February 3rd, 2010 / 8:04 pm
Web Hype

Hidden behind the buzz: Leon Botha


Hidden behind the buzz around this wonderfully strange—and slickly produced—band called Die Antwoord is the inclusion in this video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc3f4xU_FfQ

of an artist named Leon Botha. Botha is one of the oldest living persons in the world with a condition called Progeria. He’s 24 but he appears to be in his 80s.

The two vocalists in Die Antwoord have done some work to make themselves as visually arresting as their costar—the severe and unflattering haircuts, the poor needle and ink tattoos on the man, the peroxide on the hair and eyebrows of the woman—but they can only achieve so much. Botha steals the attention of the viewer. And what I like most about this is that I think Botha wants that. He wants to be seen. But how many will notice him behind the catchy music, funny haircuts, and—interesting, I’ll admit—artifice of Die Antwoord? Some attention to him is paid after the cut.

His paintings—which can be seen here—are interesting. He loves hip-hop—watch him DJ here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLBeeKmlE_o

—and he’s interested in the self and spirituality. There’s a little bit of the visionary, outsider work of people like Norbert Kox or a young, searching Paul Laffoley to it. But if you want to see some of the most interesting work he’s involved in, check out his collaboration with the photographer Gordon Clark: Who Am I? Transgressions.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq2r2g4F5UQ

We waste so much time. And we have so little tolerance for variations of the body. I like that Botha confronts both of those things.

Tags: ,

41 Comments

  1. andrew

      shit son

  2. andrew

      sun*

  3. andrew

      shit son

  4. andrew

      sun*

  5. dddddan

      um

  6. dddddan

      um

  7. .
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  13. .

      South Africa is weird. Progeria is weird.

  14. .

      South Africa is weird. Progeria is weird.

  15. jereme

      but what is wrong with that chick?

  16. jereme

      but what is wrong with that chick?

  17. Matthew Simmons

      That is one of the members of Die Antwoord. MaxNormal was an earlier project.

  18. Matthew Simmons

      That is one of the members of Die Antwoord. MaxNormal was an earlier project.

  19. Jim Teradyne

      Being able to stare into the abyss of human frailty not only makes me a better person, it makes me hardcore and really edgy. The only thing cooler than this is watching an Iranian afflicted with Progeria drawn and fucking quartered. Now that’s entertainment!

  20. Jim Teradyne

      Being able to stare into the abyss of human frailty not only makes me a better person, it makes me hardcore and really edgy. The only thing cooler than this is watching an Iranian afflicted with Progeria drawn and fucking quartered. Now that’s entertainment!

  21. cw

      Thank you for properly presenting Die Antwoord as a footnote in the story of Leon Botha.

  22. cw

      Thank you for properly presenting Die Antwoord as a footnote in the story of Leon Botha.

  23. Matthew Simmons

      I don’t find him hardcore and edgy. I just think his self-examination and articulation of said is interesting.

  24. Matthew Simmons

      I don’t find him hardcore and edgy. I just think his self-examination and articulation of said is interesting.

  25. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I’m pretty sure you’re the only person turning his condition into a “frailty” and an “abyss.”

  26. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      this is cool, thanks

  27. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I’m pretty sure you’re the only person turning his condition into a “frailty” and an “abyss.”

  28. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      this is cool, thanks

  29. .

      The guy in the suit is NINJA? The girl in the hoody is YO-LANDI VI$$ER? These two people are also in the video you posted? Were both of them formerly in MaxNormal? Now they are both in Die Antwoord?

  30. .

      The guy in the suit is NINJA? The girl in the hoody is YO-LANDI VI$$ER? These two people are also in the video you posted? Were both of them formerly in MaxNormal? Now they are both in Die Antwoord?

  31. Matthew Simmons
  32. Matthew Simmons
  33. jesusangelgarcia

      This is good: “We waste so much time. And we have so little tolerance for variations of the body.”

      Perspective comes in unexpected forms.

      That music is goofy.

  34. jesusangelgarcia

      This is good: “We waste so much time. And we have so little tolerance for variations of the body.”

      Perspective comes in unexpected forms.

      That music is goofy.

  35. Gian

      I would murder that rapper guy if I had a ribbon to do it with.

      But the idgit’s cool. I can get behind him (though I’d have to kneel).

  36. Gian

      I would murder that rapper guy if I had a ribbon to do it with.

      But the idgit’s cool. I can get behind him (though I’d have to kneel).

  37. bl pawelek

      well, the guy can dj. seems like a pretty good artist. With little tolerance in this world, he must be a strong mf-er.

  38. bl pawelek

      well, the guy can dj. seems like a pretty good artist. With little tolerance in this world, he must be a strong mf-er.

  39. Sean

      damn. gospel. thanks for this.

  40. Sean

      damn. gospel. thanks for this.

  41. Leon Botha | HTMLGIANT

      […] Botha, the painter and DJ who I wrote about here, has passed away. […]