Dude, where's my Avant Car Guard?

by Ed Young

These guys are funny.

Upon first contact with the collective in question, they were in a slow process of being evicted from Dirt Contemporary, half an hour prior to their first Cape Town show's opening. This is not to suggest that these boys are necessarily young reprobates, it might have had something more to do with the fact that curator Rory Palmer had not paid the rent for a couple of months and trashed the space a little bit during the previous exhibition. I lent a hand.

Palmer ended up in prison.

But this particular incident did not really buffer the car guards. They proceeded to produce a really kick-ass publication called Volume I (I am still waiting for my complimentary copy). In their attempt to launch it at Bell-Roberts Gallery, in a sort of rock star type signing session, the fans did not arrive. It was called: Skakel Oor na die Donkerkant.

But, this was not enough to get the collective down. Despite the lack of interest and the disgust, they pushed on and developed the Africa Biennale 2008, after 'having secured both operational support and project funding from the World Art and Corporate Entities', comfortably accepting Africa's fate as a country. They are currently calling for submissions.

Other projects include Volume II, which was launched at The Pure Project, in New York City, as well as contributions to One Million and Forty-Four Years (and sixty three days), a book by Kathryn Smith on the ever-lonely avant-garde. They also launched Volume I at David Krut Projects recently.

Avant Car Guard is Zander Blom, Jan-Henri Booyens and Michael MacGarry, and although it is a extremely self-referential and a bit of a circular navel-gaze, this project is a refreshing undertaking in contrast with the stodginess that characterises much contemporary South African art. They are currently in residence in the ArtHeat ProjectSpace.

AVANT CAR GUARD Limited Edition Album Launch

The First rule of AVANT CAR GUARD is: you do not talk about AVANT CAR GUARD.

Although it is not common knowledge, there are actually three sides to the Force: the good side, the dark side, and AVANT CAR GUARD.

AVANT CAR GUARD is Luke Skywalker's real father.

AVANT CAR GUARD eats transformer toys in vehicle mode and poos them out transformed into a robot.

AVANT CAR GUARD sleeps with a pillow under their gun.

AVANT CAR GUARD has never blinked in their entire life. Never.

When AVANT CAR GUARD crosses the street, the cars have to look both ways.

AVANT CAR GUARD's tears cure cancer. Too bad they’ve never cried.

AVANT CAR GUARD drinks napalm to quell their heartburn.

If you want a list of AVANT CAR GUARD's enemies, just check the extinct species list.

There is no theory of evolution; just a list of creatures AVANT CAR GUARD allows to live.

The Bible was originally titled "AVANT CAR GUARD and Friends"

AVANT CAR GUARD can judge a book by its cover.

AVANT CAR GUARD doesn't read books. They stare them down until they get the information they want.

AVANT CAR GUARD doesn't actually write books, the words assemble themselves out of fear.

AVANT CAR GUARD does not use spell check. If they happens to misspell a word, Oxford will simply change the actual spelling of it.

AVANT CAR GUARD owns the greatest poker face of all-time. It helped them win the 1983 world series of poker despite them holding just a joker, a 2 of clubs, a 7 of spades, and a green number 4 from Uno and a monopoly 'get out of jail free' card.

When AVANT CAR GUARD was denied a Bacon McMuffin at McDonalds because it was 10:35, they roundhouse kicked the store so hard it became a KFC.

AVANT CAR GUARD is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like AVANT CAR GUARD.

AVANT CAR GUARD uses ribbed condoms inside out, so they gets the pleasure.

AVANT CAR GUARD only masturbates to pictures of AVANT CAR GUARD.

AVANT CAR GUARD lost their virginity before their Dad did.

AVANT CAR GUARD doesn't say, "who's your daddy", because they knows the answer.

AVANT CAR GUARD can divide by zero.

On the 7th day, God rested.... and AVANT CAR GUARD took over.

AVANT CAR GUARD

Lara Koseff

Avant Car Guard appears to be proclaiming its position as the pirate of the Jo’burg art scene. Zander Blom, Jan-Henri Booyens & Michael MacGarry form the trio that staged an event at David Krut Projects this weekend. Instead of pirating goods, however, the trio are more interested in stealing the viewer’s attention in order to challenge perceptions about what it means to be an artist in South Africa.

The event was advertised as the launch of Avant Car Guard’s new album, which is a publication of photographs of their previous staged antics. The trio was present to sign the publication. The scenario, however, was quite dissimilar to any other book signing in that the artists were emerging from three holes in a makeshift pirate shipwreck. The ship was plastered with Avant Car Guard signage, a home-made skull and crossbones flag rising out of it and a chaotic pile of publications spread out in front of it. Although this and the smoke machine made the atmosphere quite melodramatic there was nothing theatrical about the artists’ demeanour. They were drinking beer, smoking and making polite conversation with those curious and even brave enough to approach them.

Avant Car Guard is not only pushing the boundaries of conceptual art in South Africa, but also demystifying the notion of the renowned and established South African artist. They achieve this by enacting satirical scenarios of their own derisive and uncertain fame and ultimately baffling others into believing it and eventually questioning it.

The newly opened David Krut Projects was the perfect venue for such an event. People poured out onto the pavement and engaged in animated discussion and debate. The space, tucked in between a sex shop and a now-defunct curry den, looks out onto Jan Smuts Avenue, on a block that is fast becoming the new Jo’burg gallery strip.. This is the perfect setting to be exposed to the contemporary Jo’burg art scene and to simultaneously question and debunk it.

AVANT CAR GUARD

Avant Car Guard are Zander Blom, Jan-Henri Booyens and Michael MacGarry - a three member visual art collective from Johannesburg (recently featured in Frieze Magazine Issue 112). They have exhibited at a national and international level over the past 18 months, including an extended exhibition at The Pure Project in New York City. They have published two books on their production entitled Volume I, and Volume II. Their approach to art production, the art world and their own collective role as a singular artist is characterized by a strong sense of humour and punk sensibility. Their approach focuses on conceptual art manifested through photography and performance. “A sincere act to invent something insincere,” is probably the most succinct definition of their method.

WHATIFTHEWORLD / GALLERY