Dark Stuff

I stumbled on the work Dark Stuff (2008) while looking at random postcards being sold at the British Museum in London. Tim Noble and Sue Webster had created an impressive image inspired by Egyptian mummies, and it motivated me to look for more of their work. Then I found Sunset in Manhattan (2003).

Dark Stuff, 2008 by Tim Noble and Sue Webster 189 mummified animals (67 field mice, 5 adult rats, 42 juvenile rats, 44 garden shrews, 1 fox, 1 squirrel, 1 weasel, 13 carrion crows, 7 jackdaws, 1 blackbird, 1 sparrow, 1 robin, 1 toad, 1 gecko, 3 garden snail shells), glue, metal stands, light projector [Visit Image Source]

Sunset over Manhattan, 2003 Cigarette packets, tin cans shot by air gun pellets, wooden bench, light projector 110 x 31 x 75 cm (431/3 x 121/4 x 291/2 in) [Visit Image Source]

Here the use of rubbish combined with light and shadow creates a city that is recognizable as Manhattan, and at the same time makes an important comment about the place itself. At this point in my project I explored the use of objects in my installations and what kind of objects would be relevant to the concept of the fantastical and the real.

26/11 Attack: Video footage

Documentary footage from the 26/11 attack on mumbai where 9 gunmen left more than 170 people dead over 3 days, and targetted the Taj Mahal hotel, Oberoi, Cafe Leopold (which I still frequent), CST and Cama Hospital. Created by Dan Reed, Terror in Mumbai uses CCTV footage and recorded conversations between the gunmen and their handlers in Pakistan to create a realistic picture of what happened that day.

(Image: BBC Source)

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/15290936]

[Video Source: Channel 4, HBO: Dan Reed]

This is an important aspect in creating the cityscape that shall represent the "here" rather than the elsewhere, the reality of what Mumbaikars have to face everyday.