Friday, June 11, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Rooted in Nostalgia
Sajad Malik, has done his BFA from the
Unlike most of us Sajad was not new to
For the Residency too, Sajad is working on a short animation. His works can be viewed on his website: www.kashmirblackandwhite.com
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Tracing Transition
Neha Thakar has done her MFA in Painting from the MSU Baroda. Neha’s core concern is that of understanding a ‘particular process of transformation’, that is a shift, a move, from existence to non-existence; such that the form becomes or gets a status of a language. In videos like Process, Delivered, Neha employed ice, and made sculptures of it, and captured the way they changed their form. Such that the documentation of this entire process became the final art work, as there was no evidence / remains of the original physical works she undertook.
Further Neha likes to plays with the contrast between the tangible and the intangible (in her works - objects catering to ones senses like – different fragrances / odours). She prefers to takes a minimal approach while executing her works, be it her sculptures or her drawings.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Re-viewing Issues
One of the strongest assets of Bhavin Mistry is his drawing. In his earlier works Bhavin was interested in capturing – textures, their formations and multiple visual possibilities presented by them. To him these works held an intuitive aspect which he wanted to explore.
Untitled, Paper work
A metaphysical aspect runs deep in Bhavin’s current works – a single point perspective, bare eerie landscapes, solid architectural forms. His interest in mechanics made him work on objects which have a ubiquitous presence. With these he creates, what he calls hybrid form; most of which are granted a super-normal or alien status (which invariably hint at a surrogate human presence). All of which contribute to give an uncanny feeling, and at times, a feeling of intense claustrophobia.
Untitled, Paper work
Bhavin does not intend to break away from his conceptual structure – which is rooted in the addressing the idea of basic survival / necessities and claustrophobia. He claims that
Current ongoing work at the Residency
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Circuitous Connections
Agat Sharma, Masters from NIFT,
His works like, Fear and Fashion, and his project titled – Metro and its Panoptic Modernity, mediate in public spaces, to explore how various systems function, for instance a signage system, a presence of which nearly installs the feeling of fear within the commuters. The idea of a city has played a major role in the conceptualization of his works. Technology – its change and its implications finds an important place in his works. He observes and analyzes the changes a city undergoes and its obvious ripple effect over various faculties including its inhabitants. For the residency, Agat intends to take a look at the idea of consumerism and human sentiments, and a vicious circle in which the city and its inhabitants invariably get caught.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Conjoined Experiences
I had introduced the members in the group earlier through their absence, and now I feel its time to introduce their works. This can act as a precursor to their current works at Khoj.
In his landscapes, Patra uses various electronic parts to construct a city. Further provides an aerial view, and renders a nearly abstract form to the scape and extricates it from a particular context. For the residency,
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Pacing up
It’s already been 15 days that we all have been shuttling between the guest house and the studios. The first few days flew by as we were getting habituated to the weather and the space. Later, ideas were brewing in our minds about our work and yet the city provided a lot to attract us; and so we spent meandering through the intestines of
Jagannath Panda's Studio
All of us in our Respective Cozy Zones (Agat is missing)
Ravi and his electronic waste
Sajad -animating
(In continuation to the series I began earlier of introducing the members as and when they went missing. This one was clicked at Manisha Parekh's studio, where Bhavin, Neha and me were absent. Reason, we were simply busy reading a few catalogus)
Bhavin Mistry, Masters in Painting, M.S.U., Baroda. Bhavin shifted in his studio with most of his paraphernalia, including his sleeping bag. This act of Bhavin is just a precursor to what his final work is going to be.
Neha Thakar, Masters in Painting, M.S.U., Baroda. Neha likes to shuttle between her work and her reading, and so at any given time, she will have a few books with her.
And finally that is me, Vrushali Dhage, Masters in Art History and Criticism, M.S.U. Baroda.What do I write about myself? As I have to write about others.
Old Delhi
Later with Himanshu Verma of Red Earth, we got a chance to go to the Khari Baoli – the spice market. In this market at any given time, people were either sneezing or coughing, as the aroma of the spices was too strong. He also took us to the flower market. As we wandered through these lanes it was clear there would be something or the other which would cater to our individual interest.
At a point near Chandani Chowk, I read a board which said “Mirza Ghalib Ki Haveli, Ballimaran – and that was it. I was sure that I wanted to go there. All the descriptions in Ghalib’s poetry seems live and real –
Ballimaran ke mohalle ki wo pechida dalilon ki si galiyan
Samne taal ke nukkad par bateron ke kaseede
Gudgudati hui pan ki peekon mein wo daad wo wah wah
Chand darwazon par latke hue boseeda se kuch taat ke parde
Ek bakri ke mamiyane ki awaz
Aur dhundhlai hui shaam ke benoor andhere ..
..aise deewaron se muhn jod ke chalte hain yahan
Chooriwalan ke katre ki Badi Bi jaise apni buhjti hui aankhon se darwaze tatole’’
(Unfortunately we were unable to see his Haveli from inside as we had reached late. But somehow I couldn’t even dare to click a picture of the exterior too, ASI has worked on it, This place is like a pilgrimage centre for any one who likes his works)
And just round the corner, Sajad and Bhavin found some gastronomic respite through a plate of freshly fried chicken. Neha was pulled into a shop selling Perfumes- Ittar, as I always say “she is the woman of strong senses” – I guess her final residency work shall attest this statement of mine. The electronics market pulled
.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Bhavin's Yong & Kyong
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Through Lanes and By Lanes
It would be very naïve on my part to make a statement like “every city is full of contrasts”, by now we all are familiar with such facts. What remains of importance is how we perceive and further the manner in which we analyze them. Like most of the metro cities
The distance between our guest house and the studio is approximately 5km. The main road acts like a meridian and a slight drift from it changes the picture drastically. We all get off the rickshaws just opposite the grand City Walk and MGF Metropolitan Mall to step into a lane which has a dirt road leveled with pebbles, where dilapidated houses, workshops and a few illegal buildings virtually balance out the hang-out spaces of the chic crowd – just across the road. On experiencing this, the road no longer seems to be a functional entity but - a line of separation. This difference stood out even more starkly with the walk through the
With such newer constructions one thinks about the earlier residents and the thought of their displacement strikes in subsequently. Just to go on a lighter note, Andi told us an interesting fact, “When the foundation for the City Walk Mall was being dug, there was no major issue related to human dislodging but that of the mice. These residents too lost their homes and were forced to find new ones, and consequently the lanes in the nearby locality were infested with them in no time.”
Friday, May 21, 2010
Introducing the Absent Ones!
Beginning with the official PEERS 2010 shot.
ABSENT MEMBER - Malik Sajad (
(Agat Sharma, had just stepped a few minutes before the click, as though he came in only for it, or else he too would have been the one to be introduced through another blank space)
Malik Sajad at the Khirkee Mosque - turned his back towards his peers and chose to click dogs.
SECOND PICTURE : Centre table talk –ISSUE -What needs to be cooked for DINNER! Which has become like a necessary formality, and ever since we have stepped in the guest house, FOOOD has been playing in the back of our minds, all our plans get moulded accordingly.
ABSENT MEMBER – Agat and Rabindra
AGAT SHARMA (NIFT,
RABINDRA PATRA allies
The remaining members will be introduced in the same manner, as and when they go missing. Wonder when we will get our complete family photograph!
Over the week, at the guest house, our temporary home, the post dinner sessions were allotted for showing and speaking about the woks of individual artists. And of course most of the discussion would begin focusing on the artists’ works but over the hours would deviate and deviate further to take an absolutely tangential path, such that we would have to make an effort to trace the point of commencement. These talks were like ice-breakers. I guess most of us feel intimidated to speak in public, therefore these extremely casual talks proved to be really good, as there was no special need gather courage to speak and no fear of getting battered for committing mistakes.
At this point, though I am extremely tempted to speak about their works, but I want to hold my self from doing so. The reason being that each artist needs to be spoken about, at length, which I would be doing in the following posts; and moreover what remains of initial / immediate interest is the way in which all of us are considering this opportunity to understand our works by taking a step back and looking at it from a different perspective. There all catalyzed the process of mental readjustment in an extremely positive manner. Well, looking at the DVD (movies and documentaries) rack in the digital library at the Khoj Khirkee Studio we collectively feel that 30 days would be too short a span to make the best out of this space!