Gadget graveyard

The disappointing yet alluring elements of todays’ world are showcased in the Delirium/Equilibrium exhibition at KNMA, says Chahak Mittal

We gaze at a short film shot in parts of Karachi, Lahore and London, which comprises of five overlapping narratives representing different emotional states of Muslim prayers, with surprise. This is artist Alis Syed’s illustration called Eating grass, and the film explores diasporas, linguistic identities, crossing borders and cultural barriers. The name of the film is derived from one of the statements by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1974 and as she believes that “it poetically captures the emotional rhythms created by the passing of the sunlight, and has layers of voice overs, where words are treated as visual phenomenon while visual images are offered as script to be deciphered.”

Then there is artist Sonia Khurana’s unconventional 10 to 12-diameter inch Zoetrope,’which corresponds to human scale and connects with the mind and soul with the “circularity and plurality of scopic regimes,” which are to be located in the unconscious, or the body, or in the past. Inside the Zoetrope, there are images of a simulated performance; dressed in costume and simulating operatic song highly creating an interactive relationship between the viewer and form.

Both of these and more are a part of the ‘Delirium/Equilibrium’ art exhibition at The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art which features key Indian and international artists to bring back the illusion and movement in artworks. It challenges the boundaries of traditional forms to represent visual art experience and profoundly changing the way one perceives the art and the environment. With the kinetic art installations by various artists, curated by Roobina Karode, it approaches art in a very different manner.

The dark spaces, where the installations had been set up smell of nostalgia and make us realise how busy lives have become to even relive the moments which were a part of our daily lives just a decade ago. It uses everything from mechanical sculptures to semi-dark spaces, outdated electronic devices like telephones, typewriters, fax machines, mixer-grinders, OTG ovens and round-shaped computer and TV screens, videos and films, as well as colour and darkness, light and shadow, touch, sound and apparitions. As a result the installations create one complex technological environment which allow us to explore motion and art in a unique way.

The founder of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Kiran Nadar said, “Over the last 10 years I have been acquiring these important large-scale video installations for the museum’s collection. I am excited that with this exhibition we’re showcasing significant experimental pieces that are changing the vocabulary of contemporary art.”

She pointed towards the fact that a few of the artworks at the exhibition are displayed for the first time in the country, “Many works in the show are on display for the first time in India and I hope the show will offer Delhi audiences new perspectives and alternative insights. This is KNMA’s second interdisciplinary exhibition, which strongly suggests the edginess and international focus of the collection.”

The show heavily references the impact of technology on our daily lives and explores the consequences of technological advancement, looking at its infringement on our environment which often intrudes even our personal, contemplative moments — disturbing our peace and harmony.

As the name suggests, ‘Delirium/Equilibrium’ brings alive the idea that even though there is an imbalance in life, things are balanced with motion. It maps the poetic ambivalence and blurred notions of the present in order to “rewire the world,” addressing our collective drive towards mechanisation, technology and scientific knowledge to intensify old ideas.

The curator of these ambiguous artworks, Karode, who presents a unique selection of interdisciplinary explorations, shared her views and what artists portray, “The participating artists with their works broach the subject of life, the depths of darkness, illuminating the need for a rewiring of the world. With isolated gestures, stand-alone episodes, sites of failure and mysterious realms, the exhibition offers a setting for a philosophical reading of the present moment, politically and socially.”

Among the other artists were Amar Kanwar, Shezad Dawood, Shazia Sikander, Mithu Sen, Naeem Mohaieme, Kausik Mukhopadhyay, Neha Choksi, Nalini Malani, Sheba Chhachhi, William Kentridge, Ranbir Kaleka, Vibha Galhotra, Nandita Kumar, and LN Tallur.

Their illustrations will be exhibited at The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, South Court Mall, till October 31, which are worth a visit.