Visualising bipolar disorder through patterned dots

Visceral is a term that aptly describes Andrew Mwini Mutuku’s three dimensional (or is it 4D) exhibition and installation that opened last week at Kuona Trust. Deeply emotional or intuitive art.

It’s a term that’s applicable because it not only conveys the emotional substance that went into Mwini’s creation of a conceptual art exhibition; it also defines what’s required of his audience to garner the essence of the artist’s insight into his own mind and soul.

For while we know of a myriad of renowned artists who paid much attention to painting their own self-portrait—artists like Rembrandt and Van Gogh among others, we know of few who chose to create a series of self-portraits of their mind using abstract images as unassuming as a set of dots.

Yet the dots are all strategically placed atop mirrors meant to create reflections which seem to suggest the viewer is a participant in each of the more than 20 pieces in Mwini’s first Kenyan solo show.

Already by the title, one is informed the exhibition is meant to be experienced ‘viscerally’, intuitively.

In that way, one might tune into the emotional state that the artist aims to convey in each of his works of art, works he concedes cannot be called ‘paintings’ or even sculptures although the fire engine red vinyl matting in which his dots are embedded is thick enough to create a relief effect.

What’s more, Mwini said he intended to create one emotionally-charged sculpted work on the day of the exhibition opening to cap off the heightened feelings he has had as he has sought to clarify and convey his bi-polar mood swings in this show.

According to his curator Ross van Horn, the way Mwini’s works are hung will hopefully also have some effect on the viewer and the way he or she receives and responds to it. For on a superficial level, one might simply appreciate the minimalist approach Mwini has taken, using only two colours, red and white, an ordinary set of mirrors and an assortment of inexplicably patterned dots.

But the simplicity of the artist’s style may be deceptive since he explains every pattern is specifically structured to reflect his wide range of moods.

Having been diagnosed at some point in his career as being bipolar disorder, Mwini has apparently set out in this show to artistically map all or most of the assorted emotions that he experiences from day to day.

But if one doesn’t immediately grasp the essence of his moods as they are portrayed in his own original sign-language, then I recommend taking time to watch the videos which are part of his total installation.

Conceived in collaboration with his videographer friend Norman Mageto (who Mwini met in Malaysia where they both went to university), the videos further convey the powerful momentum of every mood.

Each one is fascinating, especially as they were created jointly: Mwini explaining the way a mood affected him in real time and Mageto intuitively translating his friend’s emotional concepts into a series of vibrant short videos, one for nearly every piece in the show.

On opening night, Mwini set the videos to the music made by Australian Aboriginal musicians whose distinctive sound throbbed throughout the opening.

Mwini hopes the sound track of the didgeridoo, the Aboriginals’ original instrument, will run throughout his week-long exhibition. That may not happen since the sound is an acquired taste.

Nonetheless, it felt like a perfect track to enhance the visceral effect of Mwini’s installation cum exhibition on August 6th.
For me, his show also proved that what some people claim is a mental “disorder” may simply be an unconventional, even “beautiful” mind —that simply isn’t easily traced, tested or valued for its originality and emotional genius.

Just before Mwini’s exhibition opened at Kuona, the Botswanan artist Moses Maaramele had a show of stunning semi-abstract animal paintings that he had produced during his short residency at Kuona Trust.

The Trust has become a popular venue of artists from all over the world to come and work for short stints, invariably displaying amazing artworks before they return home.

Finally, Peter Ngugi’s second solo exhibition just opened at One Off Gallery. Ngugi is another Kenyan artist who is creating cutting-edge art.

As such, it will be reviewed next week in BD Life.