Ballen's work is distinctive for his dark and surreal tones, and how he probes into the psyche of the viewer. The style and influence of his work has led to the sub-genre Ballenesque, a reference to the way in which his work probes the psyche, asking uncomfortable questions about what it is to be human.
End of the Game continues in this vein, and it is an exhibition which, while captivating, leaves the viewer with a sense of unease. As a result of this lingering feeling, you are compelled to dive deeper into the subject to reach your own personal resolution around it, something Ballen is keen to prompt with his work.
Given Ballen's background, photographs play a key role in the exhibition, but Ballen has also turned to installation, archival footage and objects of curiosity in order to root the more abstract and psychological components of his work in tangible objects and histories.
The exhibition starts with a display of historic hunting artefacts and movie posters which exoticise the African continent. From here you go into 'The Hunter's Room' which brings together books, diaries and photographs that chart the beginning of the West's hunting expeditions in Africa. It gives a sense of the scale of hunting in the 19th and 20th centuries and the accompanying exhibition text provides context for the items, images and reasons for hunting.
This overview allows for Ballen's conceptual work to shine as he pulls and links together threads to further complicate and illuminate these issues. Ballen has used the entire space of the Centre to display the exhibitions, and part of the journey involves travelling across floors and into different spaces.
Viewed from above, the bottom floor of the Centre looks like a bizarre assortment of mannequins, sculpture, taxidermied animals as well as disturbing photographs, with Ballen joking that they haven't had to worry about security with all the [creepy and lifelike] lions and hyenas roaming the floor. Upon closer inspection, the items and photographs fall into place as they highlight how inter-dependent animals and humans are, and how twisted this relationship has become.
Ballen has dived into his personal archive to resurface photos which, in some way, deal with this relationship between animals and humans. Ballen fans, and those unfamiliar with his work, will find there is a strange power to the dark visions Ballen creates as your eyes are drawn across the exhibition space.
The final room is a viewing room where Ballen has compiled archival footage of early hunting expeditions, and it is a hard return to reality after the surrealist main floor. Throughout this exhibition, Ballen never takes a stance either way on hunting, or at least never makes it explicit. He insists that he is not there to give answers, but rather to provoke questions and to hopefully bring the viewer closer to their own answer.
End of the Game can be viewed only by prior booking with slots available each Tuesday morning. Book your guided tour here, tickets are R150 and include a full colour catalogue of the exhibition.
