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June 6, 2011 03:48 pm PDT
Original Link: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/sQRQEvf1z8A/in-memoriam-leon-bot.html
In memoriam: Leon Botha, South African artist, DJ, and wonderful human being.
[Video Link] Leon Botha, a South African artist and DJ who became widely known through his association with the band Die Antwoord, died on Sunday from complications related to progeria. He was 26. By all available accounts, Botha was one of the longest-living, if not the longest-living person documented with this condition. Word spread online last night. Leon had been struggling with increasing physical challenges in recent months, and he shared some of that experience with me, along with news of his creative explorations, in occasional emails. Boing Boing pal Griffin of the South African counterculture blog WatKykJy today confirmed the sad news for us: Leon's condition became grave last week, and he died Sunday from a blood clot on his lungs. Leon was working on a new painting of Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er of Die Antwoord just this last week, Yo-Landi tells us. "He was an angel," she said today. I did not know Leon as well as Ninja, Yo-Landi, and other friends in South Africa's art and DJ circles, but I would like to share a little of the interaction I had with this gentle and singular soul by way of Boing Boing. I first became aware of Leon through his appearance in some of Die Antwoord's early music videos; he appeared in them as a DJ/"hype man," and his unusual physical appearance made him instantly unforgettable. At the time, I didn't know his name, or anything about him beyond that physical appearance. For many, that first physical impression, what progeria does to the human form, defined him. But Leon did not want to be defined by this difference. We ended up becoming internet pen-pals of a sort. Through this, and through some of his friends (who all expressed great affection and protectiveness toward Leon) I learned more about his visual and performance art work. In that work, in his written word, and in some of the incredible monologues you can find from on YouTube, his presence radiates. All who knew him, and all who were touched by his spirit through those videos, will know what I mean when I say that he emanated deep sincerity, gentleness, a serenity and quiet wisdom. Leon was aware of his own mortality in ways most people are not. He transformed that awareness into a sort of mindfulness of how vast and awesome life is....
Original Link: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/sQRQEvf1z8A/in-memoriam-leon-bot.html
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