 project of the Mozambican artist, Mario Macilau, well captures the essence of being alive. Although the phrase, living on the edge quickly connotes uncertainty, despair and doubt (perhaps for a certain collective), life itself is on the edge. Or what can one say about natural disasters taking place in different parts of the world? What more could be said about various forms of accidents, bridge collapses and health challenges? What about wars, religious crises, bombings and genocide?
The practicability of life reveals several challenges which often puts man and every other living thing on the edge. Nevertheless, the very same factors make life worth living. That a thing is here today and tomorrow is no more, makes every second slippery, distinct and worth the count. On the other hand, that a thing is here today and tomorrow is no more could be a simple metamorphosis in life. The sperm and tadpole, two objects of formal similitude aptly captures this dynamism. Both sperms and tadpoles exist but temporarily, to either die out or metamorphose into a much larger being. Both forms, therefore, present themselves as metaphors in my project. With over 2,000 pieces of them wriggling against plain white walls they shall depict movement, motion and agility.
The choice of material is styrofoam. Fragile but non-biodegradable as it is, it represents this coexistence that abounds in life, which itself is on the edge. In other words, the material depicts frailty and persistence, temporality and permanence, triviality and consequentiality.
I further find the same duality in water. The words of Fela Kuti and the works of Katsushika Hokusai aptly capture it. In the words of the popular Nigerian musician, Fela Kuti, “water no get enemy.” Contrarily, however, water has also been a source of such life-threatening disasters as tsunamis. Hokusai’s famous 19th century prints, “The Great Wave”, captures the Japanese tsunami or a kind of rogue wave appearing as countless claws attempting to feast on sailors now dwarfed and helpless. What an edge! In essence, my project investigates instability, inconstancy and slipperiness since, thematically, they are definitive of life.
