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Unhinged by Adrian Loveland
In 1885 there was open land near the bottom of Africa with not too much going on other than some farming. In 1886, a guy called George Harrison (not the guy from the Beatles) found gold on a farm called Langlaagte. All hell’s been breaking loose ever since.Gold seekers rushed in, pitched their tents and started prospecting. The tented camp developed into a tin roof shanty settlement, which developed into an Edwardian-style town and, eventually, the current, sprawling African city that is today’s Johannesburg.
Like any true mining town, hundreds of thousands of fortunes have been made and lost, many backs have been stabbed, and heaven and hell have been found millions of times over.
The name’s Johannesburg, Jo’burg for short, JHB when abbreviated. Sometimes it’s even called Jozi though that can feel a bit like calling Atilla the Hun Tilly. The city is slightly unhinged. Red is green, left is right, cops are busy, and deadlines very, very tight.
It’s a confusing place. Everything will be going great, then your friend gets shot dead by some drunk guys who stole a gun, and nobody gets arrested. Somebody comes onto your property one night and shoots your dog and when you report it to the police they tell you there’s nothing they can do about it and you must go tell the SPCA. Then everything’s fine for a while. Then people get attacked because they’re foreigners, and drunk drivers kill sober drivers, and bribes are made and crime’s well paid and nothing gets better. Then somebody calls you with a great opportunity and you’re up all night working on the pitch and you think to yourself: "Hey, this is why I’m here!" Then the power goes out.
Then somebody gets their throat slit in front of their kids for a cell phone. Then you look at the trees and the sunset and you think, "Wow, that’s so nice", then somebody smashes your window and you didn’t see them coming ’coz you were looking at the trees and the sunset. Then another friend gets hijacked, then your mom, and you go a little crazy, and you’re angry, then you’re positive, then you’re terrified, then you’re anxious, and you want to get out and you can’t, then you can and you don’t want to anymore, and if you think about everything too much you start losing your mind ’coz you just wanna help.
Then dogs are barking and miners get trapped and nobody from the bank calls you back and somebody wants something from you everywhere you go and you just can’t give to everyone, ’coz you can’t – and you want to and you don’t want to and you feel good and you feel bad and you feel lucky and you feel sad...
I Love You I Hate You
Published in 2019, I Love You I Hate You is a book about Johannesburg told in two parts. The first part is the story of Love Jozi, relayed through more than 100 T-shirt graphics. T-shirts have been one of the brand's core products since it was formed by Bradley Kirshenbaum in 2005, while the city of Johannesburg is its muse – ever-inspiring bold designs, and new ways of looking.
The second feature of the book is a collection of 34 short essays by Joburg thinkers, doers, and observers that spell out a complicated relationship with the city. Travel down unexpected paths and grapple with the competing emotions of love and hate that living in Johannesburg inspires. The writers include journalists, novelists, city developers, cultural critics, academics, designers, DJs, and entrepreneurs, edited by Laurice Taitz, publisher and editor of Johannesburg In Your Pocket.
Purchase your copy of I Love You I Hate You here and get the matching T-shirt here.
Save the date: Kirshenbaum will tell the funny, heartfelt, and inspiring story behind I Love You I Hate You at Design Week in Joburg on Thu, Oct 10.
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