After walking out of a previous graphic design position and receiving a fiery post-resignation voice message from his newly exed boss, visual artist Shaun Hill came up with the illustrated “nobody cares” gif that now signs off all his emails, almost like a reminder to be careful about who to work with. I wondered as he recalled the incident whether this was the origin story of his quiet, yet assertive and care-free confidence. Having since moved onto greener professional pastures at Rave Growl with a four-day workweek, I met with Shaun on a Friday afternoon, when he would usually be working on his own creative projects, one of which would be the topic of our conversation – Bat Butt, Shaun’s multi-issue zine project. With seven zine issues behind him, Bat Butt’s very first full clothing collection, including T-shirts, hoodies, totes and other eccentricities all decorated with Bat Butt illustrations and graphics, will be releasing exclusively at 120 Bree Street and on our online store this week.
When I asked Shaun to explain what Bat Butt is to me in his own words, he responded with something like this:
Shaun is full of ideas that are packed with raw energy, but when it comes to explaining them, he doesn’t have the time. Every attempt at a structured question about meaning or inspiration was thwarted by an unknowing, or rather uncaring, response. If he does think about the meaning behind his work, he’s very secretive about it. The About section of the Bat Butt website self-identifies simply as “LO-FI ZINES”. I guess it’s my job to paint a clearer picture, because even my chosen short descriptor “zine project” doesn’t articulate the full scale of the Bat Butt output.
Bat Butt has always existed as a foundation for artists to collaborate on. Before Bat Butt the zine, there was Bat Butt the WhatsApp group, named after the group icon of an illustrated bat merged with a human bum, on which Shaun would invite a group of his friends to congregate at his apartment for regular creative sessions. With all the supplies and equipment necessary for everyone’s preferred mediums at hand, the group sat and made stuff in what I imagine to be a cult-like therapeutic creative trance. Once he had accumulated enough of his buddies’ art to question what he was going to do with it all, Shaun decided to compile a zine to give away to the first hundred guests at his upcoming art exhibition at Kalashnikovv Gallery in Joburg, where he was signed at the time. The seven subsequent Bat Butt issues featured artwork from more than a hundred contributors and have been shipped all over the world. On his long list of contributors, he told me, are the Post Office ladies who would help him package and stamp countless zine packs in exchange for two big PicknPay chocolate cakes. Bat Butt’s collaborative power is so strong that the ladies would even give Shaun stamps to put on the packs at home before delivering them to get shipped.
Duck Duck Goose founder Daniel Sher first joined the collaborator list when he recruited Shaun for illustrations to be put on Good Good Good garments for a runway show at SA Menswear Week in 2017. Since Duck Duck Goose opened its doors in late 2020, Shaun’s illustrations have become synonymous with the store’s artistic sensibilities. Through long nights and WhatsApp chats that could span the Earth’s circumference more than once if printed out, Daniel and Shaun have developed a design language unique to the Duck Duck Goose project. Paige, Daniel’s wife, has even questioned whether they’re having a full-blown relationship behind her back.
Having sat across from the two of them to have the conversation that informed this article, I can confirm that their creative bond is reminiscent of a long and healthy marriage. Shaun admits that he has found an ideal collaborator in Daniel. The two share a similar go-getting creative lifestyle and come from DIY backgrounds. Shaun’s zines started with a Xerox machine from his retired dad’s closed business, while Daniel, a registered chartered accountant, started a clothing company with a T-shirt during his articles and has since opened a shop and runs a manufacturing company. Because of their mutually large appetites for collaboration, their established connection and understanding, and the quality of garments able to be produced with Together MFG, says Shaun, Duck Duck Goose is the only place where he feels comfortable stocking his own product. This new collection of clothing bound for 120 Bree Street solidifies Daniel and Shaun’s collaborative marriage.
This collection of tees has allowed Shaun to design graphics for an audience outside of the mostly family-friendly one that’s targeted by his artwork for Duck Duck Goose and Good Good Good. Instead, the imagery on these T-shirts is purely Bat Butt, with characters and symbols that display the type of mischief and gritty edge that might make a baby cry, or a knowing elderly woman grin. Shaun struggles to put his finger on a precise explanation or description of the type of art that fits into the Bat Butt aesthetic. Although having worked with more than a hundred artists, both local and international, who have contributed images to his zines, the essence that pulls them together is still hard for him to put into words, except for them all being lo-fi. Shaun rather speaks about the resonance that he has with this type of art and the people who make it. He gives off the vibe of a wise and well-travelled curatorial wizard, as if he’s lived a life much longer than his 34-year-old age suggests, when he speaks about the familiarity that he finds in these collaborators. He senses Bat Butt in people who are hungry to release their creative urges, which comes out in the honesty and darkness in their art and doesn’t necessitate explanation. The zines have never been themed, opting rather for a hodgepodge of gutturally motivated raw and true art that tows the borderline of what’s considered safe, like a high-octane action movie with no plot. Shaun just wants people to express what’s inside them, because although he can’t explain it, he feels it too.
The imagery will find its way to the people who have a similar resonance with it. If you see it and it resonates, you’re part of a chosen few – you’ve got a little Bat Butt in you. There are others like you, and if you’re all wearing Bat Butt-branded clothing, it’ll be far easier to identify each other and make friends. You won’t only be wearing a great T-shirt, you’ll also be expressing your deepest and darkest essence. The units of the merchandise will, however, be very limited. So, if you find yourself drawn to Bat Butt, you best move to join the cult fast. Along with the clothing collection, Shaun will also be digging into his archive to provide the store with deadstock copies of Bat Butt zines through the years. With so much to choose from, you’re bound to find something that you identify with.
