Ferlov Mancoba
Audio file 17-2
Ernest believes humanity has lost its bearings; he speaks of artists like Mozart, van Gogh, Shakespeare expressing nostalgia in their art. He considers Milton's poem "Paradise Lost" expressing this sadness though his other poem "Paradise Regained" suggests hope. Ernest believes this is true of their time but that humankind must find "its feet again" for survival.
Thus the artistic expression of the times is simultaneously one of sadness and hope - a dialectical situation. Ernest wonders if it is not the fate of man to live with the 2 oppositions, when the third, positive, thing may arise
Ernest acknowledges the difficulty of keeping the dialectic (referring to Van Gogh's suicide and Artaud's argument of societal cause of the death), but that one cannot think of the world as a heaven. That it is a struggle.
Ernest acknowledges this in their family, in Sonja Ferlov's death but the need to find their feet
[tape stopped and restarts] Wonga notes that his father seems melancholic and that they must rise up above it; Wonga expresses frustration on perceived betrayals of their confidences by friends [unidentified] but tries to raise Ernest's spirits
Ernest replies that one cannot trust others; Wonga continues to try to counter Ernest's negativity
Ernest nevertheless sees the betrayals as coordinated and "evil", and that it does not speak well for humanity
Facts
PDFAbout the recordings: Ernest Mancoba's son, Marc also known as Wonga, recorded 200+ interviews with his father. The interviews seemed to serve different purposes and are not in chronological order. A selection, based on art historical relevance and copyright clearance, have been published.
Audio file 17-2 (c.1990-2002)