1. PROJECTS
TITLES: Why did you choose these projects and what was involved in the decision
making process? (Refer to the three projects you have done)
In the beginning
of the course, it was difficult to access memories. We were required to look
within our memory store and produce something.
In the first project I did, titled- Shared Memories, I looked for my
fondest memory as a child and tried to recreate the joy and wonder for the
viewers, so that they too could experience the wonder and awe of a child. I had
already made a short animation as per the course requirements of use of image
and sound, but I decided to put up two installations as well, as an interactive
experience of childhood. It also looked at how we share memories.
By the second exhibition, I was extremely
comfortable with the idea of memory as recourse for work. The exhibit, What the
Fire Burnt Away, was based on a traumatic family as well as historical memory.
This time I wanted to create an experience out of the exhibit and a journey out
of my project. I chose a very difficult part of my family history and got to
know it from close and finally built a relationship with it that was comfortable.
The decisions to be made were about where to be subtle and where to be strong.
I needed to find a gentle, yet crude way o bring across my feelings. I needed a
good introduction so that the viewers could get involved/ feel related. I
needed to decide exactly how much distance or closeness I wanted to maintain
between my memory and my viewer. I also
needed to decide how to show that it was a larger memory, shared by a whole
community and the political identity of our nation.
The third project, Outer Skin, was collaboration,
and it came out of a lot of dialogue with many people, especially my partner.
There was no pre-decided memory or theme, but the process brought the outcome.
My work was in reaction to my partners work. The decisions to be made here were
of the form to be used and those of to what extent and which way should my work
be collaborated with his so that the exhibit remains strong and effective.
2. SUBJECT:
Reflect on the subject matter of your chosen projects and the breadth of
research that you have conducted on these subjects?
In my first
exhibit, Shared Memories, I wanted to look at how we share memories. I
experienced my father’s childhood memories because he included all his best
memories into mine. And as I grew up with him, we shared many more memories
that we cherish today, common to both of us. I made a series of illustrations
that I later turned into an animation using selective movement in the images
and added related sounds. To make this work speak to the viewers and for them
to really experience my childhood memories, I put up two installations as well.
It was these 2 parts of the project that really served the purpose. With the
interactions that came about, they were able to reproduce the wonder,
excitement, awe and surprise that I remember experiencing while growing up with
my father. These two installations were about learning to make a kite, and
going fishing for the first time. The mediums used and their possibilities were
key to make this work. This is also the field that I did most research for.
In my second exhibit, What The Fire Burnt
Away, I had to do heavy research. I had chosen a memory I remember hearing of
time and again while growing up, but I knew very little of its cause and effect
situation. I had to start from the very beginning: understanding the political,
historical, economical and social conditions of Punjab in the early 1980s. I
had to read up, and talk to my family to see different points of view and them
make my own opinion. Then I had to go into the details of the event my memory
was about. This too had to be done considering many views. What this gave me
was an understanding of a time I had never bothered to think about before. Once
the historical facts were clear and the happenings of the event were placed in
order, I had to record what I felt, and from that, I would have to create my
exhibit. This project also required for me to get to know someone who is no
more, and I haven’t ever met. This was the most interesting part. I had to talk
to many people, read and view his work, collect his belongings and recreate him
in my mind. The final exhibit was a view, a brief meeting between this person
and the viewer.
My third project, Outer Skin, was somehow
related to my second one, even though it entirely came about through
conversations with my collaborating partner. The research part of it and my
opinions had already formed in the second project as I collected whatever was
left of my uncle through his material possessions. As my partner and I started
to talk with fashion, we followed a procedure where we would post a thought to
other and receive a reaction. The thread of conversation finally lead to me
thinking of different perspectives to different fashions. I sent him
photographs of the traditional burka, turban etc. and asked him to react. I
also took the perspective of the people wearing the same and compared them. It
was then that I started to think about fashion being about choice. And also
about fashion applying to things beyond clothes. At this point I referred to my
understanding of ‘things left behind’. They were all chosen by someone to speak
of them. And once they were gone, it was these chosen possessions that spoke of
them, like they had shed their outer skin.
3.
AIMS/OBJECTIVES/CONCEPTS: How and to what extent have you achieved the aim and
objectives of the projects? Describe the main concepts driving the projects.
Shared Memories:
The main concept
was that we share memories with people around us and that my father’s memories
do have some effect on my memories even though we belong to different times.
Through the project I shared my memories as an experience with the viewers. I
was able to bring out the same reactions of awe and wonder, as the ones I had
experienced when I first encountered fishing and kite making. The fact that
this was possible through a recreation was an achievement. The short animation
film that I created was a view of a childhood on a farm. It was both
documentation and a narrative about the sharing of memories between my father
and I.
What the Fire
burnt away:
The main aim was
to get to know my uncle even though he is no more, and I had never met him,
through this project. I wanted the exhibit to both capture his life and
personality, and to speak of my journey of getting to know him, so that the
viewer himself could build a relationship with him and take that journey if he
wishes to. I wanted to celebrate and remember him for what he was and loved,
rather than what he was reduced to due to the riots. The exhibit became like
the Indian ritual of the death ceremony where a garland adorns a hung picture
and everyone comes and pays their respect. Here, I literally hung a huge garland,
and the symbolic picture was an installation- my attempt to recreate him from
the things he loved and the work he did. People came and got to know him like I
wanted them to. The project was able to bring emotional reactions and a lot of
conversation, which showed that the viewers were able to take that journey and
connect with my process.
Outer Skin:
Fashion to be is
an extension of us; it is our expressive outer skin. We are perceived as a
whole: personality and appearance. Certain hairstyles, coats, shoes immediately
remind us of somebody’s style. All my grandparents passed away in the last couple
of years. As I walk through their houses, it is their little belongings that
bring back their memory. The particular style of spectacles, their certain favorite
perfumes and their certain chosen styles of clothing, all bring back visuals of
their existence. These material possessions speak of time, fashion, style and
spirit. I compared the material possessions that live on to the outer shed skin
of a reptile. It retains its whole form as its inner occupant leaves it behind.
In this project, I recreated this feeling of looking at something and letting
it speak of its owner/wearer. I did not have my grandparents’ possessions so I created
2 hypothetical people from the memories of all 4 of my grandparents. I collected
and treated various possessions and used lighting and set design to do a
photographic representation of this concept. I believe I was able to create two
lives: their choice of fashion, their time of existence, their interests etc.
through my series of diptychs. The feedback I got from the viewers said that
they felt like they were looking into a documentation of two real lives, all
through their belongings. Some others said that the experience was similar to
film’s character introduction.
4. AUDIENCE: Are
you addressing a specific audience with your work within these projects? For
example, a specific community, your peers, members of your family, a
corporation or business, educators, patients of a hospital department,
government agencies?
I think I challenged
myself with making entry points for all sorts of viewers all through. This is
why I especially worked on the details of the introduction to my projects. However,
the projects always drew people of similar memories further in. I had a lot of
conversations with the viewers. The first project, based on my father’s and my
childhood memories drew people who had similar memories furthest in even though
a lot of people responded and enjoyed recalling their own different memories. The
second one, about my uncle being the martyr in 1984 and my journey towards
getting to know him, lead to close interactions with people who had dealt with
loss themselves or closely watched a loved one’s loss. There were two people
who recalled sharing the same historical memory. This was a different feeling,
as I found collective memory with stories different and similar to mine. The
third project was the easiest for people to relate with. I wanted to portray a
personal thought and feeling, in a way that was easily relatable. I think
recreating, rather than actually documenting artifacts may have helped. There was
a lot of talk about how these manmade things possessed life that was much
longer than man’s life itself. And about how these sights could be healing as
well as breaking at first, but were surely a treasure. There was also
conversation about how these possessions seemed to have their owners’ lives in
them and that visual recollections were most easily made through them. I found
this very true.
5.
FORM/MEDIUM/PRESENTATION: What are the forms and methods of presentation that
you are working with? From the work you have done so far, have you gained any
insights on your approach to making, doing and documenting?
I worked with a
variety of mediums through this project time. I worked with illustration,
animation, sound and image and their relationship with each other, in the very
beginning. I then explored installations as a form of representation with depth.
I worked with an interactive installation first and then with one which dealt with
making an experience/journey out of viewing. The order of display and the
introduction were the key points needing much detailed attention. I explored
photographs as a medium in the last project and found it extremely close to the
idea of memory. The medium is flexible and can wear any sort of treatment. Therefore
experiments and informed designing decisions became key.
Documenting turns
out to be a whole new project rather than an after work to be effective. It is
important to give the overview and the inside details of the project for a
viewer to feel just what the project conveys. It is to be treated like a first
view rather than an after view. This involves planning while documenting and
while displaying. It needs a good introduction and an easy flow that can be
followed.
6. RESEARCH
METHODS: What kind of research methods have you used to research the projects
work in depth, and how has your research informed your process?
I almost always
followed this process:
I first looked at
my recent thoughts and reactions from memory or from having read or watched
something related to something important that I feel about. Then I tried
formulating a concept, by looking further into my idea and broadening my
recourse horizon. This involved a lot of research and reading most of the time.
I read a lot of personal accounts related to what I chose. This is where I looked
at the kind of work produce by artists, both early and contemporary. The work I
looked at varied from documents or diary entries, an art piece, a performance,
a film to an entire exhibition. This is where I would sit and ideate and
iterate about my concept. The form to chose came naturally. But what followed
was the process of simplifying. This was the most challenging part. I always
came up with something big in terms of time needed and resources to be used. I would
then narrow down, trying to retain the main elements and also try to make it
stronger/more effective. The result was always neater and more complete. My second
project went through as many as ten variations. After this stage, work happened
really fast. I would put in straight hours and work towards the final idea.
Getting informed about the work done around the same fields of interest proved
to be very important. Reading up only added depth and layers to my work. I specially
found interviews and diary documents very useful. I interviewed a lot of people
on facebook for my last project when I was comparing cultures according to
their traditional clothing and different perceptions of the same across
cultures. I interviewed my parents for hours for my second project and their
talk formulated an idea in my head about how I must treat my project in terms
of sensitivity, subtlety and gentleness. Research has always been the most
productive and interesting part of the project for me.
7. REFERENCES:
How useful were the references you explored so far- the artists,
anthropologists, designers, writers or other practitioners?
References have
almost always proved to be helpful in finding a starting, building or ending
point for my work. Sometimes, when I was stuck as to how to formulate and
express a feeling, they offered an understanding based on which I could create
my expression. When it came to form, they opened new possibilities and challenges.
Looking at designs that were successful was both inspiring and encouraging. Research
always makes work more informed. And I feel that a good way to make your work
relatable to by the masses, is to understand work of the masses, because you
understand people and cultures in this way.
8. POSITION & RELATIONSHIP: How do you
think your projects would function in, or be positioned to contribute to,
similar contemporary fields of production?
I think that in all my projects, i was able to reach
a certain depth. And within these works i have collected thoughts( of mine and many others). Because of
this reason i feel that my projects can definitely contribute and thus function
in similar contemporary fields of production. In much of my work was
explorations of understanding memory and its peculiar ways. This
comes through in my work which makes it easy for people to relate to.
