Almost calming, at times ironic and humorous this 24 hour video work pulls you in and makes you just sit and watch for a while. I managed to watch it for 30 mins the first time and 2 hrs the second time. Almost addictive and hypnotic it’s amazing how accurate the film is and lovely to spot familiar scenes from favorite movies or old classics I was forced to watch in art school.

A must-watch for anyone interested in the video art side of things. Ever since I accepted the fact that I cannot enjoy art at a purely intellectual level it is much easier for me to spot things that I like versus things I don’t like. It’s almost crude to divide art into these groups but it is true. You either feel something when you look at a work or you just don’t feel it. You can still enjoy the techniques/concept/history/context/etc. that the artist uses but eventually it doesn’t matter. If you really want to become an art lover, then be honest and admit that the giant 100 yr old oil painting of a naked woman is pretty cool but doesn’t do
anything for you.

The Clock 2010 by Christian Marclay. Single-channel video with stereo sound. Twenty-four hours. Image Source.

A few more pictures from the exhibition. Although we did not use these moments in our final performance, the experiments always contribute most to the next work.

Fragmented II/Self, Sept 2012.

Fragmented II/Audience, Sept 2012.

Performance by dancer Divya Murthy, singer Shilpa Natarajan and Mathivanan Rajendran from Stray Factory. Interactive installation by artist Aditi Kulkarni and designer Abhishek Ghate.

Usually I would not invite audience to view an experimental setup like this, basically before it has been rehearsed well or fine-tuned. However I felt sharing it with people would help me understand how to take it further, discuss this potential idea and even get useful comments. I also love to see how the actors and audience interacted with the work, since this is key to my next iteration.

The Jaaga space was interesting, since the walls were made of mud and recycled or reused materials. A lot of city and traffic noise filtered into the space, which potentially disturbed the performance. With loud traffic noises coming in from the street and the sound of other Jaaga people walking around upstairs, it was necessary for us to use a mike setup. It was tricky to light up the dancer without washing out the installation itself and this is something I will try to resolve in the next few iterations of the work. Especially with the low budget we had, we were looking at creating an experimental work which we could take further.

Another image of the work. Here you can see the mud walls and makeshift space towards the right.

Kids love the installation and immediately play with it and test it’s limits.The installation is up for another day so I am looking forward to seeing how others will react to this.

“How do artist’s respond to this widening market? Has it changed the way they position themselves or the way they perceive their audience? @rt Virtually Real pursues this trajectory and enquired, through the works of selected artists, is virtual reality now more real than reality itself? How does it percolate as associations and triggers that effect the way artists perceive their world. How do they fashion their personal politics around this?”
Georgina Maddox, Independent curator and art critic.

It was an amazing experience to meet the other artists and be amongst the chosen few selected to participate in the first annual event for emergingartists.in. It took about 4 days of hard work and continuous support from Sunaina Anand and the awesome team at Art Alive to setup my interactive video installation in the gallery space. Photos and videos of my work will be up soon. In the meantime here’s a preview of the exhibition for all those who may not be able to make it.

Green Peas by P. Bujinga Rao. 60″ x 25″ x 19″ Rexene, Toys, Iron, Sponge, Zip and Fiber Glass.

I’m fire..and heat.. A Rumba in motion as whoopee… by Satadru Sovan. 20″ x 30″ Acrylic on Paper.

Fragmented Cities 2012 by Aditi Kulkarni. Interactive video installation. Variable dimensions. (Detail).

Fragmented Cities (Detail).

Untitled by Pratap Morey. 40″ x 30″ x 2.3″ Graphite Drawings, Engravings, Archival Print Folded and Pasted on Archival Board. Image courtesy of Art Alive Gallery, from the @rt Virtually Real Show Catalogue.

May I Assist You (Detail) by Vigil Chooliyad. Mixed Media on Canvas, Acrylic, M-Seal & Metal. Size Variable.

Artist Vijil Chooliyad sets up his installation. May I Assist You (Detail).

Let me Live III by Harekrishna Talukdar. 42″ x 19″ x 8″ Fibre Glass.

Press.

Catalogue and Invite.

His abstract sculptures were a pleasure and my favorites amongst his life’s work. His sculptures of animals were brilliant and at times even humorous.

Dog by Ramkinkar Baij, Terracotta, 1950′s. 38.5 by 29.5 by 22cm. Image Source: Delhi Art Gallery.

The Poet by Ramkinkar Baij. 1938. Image Source.

Other works worth noting are The Harvest 1957 (oil on canvas), Atomika 1969 (oil on canvas), and a sculpture portrait of Pramod Ganguly (Plaster of Paris).

Here are some pictures I managed to take from my mobile phone.

Untitled, 2011. Mixed media on canvas, acrylic glass. 143X122X24cm. Indian Mylar Vision, Galerie Isa, Mumbai.

The artist also talks about a topic that is close to my heart – the distinction between design and art and how his collaborations with companies such as Dior question these rigid definitions. ‘I find it strange that the intersections between art and design are still so taboo,’ he says while introducing his new work. ‘Such practice was quite common in the 1920′s as the Bauhaus style shows: along with its progression, the antagonism between craftsmen and artists have dissolved – at least for a while. And it did well.’

It is important to point out that art in India does not reject decoration outright. Local craftsmen have played important roles in Indian art today, and there are close links between folk tradition and modern and contemporary art in India.

The multimedia installation is inspired by my memories and experiences of Mumbai, emphasizing the conflict between a desirable elsewhere and an undesirable here within this fast-growing metropolis. This violent conflict between bipolar aspects of the perceived city is apparent in the dynamic and uncanny relationship between the artifice in the work, its shadows and specular reflections.

More of my art and design work is here.

From the photos you notice that some parts of these murals look newer than others. I can only guess that these parts have been restored and touched up recently.