Steloolive’s body of work has always been out of this world but with his latest project he takes his practice into the stratosphere. Nataal has long loved this Ghanaian interdisciplinary artist who has become internationally recognised as a sound and electronic DJ and for his performance pieces incorporating fashion, photography and installation. He spearheads Accra’s creative scene alongside collaborators such as Daniel Quist, Francis Kokoroko and Nana Anoff.

“Currently my work is focused on giving audiences an immersive experience through the manipulation of sounds and the insertion of the sounds into created sculptural objects. This experimental process offers new ways of building, engaging and interacting with sounds as well as objects,” Steloolive says.

The Accra-based artist, real name Evans Mireku Kissi, saw out 2021 with Guest Projects Digital, the Yinka Shonibare Foundation’s initiative that offers emerging artists of any discipline the chance to explore ideas and create new work. As its Digital Artist in Residence, Steloolive developed a piece inspired by the true story of Zambian school teacher Edward Mukuka Nkoloso. This visionary attempted to join the 1960s space race by establishing the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Astronomical Research and building an aluminium rocket that could be catapulted to the moon. A story ripe with meaning, other artists including photographer Cristina de Middel and film director Nuotama Frances Bodomo have previously explored its Afrofuturist themes.

Through Steloolive’s unique lens, it became Oracle Afronaut, a month-long experience in Accra’s Muslim township of Nima that invited both local community engagement and global interaction via live streamed performances and social media. At its centre was an organically shaped rocket built in collaboration with local craftsmen, its rusty textures echoing its environment. A film documented the object’s creation and transportation through the city to its launch pad, as well as a processional performance that enticed the public to enter its form to explore their own intergalactic inspirations. Steloolive also made a series of field recordings that have culminated in a new sound piece.

“With this project, I am metaphorically linking outer space exploration to the mind and referring to the mind as space,” Steloolive asserts. “I have built a seven-foot-high wearable sculptural object mimicking a space rocket robot. This interactive mobile piece invites the public to engage with the object and sound. The sound installed in the rocket is recorded opinions of random people about their imagination of space. These recordings were compressed into a glitch / echo sound and broadcasted during the performance. Playfully, an antenna placed on top of the space rocket mimicking a transmitter sharing the thoughts of any individual who enters the space rocket.”

Accra, we have lift-off.

Guest Projects Digital 2021 is supported by the British Council SSA Arts Digital Catalyst Fund. The programme was conceived in collaboration with The Yinka Shonibare Foundation, Guest Artists Space Foundation (Nigeria), International Curators Forum and Foundation for Contemporary Art, Ghana.

Photography Francis Kokoroko
Words Helen Jennings

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Published on 05/01/2022