Chris Soal is a Johannesburg-based visual artist and former collaborator of The Centre for the Less Good Idea.

In the artist’s words: “The video's title is a nod to both The Seducer’s Diary by Kierkegaard, and to Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In my body of work with toothpicks I’ve often framed the material anthropomorphically by highlighting the relationship between the singular toothpick and the plural, mirroring that of the individual and the communal, and thus bringing the individual (the viewer) into a direct relationship with the material and its ecological and philosophical implications. Through this particular title, the singular toothpick again enters into the metaphorical, suggestive of the individual in day to day existence and the struggle for meaning.

“While drawing on these references this could also be seen as a meditation on the artistic process itself: the hopeful insanity of the repeated gesture (the daily work in the studio) which offers no guaranteed formulaic success, and the often painful dance/wrestle with materials and ideas against the backdrop of the 'left brain’ critic.

“In this Long Minute, the critic voices ‘I will not be seduced by the medium’, reminding one of the punitive lines written over and over by a naughty child in detention. However while the voice is unrelenting, the action is continuous, suggesting that maybe the only way out is through, and that there might be a little bit of magic (or clever editing) to be enjoyed along the way.”

Concept & Creation | Chris Soal
Curator of The Long Minute | Bronwyn Lace