#63: Fabian Arries Selote (FREEFORM YOUTH)

We're joined by multi-disciplinary artist & architect of FREEFORM YOUTH, Fabian Arries Selote, who tells us more about baggy chinos & grasshoppers, Reggae and South African Jazz, and so much more.

Fabian Arries Selote is a 25-year old multi-disciplinary artist. Most of their work or practices are inspired by their inward search, looking into self and environment to navigate their roots. They are the architect of FREEFORM YOUTH, an art & social platform, hosting sonic liberation shows, events, workshops and pop ups around South Africa and the diaspora. Fabian is also the seventh member and manager of a uprising Pan-African music project, Operation Khataza, using this as a platform to express his spoken word but also gain and gather knowledge to strategically create a living for themselves and everyone involved in their sonic and social cause. They’ve also recently branched out and took on more managing gigs, like Johnny Wxlf’s music for one, who is a good friend of theirs and they also have the privilege of managing, hosting and curating shows in and around Cape Town. They are also one half of the Kitchen Party, a Pan-African celebration of music by himself and Sanele Blaai.

Besides the hustle and bustle of shows and events, they enjoy silence, being by a flowing river of water and climbing trees. It's the simple things that bring out the best in them. Material is just a means to an end for Fabian, the spirit comes first. He doesn't really paint nor sketch that much anymore but printing has somewhat caught his eye, They’re still at the basic stages but they do look forward to more complex printmaking in the near future. Another thing that they've recently emerged into is playing roles in front of the camera, acting perhaps? Well for now, it's just a learning experience but hopefully that manifests into another part of self they’re yet to unlock.

We welcome Fabian to The FRM Newsletter to share what he’s been into recently!

👖👞 Fashion

I grew up in the KASI, where the biggest mainstream fashion trends thrive amongst the youth. Mainstream brands get you status, perhaps all the girls too. The ones two generations above come from a different time. A product of mine workers tossed aside. Rage and anger, but no say. Rebellion. Finding a way to take back and sustain. Rude boy. Dress code. Tucked in flannel shirt. Baggy chinos and grasshoppers. Leather belt, a ring or two, and a minimal gold chain. You see, I'm a seeker. I trod this earth, seeking my roots. My existence is intricate. I am oblivious to how far my roots spread. And so my life practice and expression stems from there, this search. Anyone who seeks, finds. And so a big part of my... My expression is sharing my findings along the way. This search and being exposed to fashion as conforming and in the same light rebelling and standing firm in my roots is probably the reason I decided to go to fashion school because I started seeing the influence clothes had on the youth, myself included. So to me, this was the perfect way to share the findings of my search. I’ve started making screens and printing, as a practice, so a big part of my expression through cloth is manifesting. Meaning, most of the clothes I own have prints now, and have become a part of my tale. Whether it be telling the tale of surrender, that when I and I surrender to a creator of all things, we activate that creator within ourselves (the god print with the ankh replacing the O) Or opening my eyes to the normalized inequality within society, and carrying on the message of equal rights and justice (the Peter Tosh stencil print with His message "I don't want peace, I need equal rights and justice”). When the eye looks, it will find, find a Conscious of self, through the eyes along the heart, mind and spirit.

🎧🛐 Music

The universal language, a frequency that, when done righteously, hits all the elements of our existence. My music taste does, too, stem from my search. As a matter of fact, music is one of the ways I learn about life, the spirit, politics, society, creation and self and so, I find myself gravitating to Reggae and South African Jazz. What would be referred to as struggle music. What I would refer to as truth music, a consciousness, music that awakens, tells tales of the times before us. Remember, my search is that of my roots, so it just makes sense that I listen to a lot of old music of African descent or origin, from 'Lolita' by Selaelo Selota, bearing the teachings of love and compassion, looking at the forces of nature as guidance, to the Rockers album that features a variety of reggae musicians from the 70s, songs like 'Jah No Dead' by Burning Spear evoking consciousness of Jah within the African spirit talking to a people displaced. Spirits stripped and forced an idea of God for the capital gain of those on top.

🎨🌍 Art

I consider almost everything within and around me a form and source of art, but if I'm asked what inspires my art, well, the same search stated in the genesis of this newsletter. Some of my favorite artists include:

Songezo Zantsi

Nozuko Madokwe

Boeta Gee

Imraan Christian

And many many more…

📚💡 Books

I'm not a big reader, but if I happen to find a book that contributes to my search, I obsess. 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho, for one, I've read a good three times. An amazing read, so simple to comprehend. This book bears teachings of a simple world, a connection between self and our incubator, our environment, everything and everyone around us. It is not too long ago that I finished my third cycle with this book, that right after I stumbled upon 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran, It felt a little too complex for me to read. And after five to six pages... I decided to put it down. Little did I know, 'Indaba, My Children' by Credo Mutwa awaited patiently on a friend's bookshelf, the response of its capture to my eye. I am a few chapters in and hopefully one day I will share with you the findings of my journey through it. All I can say for now is... if you haven't read it, go check it out. The Bible from the perspective of a teller, one who sees the world as psychedelic as it is, not with the physical eye, but the eye that sees beyond the veil.

🧳💚 Travel

Travel. I haven't really travelled much. Well, it is something that I look forward to doing. First, I need to learn how to travel. I need to learn to let go of the ideologies that I've been taught about travelling. That I need to take flights and that I need to be in a fancy hotel. Traveling could be simple. Traveling could be taking a bus to one of our neighboring countries, backpacking, or integrating in the communities. This is something I look forward to do. I can't say much about traveling but I do know that a lot of people just like me, would like to hit the road and see new places, and so the advice or recommendations I have in regards to this is getting the knowledge, seeking cheap and easy ways to do it.