Group Critique
During the group critique I spoke about projecting the filmed cityscape outdoors, and the importance of capturing the essence of the city. Leigh Clarke reacted with a wide range of comments about the work. His main point was that the sound was more powerful than the time-lapse video since it allowed the audience to imagine a larger, more ambiguous space.
He also mentioned that my background as a privileged member of society, and the subsequent "god-like" perspective referred to the panopticon and I should be cautious about the meanings inferred from such choices. Tracey Emin's Folkstone work was mentioned in relation to illustrating a place by using one powerful symbolic object. Leigh Clarke felt that I should focus on a particular object or section of the city instead of trying to describe the entire "forest." He commented that I needed to have an original view of the city rather than something which has been seen before. Ai Weiwei's work Sunflower Seeds 2010 was also mentioned, however I am of the opinion that the work has little relation to mine since I'm looking at sharing the darker, hidden city. In terms of capturing essence however the work is relevant due to the clever play on porcelain versus sunflower seeds, and the issue of handcrafted versus mass-industrialization.
Overall the critique was motivating and provocative because he challenged my project at every level. I explored whether I could go ahead without the visual aspect altogether and looked at various installation concepts that would center around sound as a medium. Another important conclusion was that giving the audience too much information reduced the impact of the work. Overall I realized much more experimentation and research is needed before I can confidently defend my work.
Reference:
Bentham, J (1791). Panopticon Or the Inspection House Vol1 [ebook]. University of Lausanne. Available from: http://books.google.com/ebooks [Accessed 23rd April].
Calvino, I (1997). Invisible Cities. New Edition. London: Minerva.
Emin, T (2008) Baby Things [online] Available from http://www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk/2011-event/artists/2008-tracey-emin/ [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
Foucault, M (1977). Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison [online] Translated from French by Alan Sheridan. Available online from http://www.cartome.org/foucault.htm [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
Kennedy, M (Jan 2011). Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds to go on sale at Sotheby's [online] Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/26/ai-weiwei-sunflower-seeds-sothebys?INTCMP=SRCH [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
Tate Modern (2010). The Unilevel Series: Ai Weiwei [online] Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unileverseries2010/default.shtm [Accessed 23rd April 2011].
How to Live in a Foreign Country: Six Easy Steps
1. Clothes: As soon as you land you need to decide whether you want to fit in or stand out and LOOK like a foreigner. Sometimes the colour of your skin decides that for you. But all is not lost, a few casual adjustments to your wardrobe and you can fade into the crowd. The other option is easy: just keep wearing whatever you bloody like no matter what the temperature is or how many weird stares you get. This is called the permanent tourist method. 2. Food: Either start loving the food in local restaurants or LEARN HOW TO COOK LIKE YOUR MOM. For most of us the latter is impossible, so you're left with the more adventurous option - tolerate the local food and surprise yourself everyday with new discoveries. E.g. "Yum!," or "I'm never going to that place again!" or "Oh God the horror..." Beware: after several months your adventurous nature may disappear.
3. Transport: The most fun part of any new country is the unpredictable and new buses, taxi's, roads, and train services. If you are from a country with a horrible and inefficient system you will appreciate the calm monotony of a dependable service. If you are from a country with awesome transport you will hate it and need to improve your survival skills.
4. Night Life: If you manage to make cool friends in the foreign country you will go to to the best places in town which are awesome no matter where you are (seriously, anywhere). If you don't make cool friends then you can meet other losers like yourself and stumble around the foreign country in an adventurous and potentially dangerous (in some places) manner. This is also okay.
5. Weather: If you are very good at living in a foreign country and manage the first four steps easily, then I can assure you that weather is always a problem. If you are from a very cold country you will love the warm and unbearably hot temperature and bake yourself pink everyday until you fall sick. If you are from a hot country you will hate the frozen foreign land and wonder why God has forsaken these people.
6. Language: This is the deal breaker for most people. The most practical thing to do is to choose a foreign country where you KNOW THE LANGUAGE. If you are stupid you will not do this. Instead you will try to learn an absolutely new language and in some cases, new SCRIPT, and struggle to do simple tasks like buying bread and reading the menu. You are truly an adventurous spirit because after one year of this you will either become an expert or start hating this complex and mystical foreign language. In extreme cases you can just use sign language, with a calculator, and point at things (this is also part of the permanent tourist method and locals will secretly or openly hate you depending on how polite the foreign country is).
Mastering these six steps will make you an expert in living in foreign countries, and don't let the negativity fool you, it's actually awesome fun! (sometimes).
Or check out Nine Advantages of Living in the Third World
Statement
Mumbai+Bombay is an immersive multimedia experience that explores the conflicted and fragmented city of Mumbai with the use of shadows and light. A surreal landscape of an imagined Mumbai parts to reveal a hidden city of violence and disparity; a dystopian elsewhere that is inspired by the recent history of terrorist attacks and growing inequality within the metropolis.
Reflection
The first turning point was a discussion with Phil Beards about focussing my topic of interest for the MA. Based on Phil's suggestion, I ended up brainstorming and created a mind map which outlined the proposed area of study.Initially I was uncertain about which bipolarity I should study and looked at several opposing factors within Mumbai such as ugly and beautiful and poverty versus luxury. During the course of my research on Mumbai's architecture, I stumbled on an article by Ashraf K. Kazi (2005) where he mentions the concept of elsewhere and it's relation to the evolving architecture of Mumbai city. This conflict between the elsewhere and the here was the perfect example of bipolarity; juxtaposing the luxurious pseudo-greek high rises of Hiranandani with the crowded squalor of the Tunga slums.
A brainstorming discussion with Liam Birtles helped expand my thoughts on the final installation work. We discussed several ideas and technical possibilities, hidden cities, the use of shadow, and how time could also be a factor within the installation. Eventually the most important event was the installation test in December which helped me see my work in it's intended medium for the first time. Several issues needed much more thought such as the use of space, time and sound and how these could in turn interact with the audience while flowing with the theory and concept. This first experimental installation and the consequent discussions and findings helped clarify my concept and goals for phase 1.
A string of events in the last two and a half weeks of phase 1 helped synthesize my aims and theoretical framework. A peer critique encouraged me to continue using real shadows and a group critique steered me towards the works of Kit Wise and theories of heterotopia. While creating the presentation for the group critique I also analyzed and listed the technical limitations of my current installation experiments. And a final tutorial with Phil helped me start planning for Phase 2 and the use of interactive sound.
Phase 1 was an experimental phase, just like the final work from Phase 1 is an experiment and not a formal installation to be placed in an art gallery. Several factors will be taken into account for Phase 2, based on the findings of the installation experiment conducted on 20th of January. These will probably include research into the history of shadows, use of sound, technical details, coding, the 360 panorama and how these additional layers could affect the audience experience. Most importantly phase 2 will not be an experimental phase, but a project phase which will focus on the dissemination and application of my practice.
Reference
Ashraf, K Kazi. (2005) Masala City: Urban Stories from South Asia. The New Mix: Culturally dynamic architecture, Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson, Architectural Design. Vol 75, No 5 Sept/Oct 2005, pp.67-68.
Group Critique
Overall Feedback:Brian Catling (performance artist and poet) mentioned that I could add a layer of virtual shadows to the video installation, in addition to the real shadows thrown by the audience. He also mentioned that since the user's action is central to viewing the work, it's almost as if the user is causing the resulting violence/action, in this case the image of a burning building that becomes visible only in the user's shadow. In answer to my question about the kind of space I should use for the installation, he said that using a clean, "constructed" white room would work best with the concept. There was a brief discussion on the lack of sound used, and he thought that sound was not required at all.
Several artists and films that could help develop my practice were mentioned: such at Kit Wise, Rope by Hitchcock and "London" and "Robinson in Space" by Patrick Keiller. I was also directed to Foucault's theories of Heterotopia, Dystopia and Utopia; "Non Places - Introduction and an Anthropology of Super Modernity" by Mare Ange and the History of the Shadow by V. Strichita.
Reflection: The use or lack of sound is an important issue which I still have to properly integrate into the concept of the bipolar, constructed realities. However I agree with Brian in that the sound itself is not very important to the installation. It is a concern to me that the sound or music could dominate the visuals. The result should be dream-like, since dreams have a tendency to have faded or muted sounds when remembered. Examples of appropriate sounds are: muted voices, very low volume music, or something subtle such as crackling of fire and gunshots in the distance. During the presentation I also realized that a subtle difference between the "here" and the "elsewhere" is better than an overly dramatic and "literal" difference. The space itself is still an issue which I need to work on to some extent. A large part of phase 2 will be building on the space, experimenting with the use of objects along with projectors, and trying the 360 degree panorama. Overall, creating the presentation helped me organize my thoughts in terms of the kind of framework and process I followed, looking at the gaps in my reasoning and further steps I needed to take in my research.
Notes: Topics to read further: Para-Feminism, Invisible artwork, Family photographs as imposed memories, Leonard Talmy: Force Dynamic in language: "door is closed" vs the "door cannot be opened." Uses of Enchantment by Bruno: interesting book about fairy tales, Costume vs. Fashion is the folk (narrative, story) vs. elite (market, consumer); Physiology of taste by Brillat Savarin; Dutch golden age (objects with meaning, symbols) - using a room or a window to project against or using meaningful objects in the installation; Shadows: Using shadows in different tones, different light sources. Also interesting is the book Praise the Shadow; Constructed Reality: creating from photographs, memory, or not even that, but just found photographs is one step down. Films: Many Moons (2008) b Janelle Monae; Coraline (animation); Eraserhead by David Lynch
Bombay Cinema: An Archive of the City
Initially the concept of the "elsewhere" that inspired my focus on the conflict between the real and the ideal in Mumbai came from an article by Ashraf K. Kazi about the "Masala City." He went on to give examples from Bollywood movies such as Mein Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, where the entire movie unfolds in an imaginary Indian town called Sundarnagar. This lead me to look into Bollywood and the ways it represents Mumbai. The movie-making industry in Mumbai has come of age - now more than a 100 years old, and it reflects the city's conflicts, politics and desires as much as its people. Excerpts from the book Bombay Cinema by Ranjani Mazumdar:
"The Bombay-based film industry resonates throughout the world, in places where the Indian diaspora has settled and in places where nonnative speakers appreciate its unique choreography of music, melodrama, fantasy, and spectacle. Much of popular cinema’s success can be attributed to what many in the industry refer to as a “techno folk” form, which combines folk traditions with new cinematic technology."
"Drawing on various visual, literary, and artistic traditions, each with its own distinct history, popular Indian cinema is an evolving, unabashedly hybrid cultural form that narrates the complicated intersection between tradition and modernity in contemporary India. Film production started in India almost simultaneously with other filmmaking countries, beginning in 1896."
The author also mentions the Indian street, as a place which contains Indian life and all its related conflicts. Although I am currently focussing on building a virtual Mumbai skyline, creating a street could also interest me in the future.
"In a rare piece, Arjun Appadurai describes the Indian street as the space where “India eats, works, sleeps, moves, celebrates and worships. The street is a stage that rarely sleeps” (1987, 14). Through a vivid visual anthropology (across different cities of India), Appadurai traces both the historical formation and the function of the street, as well as its present location in the cultural and social life of India. The multiple activities and events of the street are a clear reminder that the “sharp demarcation of public from private spheres is a recent addition to the Indian consciousness” (1987, 14). For Dipesh Chakrabarty, the modernist categories of the public-private divide were challenged by the street in India where “People washed, changed, slept...out in the open” (16). But neither Appadurai nor Chakrabarty refers specifically to the presence of women in the street. The Indian street as described by these writers is ubiquitous and peopled by all types engaged in different forms of activity in an almost genderless space."
Reference:
Ashraf, K Kazi. (2005) Masala City: Urban Stories from South Asia. The New Mix: Culturally dynamic architecture, Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson, Architectural Design. Vol 75, No 5 Sept/Oct 2005, pp.67-68.
Mazumdar, Ranjani. Bombay Cinema : An Archive of the City. Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press, 2007. p 18, 19, 120. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aib/Doc?id=10206194&ppg=18 Copyright © 2007. University of Minnesota Press. All rights reserved.
Circle of Confusion
One line from this article grabbed me: "It is impossible to grasp the city, one can only take a fragment of it."
[Image Source] | Circle of Confusion by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige | Photographic installation | Mirror, colour digital prints (3,000 pieces), ink inscriptions.
The work resonates with the aim of my project, as it seeks to represent the city of Beirut: how it's various and poorly documented conflicts have cut it into pieces, making it impossible to make a "true" picture of it, inviting the user to destroy the city by taking pieces off the board and scattering them, revealing a layer beneath. One of the questions brought up in the article is: "How does the viewer’s participation in this work, by removing and taking possession of a fragment of the city of Beirut, add to the meaning of Circle of Confusion?"
Similarly I can attempt to create a question for my work: How does the viewer's participation in this work, by revealing the hidden city of Mumbai in the viewer's shadows, add to the meaning of Mumbai+Bombay?
The Elsewhere
The song-site in Bollywood movies is a good example of the imagined elsewhere for middle and upper-middle class Mumbaikars, where we are suddenly transported from the streets of Mumbai or the here, into an ideal place frequently represented by Switzerland, New Zealand or Germany; a dreamscape that is actually being built (Fig.1) through the efforts of architects and builders who have realized and understood this desire amongst aspiring Indians (Ashraf, 2005, p. 68):
The longing for elsewhere is now embodied in new building configurations that are radically altering the urban landscape: malls and shopping centres, cineplexes and flyovers, and exclusive apartment or residential complexes.
Using popular commercial styles of architects such as Hiranandani and Hafeez Contractor, the elsewhere will be a seamless city inspired by exclusive residential complexes and sets from Bollywood movies.
A complete contrast to these new structures that boast luxury, the reality or the here is that two-thirds of Mumbai’s population live in slums that lack basic amenities such as water, health, education and sanitation (Jonas Bendikson, 2008). This is how the majority lives even as they aspire to the ‘elsewhere;’ consuming popular Bollywood movies that sell dream-like images of what India could be. The here will be represented by a fragmented collage of conflicting identities in Mumbai today, a panorama based on images of everyday streets, slums, art deco buildings and famous landmarks.
[The full essay with references and images is available here: Study_PlanFNL5]
Research: its Aims and Structure
Phil Jones spoke about his thesis 'The Bones of the Book: Schematic Structure and Meanings made from from Books' and it lead me to question my Study Plan immediately. It is only a synopsis right now, but in time I should be confident of where my research stands in the academic world. These are some pointers from Phil on how to structure your research, in my own words: > The Subject This is the underlying aim, drive or motivation behind my work.
> The Field What is the state of interactive media today? What is the most current research and art in this field, and how and in which direction is it moving towards. What are the factions etc.
> Research Question Specifying the focus of the study using relevant technical terms from my discipline, in a question format. Aim, Objectives (Detailed aim) will flow from the research question.
> Theoretical Context World view, philosophical point of view, which will then influence your practice, awareness.
> Methods Connected to your theoretical framework.
> Claims and Truths Provably true, probably true (statistics) or plausibly true (convincing argument)
> Prediction of the form of the final presentation
Explication
Or making the implicit, explicit. That was the goal when writing my plan for phase 1 of the MA project. What I achieved though was a brief overview of the project's main aims as they stand now, and how I plan to accomplish them within the given time period: My aim is to create an interactive experience or object that represents a slice of the city Mumbai. Using visual language that symbolically represents the city’s dichotomies and conflicting identities, I propose to explore the city’s depth and complexity through the combined use of an appropriate form language, relevant technology and multimedia.
Download the full PDF here: Study_Plan (2.5 MB)
London Exhibitions
My first trip to Tate Britain and the V&A: Looking at a wide variety of artists from Fiona Banner, Muybridge and Mondrian to Rachel Whitereed.
My visit to Tate Britain and the V&A in London was helpful in several ways. First off, Fiona Banner's work Harriet and Jaguar made a huge impact on me. The fighter jets looked beautiful and awe inspiring, especially because of the way they were placed in the museum gallery. In a way she has transformed them so that it's difficult to remember that these are deadly machines: war planes used to kill people.
Another image from Fiona Banner called Top Gun (1994), this is a close-up I've taken. It interested me because of the way it pulls you in and persuades you to read more.
Inverse Reverse Perverse (1996) by Cerith Wyn Evans at the Tate, London
Inversions (1966) by Mary Martin
Structure 14c (1961) by Stephen Gilbert, at the Tate London.
Of all the work by Eadward Muybridge that was exhibited, Panorama of San Francisco from Street Hill (1878) was the one that came closest to affecting my practice as an artist. The idea of a landscape or panorama of the city of Mumbai had been churning in my head for a while, and experiencing this work at this scale helped me focus on the concept as a method of depicting a rich space. The landscape format reveals more of the city than what is seen normally, or parts of the city like they have never been seen before; a disillusioned and yet enlightened reinterpretation of a physical urban space. I will explore the landscape format in more detail in a later post.
Update (8th Dec): Photo documentation of more exhibitions I've visisted here.
Mind Map
I had so many ideas, theories and directions I wanted to explore that a good old fashioned brainstorming was the only way to start.
Trying to pin down what exactly this MA thesis is going to about is no easy task. I had so many ideas, theories and directions I wanted to explore that a good old fashioned brainstorming was the only way to start. Check out it out here.
An absurd evening at The Office
* The sky was that dim dark blue that makes you realize its past seven and you're going to be at work for another hour easy. I was, predictably, still following up on things that were probably not my job due to the fact that we were under-staffed. Making sure the damned Finance department would pay my vendors on time became more important than design work, since without printers you can't get anything done anyway. In this case, 'on time' was long gone and it was quickly turning into paying my vendors 'ever'. Add to that the internet is down (again) and the emails are not working (again). So my numerous replies and follow ups must be done via phone. It was during this process that I had a very strange twlight-like conversation with the HOD of Finance.
[The Finance dept. lost all the bills, and I had sent them copies the second time].
"Hi, FM."
"Hi, yes Aditi"
"I just wanted to tell you that I have sent all the bill copies to the Purchase dept. again. My email is not working, so I just wanted to say that I gave it to them in the afternoon."
"Good, good. okay. Once Mahesh tells me he's recieved it, I will go ahead."
"But he has recieved it, I gave it to him in the afternoon."
"Yes but nowadays I don't trust anybody, not even you, not even Mahesh."
"Okay..."
"I don't even trust myself. Finance dept. is such, the kind of work that we do. You can't be too careful. I don't even trust what I am saying and doing."
"(Laughter) You don't even trust yourself? But how...?"
"I'm telling you. You never know if the bills are recieved, with accounts, with purchase, finance or wherever. Once I know where they are, then I will take action."
"Okay, but I gave them to Purchase today."
"You already told me that. Are you telling me twice because you had to give copies of the bill twice?" (Laughter)
I forced a laugh out of myself. I don't think giving copies of bills again and again is funny at all. "But I'm just telling you FM, that's all."
"Good, good. And once I am certain of what's happening, I will definitely take action." At this point I gave up since I realized we were having a circular conversation.
"Enjoy!" FM continued. This was the most strangest part. I had never had such a long conversation with him, but this was definitely a weird way to hang up.
"Okay... Thanks then." (For nothing, I added in my head).
"Enjoy, enjoy!" he repeated merrily and then hung up. I stared at the phone for a couple of moments, wondering what just happened. Clearly someone was making a fool of me. I looked around, but everyone was seriously typing away at their cubicles. So I shrugged it off and got back to work.
*
Quick Gun Murugan - Movie Review
Director: Shashanka Ghosh | Writer: Rajesh Devraj *
Okay, I've already heard many people say that the movie is not worth watching, and I completely disagree. That's what pushed me to write the review. Apparently, the movie has got a couple of bad reviews in the newspapers, I have no idea why, most of the time lots of terribly bad movies get good reviews, especially in TOI.
Quick Gun Murugan is Classic Slapstick Humour. It's well done, not too sexist, it has low brow and high brow cross-references and original, entertaining cultural references. Frankly, what more do you need in a light movie? A spoof of Tamil cinema, the movie reminds me of one of my all-time favourites, Kung Fu Hustle.
You're guaranteed to leave the theatre in a good mood, smiling: It's not too long either.
The theatre I went to in Chennai was not packed because it was a Sunday morning show, but almost everyone in the audience was in splits the entire time.
A warning note: It doesn't make sense to expect too much (its not THAT great), since its still rough at the edges, and not as polished as it could have been. And the reason I'm raving about it is the dearth of such movies in Indian cinema. As a film buff I still expect better.
Image via www.media.photobucket.com
The villain - Rice Plate Reddy:
Image via strawdogs.files.wordpress.com
The vamp/heroin Rambha:
Image via whatslatest.com
So you've seen some of the excellent and colourful cast, although I couldnt find a picture of one of my favourite villain characters - Rowdy MBA Rascal - I loved the insane amounts of case-taking of MBA's!!
Finally a found a pic of Rowdy MBA The Side Kick Villain:
Image via nowrunning.com
The wiki tells us of the origin of the main character Quick Gun, who started off as a television promo on Channel [V] making phrases such as "Mind it" and "We are like this only" part of an iconic cultural identity. Quick Gun has come a long way from there.
Interestingly, the movie is in English, but it breaks into Tamil or Hindi whenever translation is not possible. In this way, even if it's in English, you never lose the Indian flavour at all. For example,
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
during a love song, he is singing in English and it sounds really ridiculous and funny, and then he switched to Tamil naturally, which is even funnier due to the subtitles that then appear, translating everything literally! This part was tricky, but well executed. Even the trilingual scenes in Mumbai, with English, Tamil and Hindi, switching from one language to another is handled naturally.
So indulge your light hearted side and watch this movie, and remember -
WE ARE LIKE THIS ONLY!
^_^