Flowers & People

Flowers and People cannot be controlled. team Lab. Singapore 2015.

A young family enjoys the immersive digital installation 'Flowers and People cannot be controlled but Live Together.' It was part of the 'Art in Motion' series during Singapore art week. I noticed more than 8 massive projectors used to create the space. The flowers and petals grow, wither and die. As you move, the petals try to grow around you along with a tinkling almost fairy-like sound. Overall a beautiful, almost meditative experience.

The Clock

While first entering this work by Christian Marclay, I was a bit sceptical due to the expensive MoMA entry fee of $18 and then the huge 45 minute queue to watch the video. Eventually I got in and it was worth the effort. 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.

Gallery Reflexive

Prajakta Palav (Dec, 2011). This caught my eye because of the way she has used the gallery floor in her work. It is intelligent and relevant, especially in these old buildings of South Mumbai that are converted into gallery spaces. What I love about this is how the work is almost indistinguishable from the gallery floor at first glance. It makes you sit up and pay attention. Here are some pictures I managed to take from my mobile phone.

Shift Exhibition

Have a look at our post-graduate show Shift. This friday (9th September) is the last day so don't miss it if you're in or around Bournemouth :)

Artist Yi Lu with her paper mache world

Subconscious Form by Shiro Araki

Urban Brick by Bana Toutounjee

by Taro Morimoto

Mumbai/Bombay by Aditi Kulkarni

New Blindness by Rocco Nahas

A stretchable movie by Richard Hurst.

Be-Bee Project by Kaya J. Lee

The Ophelia Project by Samantha Else.

Out of Sight

The exhibition Out of Sight is from 17th to 24th of September from 11am to 6pm and will showcase a wide variety of artwork from multimedia installations to sculpture and drawing.

With an unused underground car park as its gallery walls, Out of Sight investigates the resilience and flexibility of art, and the need for its development with supporting communities in unorthodox circumstances: an appreciation for the otherwise overlooked in the chosen location compliments the political provocation of the role of the outsider in society and rebellion against industry precepts.

Below is a video by Michael Compton of day two of the massive clean-up of the dark, unused space.

Shift

Shift the post-graduate show will be held at the Arts University College Bournemouth from 2nd to 9th September, open from 10am to 4:30pm daily. Entry is free. The show will be open for a late night viewing on the 8th (Thursday) and is closed on Sunday. The Facebook page is here.

Don't miss it! The exhibition will showcase the work of post-graduate students in Animation, Contemporary Performance, Graphic Design, Interactive Media, Costume, Fashion, Fine Arts and Photography. The work will reflect the multidisciplinary nature of the post-graduate course here at AUCB, and each student's individual pathway.

Stay tuned for more updates on the show. And if you can't make it don't fret, I will be posting photos and videos of the awesome event :)

Update: Photos and videos here.

Francisco Bassim

Francisco Bassim. Gran Interior, 2011. Acrylic on canvas. dimensions variable. Photos by Aditi Kulkarni. Venice Biennale June 2011.

Francisco Bassim's humorous work at the pavilion of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Giardini.

Crystal of Resistance

Crystal of Resistance is a work by Thomas Hirschhorn. Below are a few lines from the catalogue where the artist talks about his philosophy on art:

'But art is not resistance to something. It is resistance as such. Art is resistant because it resists everything that has already existed and been known. Art, as a resistance, is assertion, movement belief, intensity, art is 'positive.' Art resists tradition, morality and the factual world. Art resists every argumentation, every explanation and every discussion.'

The artist uses the crystal as a repeating motif, transforming the gallery space into another world. I felt as if I'd been transported into a parallel universe, inexplicable and fascinating. The use of everyday objects such as ear-buds, brown tape, mirrors and mobile phones gives the entire work a surreal and disconcerting mood.

Reference: Thomas Hirschhorn. 2011. Crystal of Resistance. Biennale Di Venezia, Padiglione Svizzero. Notes: Photos by Aditi Kulkarni. June 2011. Giardini, Venice Biennale.

Future Pass

"Over 100 artists, both Asian and non-, offer a kaleidoscopic panorama of a new aesthetic paradigm currently proliferating from Asia to the rest of the world. Crossing genres and disciplines as they appropriate the digital culture of the 21st century, artists working in this eclectic new aesthetic are generating new types of relationships to the globalizing world."- Excerpt from the Short Guide distributed at the exhibition. Future Pass - From Asia to the World. Collateral Event Biennale Arte 2011. June 4th - Nov. 6th 2011.

Kaikai Kiki/Chiho Aoshima. 1974-. Little Carefree, The Chicken Girl. FRP, Lacquer. 33X20X53 cm. 2008.

Yan Shi Lin. 1982-. What's the Matter. FiberGlass Paint. 2010.

The word 'kaleidoscope' is an accurate description of this brilliant collection of work by a wide range of artists from across asia and the world. I spent hours here and didn't regret it for a moment (we had only 5 days to see the entire Biennale). If anyone asked me what the best thing to see in the Biennale was, it would be Future Pass. Several of the artists were also around when we visited, which made it an unforgettable experience.

Andre Saraiva. 1971-. Mickey Wiagra. Polyester Resin, Strattee a structure - skeleton frame. 198X140X125 cm.

Xiang Jing. 1962-. I am 22 years old, but without my period. Fibre glass painted. 30X155X95 cm.

Ward Walrath Kimball. 1914-2002. Untitled. Drawings on found posters. Sizes varied. Made in the 1960's.

Victor Xu Weina. 1981-. (animamix.net). Magician. Fiberglass paint. 50X22X22 cm X3. 2009.

Kea. 1980-. A Salute to Fashion. Acrylic on Canvas. 162X130cm. 2011.

Wang Mai. 1972-. Using wisdom to capture the oil monster #12. Mixed material. 160X100X200 cm. 2011. [detail].

Qu Yi. 1985-. Kiss Me Hard. Series of photographs.

Liu Ye. Miss, 2008. Acrylic on Canvas. 140X160 cm. Private Collection.

Li Hui. 1977-. Motor-Inherent Danger. Acrylics, LED Lamp, Stainless steel. 240X50X50cm. 2008.

Yoko Toda. 1944-. Unknown Ideal. Video. 2009, 2011.

David Chan. 1979-. Feeding the Stupid Monkey. Oil on Linen. 150X180 cm.2010.

Cao Fei. 1978-. RMB City. Since 2009. Internet Project. RMB City is developed by Cao Fei & Vitamic Creative space. Facilitator: Uli Sigg. Courtesy of Artist and Sigg Collection.

Grimanesa Amoros. Uros Island. 414X340X66cm.

Untitled Installation by Mu Lei. Video projection on a bathtub.

[Future Pass - From Asia to the World. Collateral Event Biennale Arte 2011. June 4th - Nov. 6th 2011. The UNEEC Culture and Education Foundation Taipei, The Today Art Museum of Beijing, The Wereldmuseum of Rotterdam, The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, In Collaboration with the Fondazione Claudio Buziol of Venice, curated by Victoria Lu, Renzo di Renzo and Felix Schober].

Exhibition at 60mpc

My illustration work was sold at the event "This is the Start of Summer" at 60mpc, Bournemouth UK. Above are photos of the event and the illustration itself.

Modern Drawings

Drawings of life in the city, and abstract dream cities. From the exhibition Picasso to Julie Mehretu, modern drawings from the British Museum collection [7th Oct 2010 to 25th April 2011]. People in a Cafe, 1917 by George Grosz. [Image Source]

Dreamland Tower, Coney Island 1912 by David Milne (1882-1953). [Image Source]

Untitled (Pacific No. 32, weekend), 1998 by Franz Ackermann. [Image Source]

Untitled (City Abstraction) 1912 by Abraham Walkowitz. [Image Source]

Vertical Lines 1953 by Kazuro Nakamura. [Image Source]

Untitled by Lawrence Weiner (born 1942) [Image Source]

Grotesque Landscape in Yellow 1949 by Jean Dubaffet (1401-85) Pen and ink on yellow watercolour. [Image Source]

Update 4th May: I've only included work that is relevant to my project on representing the atmosphere of the city. In my journey towards representing the violence between the fantasy and the real within Mumbai, I've noticed a trend towards abstraction especially with the increasing use of shadows and reflections within the installation. These drawings capture this urban feeling in their own individual expressionist ways.

Museum Visit

A trip to London ended up at the British museum. Most of the work I found inspiring were from the Africa rooms:

Man's Cloth. Recycled metal foil bottle-neck wrappers, copper wire. By El Anatsui, Ghana, 1998-2001. Image 1 Source. Detail photograph taken at the British Museum April 2011.

Throne of weapons, by Kester, Maputo, Mozambique, 2001. Made of decommissioned weapons from the Mozambican civil war in 1992. Exhibited at Room 25 Africa at the British Museum (April 2011).

Tree of Life Made by Kester, Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos and Adelino Serafim Maté. Maputo, Mozambique, 2004. Photo © 2005 Christian Aid / David Rose.

Part of the sculpture Tree of Life Made by Kester, Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos and Adelino Serafim Maté. Maputo, Mozambique, 2004. Photo by Aditi Kulkarni at the British Museum Room 25: Africa.

Otobo (Hippo) masquerade, made by Sokari Douglas Camp, 1995. Steel, paint, wood and palm stem brooms. British Museum April 2011. More details.

Glazed stoneware figure of a judgement group, Ming Dynasty, China, 16th century. Photo taken at British Museum, Asian Gallery.

Housepost, Iatmul people, Sepik River, Papua New guinea, 1900-1950.

Kanga display, Africa room, British Museum, April 2011.

London Exhibitions

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.