Space reconstructed

It’s a new way of looking at ‘space’. Uniqueness is not the only quotient of this art show; it’s experimental to the hilt. In keeping with the re-invention of the physical space, the exhibition titled ‘Reconstructing (White)3’ is curated by Himali Singh Soin. The show will include nine 1 x 1 x 1 white cubes, interpreted by well-known contemporary practitioners including Hema Upadhyay, Mithu Sen, Abir Karmarkar, Prajakta Potnis, Gautam Bhatia, Zuleikha Chaudhari, Niyeti Chadha, Praneet Soi and Chittrovanu Mazumdar. 

Soin attempts to address the paradox of space and its foldability through the show. Talking about the white cube, she explains, “You close your ears to the sirens outside and enter these little dream worlds of image and ideas. Time frees itself from clocks and their shadows. This is the White Cube — a delusion of neutrality, a systematic context, a modernist shroud for Absolute Art — a blank slate, a grid for the laying out of impulse.” As the gallery morphs from one interior space to another, this show turns the cube over. And the other side may or may not be identical.

Originally a printing shed in an old mill, and utilised as an experimental art project space since 2008, The Loft, as part of ‘The Square Foot Project’, will be re-staged as a studio apartment for one year. And the show comes under the project. Director Anupa Mehta elaborates, “The Loft is 582 sq ft and an unconventional arts space. We occupy prime real estate in the heart of Mumbai’s erstwhile mill district where every inch costs. ‘The Square Foot Project’ is an attempt to look at newer ways of engaging with art practice.”

Ask her what comes to mind when you think of ‘space’ as an idea, especially when thought of in tandem with a city like Mumbai, and Mehta replies, “Space is both a constraint and a premium in our city. I choose to take the constraint and re-look at it as a creative construct.” The notion of the white cube, she says, is linked to the presentation of art. “Academic references apart, it has come to be expected that art would be showcased in a sterile, uncluttered space. We invited nine leading artists to revisit the idea and to explore the notion of the white cube through their works,” she opines.