I am a multidisciplinary artist from Bangalore, studied in MS University. Currently practicing in Bangalore, Karnaraka. My work has developed in number of ways over the years yet from the very beginning of my art practice, I have workded in Painting, Printmaking, Installation, Video Art and Live/ Performance art. My intention is to blend these mediums into an interdisciplinary language.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Post Oil City And Bangalore Gardens Reloaded


Connecting Ideas - Marta Jakimowicz, Feb 3, 2013, DHNS

The dual exhibition “Post-Oil City: The History of the City’s Future” and “Bangalore Gardens Reloaded” was a very interesting event which strove to interactively connect ideas about the metropolitan past and its environmentally relevant solutions for later as well as the often similarly anchored, innovative efforts and inquiry among architects or urban planners and scientists with those of visual artists.

The event enabled by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Stuttgart in co-operation with ARCH+ and the Max Mueller Bhavan here was part of the German curator Elke Falat’s project to be realised in different countries and continents. It had three parts that evidently and not so evidently added to one another and framed one another. 

The main element that remains the same in diverse locations belongs to the precise charts and drawings presenting innovative, ecology-friendly plans for city buildings, waste managements, transport and such. The several cases for study were brought to the Visvesvaraya Museum (January 18 to February 3) and shown in such a way together with the art works by Bangalore artists as to nearly mingle with the venue’s own scientific display, thus underscoring the linkages of purpose and method behind all the participating agents.  

The artists were asked to “critically react to Post-Oil City in the local context, to develop utopias and question them” considering the recent boom growth of the city that has altered its garden-like character. One may suspect that there perhaps was not enough time for sustained work on the ambitious aim, since the new contributions addressing it directly were infrequent, most addressing the contemporary city phenomenon either in a broader manner relating to a diversity of angles or sourcing from already available work in an akin manner. 

Although the whole was rich and included a number of really good concepts and their visual expressions, the level was not exactly even. Another problem may have been one regarding the accessibility of intended meaning when presented in a public, educatory space. The main hall lined up by cases with urban plans seemed to be held together by its focus on the vast floor installation by Sunoj D, whose multi-seed balls with planting instructions evoked both unnatural farming conditions and a longing to overcome those.


While Ayisha Abraham’s video collage of old home movies conjured a sense of dynamic, vivacious history informing the present and Suresh Jayaram’s quilt hanging paid an emotional homage to the once green city, many artists dealt with difficult issues of Bangalore metamorphosing beyond its capacity. If on a somewhat literal note, Bhavani G D offered a video documentation of lakes depleted of water and Raghu Kondur depicted the dangers of construction labour, Suresh Kumar G resorted to a personal gesture filling an enclosure for vermin-compost with plastic trash. 


Among the best contributions one found Dimple B Shah’s noisy, hard and threatening cubicle of urban claustrophobia and Surekha’s Ragi crop growing from a field of discarded computer keyboards, besides the nostalgic lament for the absence of sparrows by Mangala Anebermath. Two exceptional works delved into subtler but significant changes in the occurring: one being the multimedia installation by Bharathesh G D attuning itself to the emergent connections between people and city grids, objects and materials, the other the text-based questioning of mutating relationships between contrasting notions by Prayas Abhinav. Thinking about the shape of the future, a calamitous outcome was foreseen by a gas-masked Madhu D in his performance photograph against felled trees. Nandesh Shanthi Prakash, nonetheless, chose an optimistic prospect of canvassing for alternative energy in his bicycle-born distribution of bright toy windmills. 

Sunday, February 3, 2013

BANGALORE GARDENS RELOADED


No Space To Escape -"TO BE OR NOT TO BE"



As the city growing bigger and bigger everyday and more and more people migrating from various parts of the country and making Bangalore as their home. This constant inflow is leading to a very different transition of development that the city is experiencing leaving the city in a chaotic, claustrophobic and suffocating space. Argument can be good development or a bad development but fact remains that the city has changed drastically and slowly becoming the city like others without any identity except being just a concrete habitat. The cityscape of Bangalore has changed to accommodate flyovers, buildings, roads and metro etc. slowly and rapidly replacing greenery with concrete.


This installation work basically evoke the feeling of helplessness of situation ambushed, suddenly attacked like situation where no space to escape and exit (a trap). In this work the audience will be forced to confront the situation which they normally do it in everyday life subconsciously, but here they will consciously face it directly, there by alerting there mind to counter the question and seek for answers.Visually this work is in form of concrete box, inside the box there will be 360 degree view of existing city they live in, which is with cement and other material. the work  bring in main essential characteristic of city in minimal form. The experience within the box (claustrophobic and suffocating space leaving no space to breath) represent the psychological situation of mind the mental space.
Over powering of concrete and its inevitable super imposed presence in our daily life which is symbolically represents mans thought and body slowly turning into concrete form with no space for nature and not being in touch with ourselves. 

The installation is  memorabilia of the changing phase. The smell of concrete initially will attract the audience hiding danger ahead. This work is a presentation of the dilemma - Development (a distortion) – Good, Bad or Necessary. My idea is to bring the attention where we really need to look and what we really need to think about? This work provokes us to question ourselves where we are leading to? Is this road leading to Utopian land or land where there is no space to live?



Dimple B Shah 2013
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