Installing

Initially my installation was going to be on the idea of not having an idea. But, during the process I felt that installation would feel and look fake. Also and more importantly the process of making the installation would feel fake. So I decided to proceed without any preconceptions of the installation. The only thing I knew was the material. I was confident of working with bamboo and jute. 

There is No Concept. No idea . This installation means nothing. This seemed to me a more powerful and blunt way of putting it. It keeps the feel of the art piece real.

Day 7 visit to NGMA.

Today we didn't have class. Instead of that we had to visit The National Gallery of Modern Art. We had to visit the Bengal School of Contemporary Art. Also during the visit we saw an exhibition by Amrita Sher-Gil. Coming back to the Bengal School. The works displayed under this umbrella were mostly done by Rabindranath Tagore and Abinindranath Tagore. Other artists who displayed their work under this section were Mukul Dey and M.F. Pithawala. Their works according to me drifted away from the traditional Indian style. there was obviously more of a western influence on their art. Their art style actually reminded me of graphic novels. The art had a sketchy feel to it. But despite all the newness the art style seemed quite immature and seem well established. It lacked finesse. We also saw a few works of Raja Ravi Verma and also a few sculptures, the creators of which I'm not aware of. Actually I had no idea about any of the artists work in the gallery. Amrita Sher-Gil was also an important artist in the history of Indian Art. Born in Hungary and having a Sikh father she had an interesting combination of culture. Her works are mostly around the lines of human postures and nude portraits of herself. The style is not at the same level as her colour. Her colour schemes are much better than the quality of her form. Even though her works are relly good there seemed to be an imbalance between the very elements that created the painting.

Day 6 installation art

So in the previous class we were told to research five installation artists. This is the first time I am doing even minutely related to installation. I, therefore, had no idea where to begin searching. I started looking for names. The first name that I encountered was that of Ann Hamilton. She makes installation which are grand in size and in experience. The material is mixed media. The instillation she makes always involve using a huge space.

The installation " The event of a thread" is one such installation. All the elements of the installation are connected to each other. The curtain connected to the swings through threads and the swings to people.

The next name that I came across was that of Do Ho Suh, a Korean installation artist. 

The installation " High School Uni-Form" signifies the importance of society in creating the identity of a  person.

His installation are all about bringing forward the culture he was brought up in and the culture he adhere's to now. He likes to show the difference in him through his installations. Another artist who I found really interesting was David Mach. He uses mass produced items in his installations.

" Adding fuel to the fire" is an installation made of  magazines, a car and a truck. His sense of surrealism is quite amazing.

The next artist is not as well known as these three. her name is Sarah Sze. Her installations are mostly mixed media. 

This installation of hers is called " An equal and opposite reaction" and it is made of all kinds of found items and everyday products.

The last name that I came across was that of Janet Echelman. She makes installations which are usually wind or kinetic installations. She has used all kinds of materials. Even though her style remains consistent her medium has always been different.

This series of installations was made by her in India in Mahabalipuram. This intallation is made using only fish netswhich have been knotted together.

Her installations like that of Ann Hamilton are big but not as interactive.

Day 5 Installation

we just returned from our mid term brake, so we were not really tired but lazy. So was our Narendra who decided to show us three movies that day. They were 

1) In The Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai)

2) A documentary on Matt Rothko

3) Pollock (Ed Harris)

The thing about these movies is that they did show the story of the artist but they also showed the 'artistic process' of the artist. The two documentaries especially not only showed their life stories but also explained their thought process. The movies also captured the development of their ideas from one style to another and so on.

Wong Kar Wai's film was indirectly informing us about a certain situation in south eastern Asia. This has been showed through a simple story of two couples. Complicated relationships develop between the couples and somehow this was connected to the situation in South Eastern Asia. There were metaphors in the way he took his shots and the way he directed his scenes. He established the relations of the countries through the people. The movie also showed the impact it has on a place afterwards. Very subtly done.  After watching the movies Narendra asked us to write about our own artistic processes.

So my artistic process obviously involves an idea or a thought around which an idea is created. This idea always comes to my mind as words and words alone. Words, to me, convey along with the word, a vibe that appropriately describes the word. The vibe is the reason we respond to another person, subjective to the vibe. A word can be spoken with different expressions hence different vibes. So when I get a word I try converting it into an image with one thing in mind. The image I create must embody the essence of the word. This is how I think. I have always thought in terms of words and never in terms of images. This way of proceeding helps me understand what I want. I never proceed until I'm sure of what I want. This is my artistic process. 

Day 4 of Installation Art.

The fourth day had a lot in store for us.We discussed the terms minimalism, conceptual art and pop art. The class was divided into three groups. Each one discussing one of the three topics assigned to them. The group I was put into was assigned conceptual art. While discussing we came across many examples. These examples exemplified that the art was more to do with the concept and the delivery of the concept rather than the aesthetics or the way it looked. The art was about the thought behind it. After discussion we shared this information with the class. The other two groups shared their information as well. I learnt that minimalism isn't about incorporating small things but using small simple elements to describe and more importantly capture the essence of whatever is being conveyed. As for pop art I learnt that the art form was all about popular culture. It was more about glorifying popular people or practices.

After this discussion we were further divided into groups and our group (Karishma, Rhea, Aarushi and obviously me) was asked to create an artwork in the lines of pop art. We started brainstorming and we wanted to do something with Flappy bird. Flappy Bird is a game that just released a few days ago. Everyone was hooked onto the game and the game itself was very controversial. So this was our theme but we really did not know how to proceed. WE first decided on buying balloons of different and using the balloon as a Flappy Bird. 

This is the picture we had used of Flappy Bird on which we ultimately worked.

So we decided to fill the balloons and place it along side this image which was to be projected onto the screen. But it felt very disconnected. Aarushi then suggested that we should place the balloons in front of the projected image. We tried it out an dit looked much cooler than before and also looked very pop like. 

The final composition of Flappy Bird.

Obviously we did get feedback. The feedback was actually quite helpful in terms the image we wanted to create in peoples heads. The name we gave it was "Tribute to Flappy Bird" as the game had been removed from the net. But our facilitator explained to us that it necessarily did not have to be about the game itself. It could have just been about the bird in the game. He said that the work must be open for interpretation. Making it specific would not allow the people to view it with an open mind. 

Experience is all there is.

So, do blind people really dream? As per a research done by the class we came to a unanimous decision that those who have been blind since birth can only dream through auditory signals. Whereas people who have lost the sight after a certain age can dream, but, dreams will consist of images from the years they were able to see. We also learnt that images don't grow with age. Images can only grow with visual memory. Thus even at old age a blind person who lost his eye sight many years ago will dream of images only in that time span before he became blind. We connected this to design how? We realized that there aren't many products today which are designed for the old age especially for people with physical handicaps. Today's design's purview in terms of age is only between 17 -25 years, which on a little introspection into the matter will turn about to be true. Let alone products, there aren't many spaces dedicated to these people. As the class progressed our facilitator shared an incident in his stay in Ahmedabad as a teacher. He told us about a heritage walk for blinds. During the walk the blind people were identifying places with respect to humans only. Not saying that they didn't know about places where people wouldn't go but they always had a human connection with a space. For them the experience was the only way to interact with the surroundings. The experience defined the surrounding for them. Also the people for them were a huge connection to the space. 

From there we picked on a more art related topic. We started to look at the importance of performance. What is it about a performance that makes it different from art forms like painting and sketching. In my opinion a performance is like a direct dialogue. A message that is unadulterated and meant for the viewers. It makes an impression. So immediately our assignment was to perform. We had to look at a few examples and formulate a concept around which our final performance would be based. 

For this performance I teamed up with Rhea and Tushar. We looked through a few pictures of performance art. They looked intense. The best part was that performance art is a personal statement. 

Our entire performance was based on the concept of lies. Once we begin lying we need to tell more lies to cover up the previous lies. We reach an epitome when or conscience wants to get rid of all the lies and we start shedding them one by one. To actually show this transformation we used three people. Tushar is a person who lied. Rhea and I are his conscience while and after lying. Rhea kept on wearing more layers of clothing symbolizing the accumulating guilt in the mind. I on the other hand was the conscience that wanted to get rid of the guilt and the lies. So I had to open all my layers of clothing down to the my last layer. I was not prepared to go nude. I'm sorry....

Overall the experience was great to be surrounded by people. They constantly try their best to get you to laugh. This was also the reason that the performance didn't realy feel like performance. It felt more like a show. It felt very theatrical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj04OiuCoSg&feature=youtu.be'

That's the lnk to a video of our first performance art.

Later again during class we looked at some eminent personalities in the world of performance. We looked at the work of Marina Abrahamovic. We also looked at the anti art Dada movement. Yoko Ono was also an important name especially for her artwork 'Cut Piece'. We also looked at some more familiar names like Lady Gaga and her dressing sense. Ultimately we arrived at the conclusion that madness is important for man to survive.

The second day of exploring installations.

What you see depends on where you stand.

This was the topic on which all the talks we had pertained to.

  We were discussing the word spectacle and it's meaning in the context of art in India. We discussed how all forms of art in India are spectacular. Not just in terms of the visual experience but also the spectacular scale on which it is done. We spoke about different regions of India and their respective traditional colors. We also looked at the reason as to why only certain colors are prevalent in few places. The reason as told to us by our facilitator was the varying intensity of sunlight in different areas. He told us that in the hilly regions of India the bright sun does not allow us to see certain colors in their true nature. Whereas in the city of Bangalore (where the college is located) colors can be seen in their true form because of the right intensity of the sunlight.

 We later progressed class by looking at a documentary of Ai Wei Wei. The movie was named "Never Sorry". It in all aspects described the character of the artist. The movie gave insight into his personal and professional life. The movie showed many of his artworks. They ranged from photos to various interactive installations.

Ai Wei Wei is an artist from Beijing. He is known for designing the birds nest stadium for the Chinese Olympics in 2008. He is also known for showing the middle finger to the White House. He is also known for breaking a Ming dynasty pot in one of his artworks clearly trying to break away from the rigidity of his culture. He loves his country and in some way or the other his artworks have been proof of that.

The Bird's Nest Stadium.

 His works have always been open to cultural, political and social criticism more than anything else. His curiosity doesn't just stop at artistic level. It rises beyond that and also reaches the social political level. He was the sole reason because of which China came to know about the number of children who died in the earthquake in the year 2008. He faced many obstacles during his survey but he could not be stopped.

               

                     The installation was put up on
                  the first anniversary of the earthquake
                     to remember the departed souls.

We saw a few of his other works including the installation which he made as a tribute to all the children who died in the earthquake.

                                                                                 

After the movie we had a small discussion. The whole class was divided into 3 groups. Each of these groups received a question which they had to answer. Group 1 answered the question,"Who is an artist?" Their definition was this: 

"An Individual who consciously expresses him?herself with a motive, medium and methodology."

Group had to answer "Is it essential for an artist to be an activist?" I belonged to this group and our answer was this: 

"No, an artist is not essentially and an activist but an activist is an artist."

Lastly group had to answer "Who is a non-artist ?" They answered:

"A non artist is one who does not express with the intention of expressing."

To conclude the class, Narendra, our facilitator asked the whole class a question. The question was ,"If an artist's work fails then is that person an artist from that point on ?"

This question was playing with my head throughout the week and frankly I don't have an answer. But I was thinking that people have always looked at art as something that should look good. Art to these people is a product and this product should be able to look good in any surrounding. It was only later artists incorporated the essence of the art in the art. Art at this point art became about what happens rather than continuing with the same old look good and fit anywhere. The most common example of art failure is Vincent van Gogh. During his lifetime he was never able to sell even one of his works. It was only after his death that his artworks began to sell. Today he is known all over the world as a pioneer of art. His works have gotten his soul millions. 

Two of his works.

                                                                

The first day of the installation course

Tuesday Course: Installation

The Course began with a question. "Do you love Art?" Obviously everyone picked up their hands. This was followed by yet another question. "What is it about art that you love?" At first we were silent but slowly the class became more interactive and everyone eventually participated by replying in one word what art means to us. 

After the exercise we were asked to find out the pure meaning of the word Art Installation. Swiftly we opened Wikipedia and looked up the meaning of installation. An Installation is an artistic genre of three dimensional works of art which are often site specific. Usually this term is applied for interior space and external interventions are called Land art. We were now asked to search for an installation and show it to class. It wasn't necessary to know any history whatsoever about the artist or about the piece. We had to present with our views and thoughts on the installation.

I still don't know what its called but what I like about it is the fact that the artist has used a large, grand space. The colour chosen, gold, is the shade closest to perfection. Also the triangular elements contradicts the circular arches of the hallways. In all it's a beautiful composition of size , apt colour and placement.

 After this bit we were randomly asked to clear our tables and pull our chairs and back and sit. We did as our facilitator said. He then asked us to stand on top of the tables and walk on them. At instances he would ask us to freeze and we would just stand still patiently yet impatiently waiting for him to ask us to become normal again. We descended to the floor and continued this exercise for a while and then stopped after a good 3-4 minutes. He told us to finally sit down and asked us what was the difference that we felt while doing this. For some of us we saw the space in which we were being used in a different ways. For others it was about the way the tables were trembling. A few of us observed the change in height as we stood up on the table and then jumped back down again. Some of us thought it was an installation. But our facilitator was more focused to that moment when we froze. He said that was looking at our faces and that he could see that we were waiting for him to tell us to come back to normal. He was more focused on the experience of the exercise.

Later today we were asked to find a space. Our objective was to imagine this space to be an installation. We had to give this installation a title and write about this installation and the space it impacted. We ( Barkha,Tushar and me )chose a window just outside our classroom. Unfortunately I don't have a picture to show you what it looks like. But I will get it as soon as possible. Anyway, the window was quite big. Probably as big if you stretch your arms out onto the side. It had black rectangular grills and was placed on the staircase a little closer to the ground.

Seeing the grills and also noticing the wide view this window gave behind these grills we named this installation Caged Freedom. We had to write about it now and this is what we came up with.    

The Write up for the installation.

It stays where it has to, but it moves where it wants. The light traces a path on the walls, through the floors and finally disappears at the end of the day. 

The installation depicts irony. It's like you're watching a live match going on, but you wish you were there. You feel freedom but it isn't quite the same as having it. The grill confines the freedom to be inside.

At some times of the day the installation welcomes you to come and sit. In the loving warmth of the mid-day sun you arrive. It shows you many things but you can choose what to see. It shows you images of shimmering trees, dull building and lively beings moving about. Choose. Everyone interacts with installation at least subconsciously. You interact with the image it casts around it and you unknowingly become a part of it. You can touch the Aluminium frame and the grills. You can also touch the warmth. You feel connected with this warmth. This is the only way you are connected to the outside. The installation is not just restricted to the window. The light falling on the walls and the shadows people cast are also part of the installation. Every once in a while it treads a short distance. You can sit in front of it and lose track of time because you sit and stare and now you begin to see the stillness of things. In this state of stillness time flies. The view goes on and keeps going on only ending when you can't see any further.

The best thing about this installation is that it gives YOU different perspectives to see. Everything that you SEE is subjective and the window respects everyone's point of view. 

A simple shape ,noticeable size and regular variation of shades of colour. Perfectly placed on the bottom of the wall. It' new but it does the trick.No matter how static it may seem, seeing it everyday one will realize that it isn't static at all. It's moving.

( written by Anukool Raman)

The poem which was also written to support the installation.

 Light coming in,

Eyes looking out,

A world beyond,

Black lines cut across,

Confining thought and body.

Wings shut inside

 restricted,

to moral ground.

Shadows outline

the light coming in,

a crude mimicry of it's geometric form.

Inviting picture

A play of perspective,

Aluminium frame of eternal vision.

Sun light,

Keeping boredom warm,

warm, behind the iron bars.

Cruel glass

Shutting in freedom,

but letting hope fly free.

Silent sir, 

Mystical doorway,

to a garden on the air.

Smell the cacophony of life

in flowers fashioned

from wind.

White trees sailing,

across the sky

and bountiful fruit

hanging from the ceiling of the world.

But this meadow divine,

is a dream untouched,

a sweet vision beheld,

by freedom,

caged inside.

( written by Tushar Pant)

The mind map made by Barkha, on the basis of which the entire write-up and poem was written. It helped the entire group to brainstorm and gave us direction. In short this mind map gave us a structure.


                                             

Mind Map made by Barkha Gupta.   

The window which was the installation we had selected as the basis of whatever was written in the write-up and the poem.