Forming sound into an art that is perceived by all senses

BJ Engelbrecht talks about the childhood influences that led to his mode of being, and the arts community in which he thrives

- By Mick Raubenheimer

The InArt interviews explore culture by asking creatives about their life in the arts, and which artists in other media stimulate them.

We spoke to Johannesburg-based researcher and sound sculptor BJ Engelbrecht.

When did you first identify as a creative artist?

I don't recall a sudden moment of realisation, rather, it was a gradual process of discovery. That being said, I was always drawn to the arts. I have vivid memories from childhood of constantly drawing and am fortunate to have grown up in a home surrounded by a wide variety of music.

There are two formative influences from my youth that I think had a major influence on me and my artistic life. The first, being a teenager in the 1990s, was hip-hop, specifically graffiti and deejaying. Everything from tearing out the back pages from The Source magazine to secondand third-generation tape copies, from that memorable bench in what was then Van der Bijl Square to late night trains and the colours black and chrome. I can still smell the Black Label and beedis. The hip-hop community of the '90s had a major impression on my world view.