With[Out]: How pandemic changed time and reality

AHMEDABAD: Covid cases are at an all-time low, and life is back on the track to normalcy — or is it? Has the pandemic left an impact on individuals and society at large? What did it feel like when there was no linear time, no one to touch, or when even reality as we know it seemed to have altered?
These were some themes chosen by the students of exhibition design of National Institute of Design (NID) for their 2X2 metres installation space. Named With[out], the exhibits talked about ‘absence of …’ different concepts ranging from reality to time to sound to transparency.
The students used props ranging from polystyrene blocks to wooden wheels and bricks to alarm clocks to convey life during the pandemic. The course was guided by Jonak Das, Aayushi Agarwal, and Aishwarya Edakhe.
Shivani Sankar, one of the students, explored the theme of absence of context. Her exhibit had a giant ‘OK’ interspersed with myriad of meanings. “I got inspiration from the chats we had with friends and relatives, when we hardly had the full grasp of what they wanted to say with those words,” she said. “An ‘OK’ in a chat can have so many connotations. During the pandemic, we comprehended that we communicate not just with words, but also with our body language and the tone of speech.”
The project of Vrushali Mehta, another student, focused on the absence of free will. “The idea stemmed from my personal experience and background in philosophy. Many started wondering whether there’s free will,” she said. “…whether the situation could have panned out differently, whether they could have reacted to events in a more meaningful way.” She added: “My exhibit had a man on invisible strings, which one can or cannot see depending on lighting.”
Students such as Harshi Lal and Avani Samaga employed games as the mode of engagement about the absence of choice and reality respectively.