The Delhi-based gallery Nature Morte opened a new show titled 'The Science of Speed' in Mumbai, showcasing a group of young artists at Famous Studio. Inspired by the concepts of the French philosopher Paul Virilo and working across mediums like painting, sculpture, photography, installation and performance, the artists present works that play with the idea of perception. From the psychology of urban politics to environmental issues and the highly debated relation of art and the general spectacle, the artists touch on a range of contemporary subjects.
The works of the four artists; a series of paintings by Aditya Pande, photo-montages and a video work by Rajorshi Ghosh, Vishal Dhar's iconic robotic light sculptures as well as a new collaborative performance by Asim Waqif are mixed together in an immersive environment created by architect turned artist Waqif himself.
The site specific structure appears as an organic body, an 'exo-skeleton' for the entire exhibition. Waqif often creates large scale installations inspired by architectural elements, the scaffolding is a form he as returned to several times in his practice.
I caught up with the artist as he added the finishing touches to the massive installation a few hours before the show. to talk about the immersive sculpture as well as his much anticipated performance.
You worked as a set designer for several years and created an installation in a space like Famous Studio for 'Science of Speed', has there been a crossover in terms of concepts, ideas and experiences?
When Nature Morte asked me if I would like to make an installation at Famous Studios for this show, I was immediately drawn to working with the 'Tarafa', a light-scaffolding system that is used exclusively in film sets in India.
I worked in Mumbai as a set designer back in 2001-02 and I found the 'Tarafa-walahs' really fascinating. This light-scaffolding technology is technically really simple but requires experienced workers, using only timber, ropes and nails. At many places the ropes are not even tied into knots, but only twisted and twirled.
Tell is a little about the experience of working in Mumbai as compared to when you were working on 'Bordel Monstre' your installation at Palais de Tokyo in Paris?
The installation process during my show at Palais de Tokyo was made extremely conducive by the museum, they were very helpful and gave me a lot of freedom in terms of the set up process. However, working in Europe and the USA is very different with respect to safety standards and technical equipment; cranes, hard-hats, steel toed boots, safety-certification, safety-ropes. There is also the element of time, It took me only 3 days to make the installation in Mumbai without any of the above 'jhamela'.
This situation allows for a lot of creative space because it permits flexibility.
In my view, over-regulation and systemization has made it very difficult for a layman to innovate in industrialized and post-industrialized countries. In India we are fortunate that we can switch seamlessly between high-tech and hands-on and I have tried to take advantage of this.
And the 'tarafa-walahs' are super happy saying, "Bumbai me aaj tak aisa tarafa nahi khara hua!", and taking selfies in the structure.
More than anyone else I appreciate the opinion of these working class (incidental) viewers.
You work across a range of materials and mediums, tell us a little bit about the relationship between your installation and performance?
There is no relationship between this installation and this performance except that they are part of the same show.
The installation is a continuation of my experiments with materials, workmen and construction methodology. The performance is a new tangent I am trying to explore.
You talked about your performance as an investigation of the relationship between creativity and insanity, what got you interested in the subject?
Tell us a little about your collaboration with Hemant Sreekumar.
The performance explores the relationship between creativity and insanity using adaptations of excerpts of two texts, a novel by Paul Sayer and an obscure story by J D Salinger.
I am collaborating with a noise artist, Hemant Sreekumar, who likes to work with programming and pure frequencies. It was Hemant who suggested that I develop a text for this performance.
Your architectural installation forms the exo-skeleton for the exhibition, tell us a little about how it functions along with the works by Aditya Pande, Vishal Dar and Rajoshri Ghosh?
To some extent there has been an underlying concern that the scale of my installation will overpower works by other artists. After all it is rather unconventional to mix a large installation with smaller works by other artists, some of which are very formal. We have tried to seamlessly integrate the display within the installation rather than isolate the two. In that sense I really like working with Peter Nagy because he is open to experimenting with tactics of display. It will all come together in the next 2 days, we haven't fixed on anything so far. You will have to come and see on the 6th.
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