Liberty Battson

The Power of Perception, inspired by the instruction-based artworks of conceptual artist Sol LeWitt, demands hands-on engagement from the viewer. The composition and final outcome are dependent on the audience, who choose to interact with the work according to a very particular set of open-ended instructions provided by the artist.

The installation of prisms is the conceptual cornerstone of the artwork, whereby the participating viewer takes on the role of the “post-migrant.” Each time a viewer engages with the work, it will display a fresh interpretation. Each interpretation will be a true reflection of the participant’s perception and individuality. The work becomes a fluid vessel of numerous possible outcomes with an almost infinite number of different compositions and interpretations. The artwork itself is open-minded, true to itself and to the “other,” just like the artist’s own, unique, post-migrant identity.

Liberty Battson (1990) is a conceptual artist born and raised in Benoni, South Africa, to Zimbabwean parents. Battson featured as part of the Cool Capital initiative at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Her artworks are included in numerous South African collections, including Telkom, Sasol, Ellerman House, Absa, University of Pretoria, Nando’s Corporate collection (London) and many private collections. She participated in two separately awarded residencies in Paris at the Cité Internationale des Arts (2013 and 2015) and curated a three- week residency at Mas de Gravieres (Provence, France), 2019.