The Quietus - A new rock music and pop culture website

News

Art Installation Will Play Toto's 'Africa' In Desert Forever
Christian Eede , January 15th, 2019 16:31

Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf's new art installation could see Toto's 'Africa' playing on a loop forever in the Namib Desert

A new art installation created by Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf could see Toto's 1982 track 'Africa' played on a loop forever deep in the Namib Desert in the artist's native country.

As NPR reports, Siedentopf set up the installation, which he's calling 'Toto Forever', last month while he was back home with family in Namibia. It centres around six monitors placed on plinths which are hooked up to an mp3 player that features only the Toto song. The artist hopes that the track will play "for all eternity" as the installation is being run on solar energy.

He says that the installation was inspired by the cult, meme status that the Toto song has picked up in recent years. "I was very intrigued by this and wanted to pay the song the ultimate homage and physically exhibit 'Africa' in Africa," Siedentopf told NPR. "The Namibian desert - which is, with 55 million years, the oldest desert in the world - seemed to be the perfect spot for this."

The artist warns that those hoping to track down the installation might have some trouble, but has helpfully included a map, as well as some other information, via a website.