Art is often used as an outlet for political or societal expression. William Kentridge’s animated short film and associated series of charcoal drawings, entitled History of the Main Complaint, are precisely that: an impassioned and necessary response to the collapse of Apartheid in South Africa and the subsequent state of South African society. Born in 1955 in Apartheid-ridden South Africa, Caucasian artist William Kentridge derives much of his inspiration from his life in South Africa. His art, specifically History of the Main Complaint exemplifies his personal reaction to the existence of a post-Apartheid South Africa, referred to as a “brutalized society” by the artist (Tone). Yet the collection, currently exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, IL), does not specifically illustrate or acknowledge the existence of Apartheid or even aim to define Kentridge’s personal beliefs on Apartheid. Instead, Kentridge attempts to delineate the fragile state of South African society in the aftermath of Apartheid in History of the Main Complaint through a series of charcoal and pastel (on paper) pieces.

History of the Main Complaint may simultaneously be considered both as art and a story. In the story of History of the Main Complaint, a large, Caucasian, balding businessman is in a hospital. The patient, Soho Eckstein, is visited by a small crowd of businessmen, who watch indifferently at the comatose protagonist (Brooks). One piece depicts the businessman in his native habitat before arriving to the hospital: Eckstein sits in an office which is inundated with loose papers and covered in homeless office supplies. In another charcoal sketch, X-rays of Eckstein show more than just internal organs and bones, but also reveal telephones, hole-punchers and metal wiring. This ability for bureaucracy to get under Eckstein’s skin (literally) may translate to a Kafka-like protest against the bureaucracy of South African society. In another series of charcoal sketches, the viewer becomes aware of Eckstein’s internal, comatose mind: Eckstein drives a car through cities and the countryside, watching violence conducted against Africans and Caucasians, but ultimately awakes from his coma after a Caucasian is run over by the car. Whether these are fictional encounters or the precursor to Eckstein’s situation in the hospital remains unknown.History of the Main Complaint may also be interpreted simply as a collection of charcoal and pastel art. Charcoal smudges, long brushes on the paper and visible signs of erasing make Kentridge’s work appear organic, impulsive and completely and thoroughly natural. On a personal level, the art exudes a sense of eerie, ghostly alienation and hopelessness (from both techniques and content). Kentridge’s art appears to lack premeditation and thus comes off as completely raw and genuine. The only signs of serious meditation are the added coloration of red and blue in select figures, which is particularly striking as the collection is presented in black charcoal on white paper. As such, there is not much room for color, except Kentridge does highlight water and IV fluid in blue pastel and measurement marks, cross (+) marks and select text (on a poster) in red. It quickly becomes obvious that Kentridge means to emphasize the symbolic importance of these subjects: Water is often considered a symbol of purity and renewal, and the red marks emphasize the definition of these measurements.

Whether the intellectual significance of History of the Main Complaint lies in its literary value or artistic value would become the next logical question, however, it can be suggested that the two are completely intertwined in the collection. The combination of Soho Eckstein’s state and the black, gray and white smudges that are used to illustrate Eckstein and his world imply a sense of loneliness, not felt by exclusively by Eckstein, but by the entire society. It is also assumed, from racial tension and Kentridge’s background that the logical location of depicted in History of the Main Complaint is in South Africa (yet it cannot be guaranteed). In all, the collection comes off as a dark Kafkaesque cartoon: one that analyzes the state of a society from a bureaucratic perspective, one that encourages organicism and one that does not project or predict hope for the future.

The ostensible finale of the collection is the compilation of the series of sketches in a short animated film also titled History of the Main Complaint. The film itself sweeps all of the two-dimensional pages together in one succinct, concise multimedia piece, and is the real feature of the collection. The film lacks the perfection of a blockbuster cartoon film, often characterized by flawless, closed spaces and consistent hues. These commercial, “Disney” cartoons all attempt to portray realistic life through a form that is so inherently false – this infuriating dichotomy contrasts completely with Kentridge’s animated short which does not attempt to hide the fact it was made by a man. The artist’s process of developing the animated short may also be considered as an art in and of its own: “He draws, shoots, erases and shoots again to create his imagery—rather than painting animation cells or digitally developing scenes (Klopos). This process is reflected in the short film’s quick, almost impulsive sketches, ephemeral charcoal smudges, fragmented lines and movement.

In History of the Main Complaint, Kentridge illustrates a hollow world. The lack of the exact (Eckstein’s bleak future, the visual lack of precise, definite lines), overwhelming sense of mystery (black and white, interrupted occasionally with gray shadows) and corruption (murders and attacks of various people) paint a post-Apartheid South Africa as a fragile society, where all its citizens can do is just rely on completely factual, bureaucratic, technical practices to survive. The wells of emotions, sympathy and compassion have been run dry as a result of the Apartheid’s turmoil, and all that is left is the mechanical, mindless practice of going through the motions of technical success (instead of fulfilling personal successes). Kentridge sketches and films South African society as he perceives it in a post-Apartheid nation: one that is on the brink of collapse and holding on by a thread. South Africa barely exists, only in technicalities, name and statistics: As long as its citizens ignore the mountainous amount of emotional and psychological debt and instead focus on the formalities that perpetuate survival (focusing completely on a emotionless tasks such as work), then its society may survive as well.

By: Vanessa Dopker www.vanessdopker.wordpress.com

Image: from “History of the Main Complaint” by William Kentridge at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, IL (Kentridge).

Works Cited:Brooks, Rosetta. “William Kentridge.” Artforum Apr. 1998: 110.Kentridge, William. “MCA Collection Highlights Overview.” MCA Chicago. 1 Nov. 2008 .Klopos, Janet. “William Kentridge at Marian Goodman.” Art in America Dec. 2000.Tone, Lillian. “William Kentridge: Stereoscope.” Lillian Tone Texts. 31 Oct. 2008 .