Stainless Steel Nirvana -Path of Atmanirbhar ( Work process Video)

Dimple B Shah ft. 'The Nest' 

 

In the performance, ‘Stainless Steel Nirvana- Path of Atmanirbhar,' Dimple Shah portrays an uncanny intermingling of circumstances in recent times. Drawing parallels between the act of cleaning utensils and the Buddhist practice of repetition to attain nirvana, the artist presents a satire on the domestic condition of women during this pandemic.

Her performance was a part of the exhibition, 'The Nest,' curated by Aditi Ghildiyal.

Karmic Connection III

Performance at Leonrod-Haus für Kunst und Gelände Dachauer/Schwere-Reiter-Strasse am Leonrodplatz. 114 München. 6th June 2015.

Establishing connection with my audience through an act of "KARMA" (doing) was the whole idea of this performance. This performance highlights the hidden connections. We as human, constantly perform everyday activity and meet people in everyday life, some relations end being close and some at distance, this is automatically build up through our karmic connection and these connections are built with our act and in this process our relationship with other humans is established knowingly and unknowingly. For me it is a matter of personal importance, like whom I meet and how my relation is established with people whom I meet in my life.

I feel definitely there is previous association which I need to realize now and this performance will be an act to reach each and every human whom I meet. Each and every human holds a great importance and they are strongly connected to me. This performance explored how we connect our self to others (Audiences). This performance was an attempt to build bond through the process of interaction one to one in time and space, although my audience comes from different origin, roots, environments, spaces and experience, during the performance we experienced a moment of time and space together and through object as my tool helped them to look into past, present and future, in that moment we are built our bonds and we all recollected our memories of the past and remember in future. 

The audience could make a choice of kind of connection they have with me, spiritual or material through choice of material offered to them to touch. Performance was enhanced with audio and other material to get the impact and created a meditative environment.

Dimple B Shah
2015

Bring me the Smell of Earth & I will bring you the Taste of Love

Performance at Borella Bus Stop, Colombo, Srilanka, March 16th, 2015, Performed for First International Performance Festival.

“MAN is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself as the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they." 
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Social Contract 1762.

When we go to a new place, usually we try to connect and understand people through their culture, customs, habits and also behavior and we try to mingle with them to become one among them. Constant thinking to become part of that land and be accepted or not, with all the barriers like Racism, Ethnic issues, Religious and political aspect involved. Taking que from this thought, did this performance an interactive one where audience were requested to give me small piece of earth in a sack bag or by applying clay on my body. Symbolically giving a small piece of earth, The act also denoted welcome gesture for me in the country.

The entire performance was an act that involved long ritualistic process, with more space to understand, accommodate, tolerate and respect other cultures and share the whole world without boundaries and rules that are man made. This performance brought out concerns in a larger context; also raised questions on various issues related to collective identity, the construction of urban spaces which are the result of rapid development of larger cities and reducing rural space. The urban cities lead to building our identity in more multicultural platform, where it leads to hybridization and mix of different cultures. Overall when we talk about the identity of an individual in larger context it becomes complex and stays as collective identity from this various sources. 

The identity is formed by adding all this collective memories and become one come complex format of collective identity of individual. The views are also drawn from vantage point of cultural landscape one come from. So, for me this performance will mark an important platform for a cultural dialogue and also understanding and making space for different cultures in International platform. In this performance I have tried to blend various elements of both, cultures and essence of the place I come from and also adapting Sinhala Culture, by incorporating voice modulation of Sinhala language and collaborating with students to their voice in local language them in my work, S o I could make blending of cultures in totality.

Dimple B Shah
2015

Karmic Connection II

Performance, at “TENT” (an old house), Kolkata, 28th Jan 2015.

“We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness”

Connecting audience and myself through an act of Karma (doing), I was netting and establishing bond by weaving through golden thread and also metaphorically bringing the connection which highlights only on special occasion usually it is blurred in illusion. 

The act of myself marking with nail and hammer and creating a monotonous sound on bronze sheet was an act symbolizing "the act Performing Karma", like a goldsmith making mark and mapping connection. Both the sound of weaving and marking sound synchronized, allowing me to build my connection through the golden thread in a room of a workshop, where everybody in the room transcends to feeling of oneness even they became part of the act, The Karma, by moving their hands which is tied up with thread and where they make movement with the sound of my hammering and weaving sound.

Dimple B Shah

2015

Paradde to the "TIMES OF YORE"

Performance, a walk around the College Street, 26 Jan, Kolkata, 2015

Making connection to historical aspects of Kolkata was the key idea in this performance. The city Kolkata is one of the oldest city, ruled by East India Company, the buildings are as old as 150 to 200 hundred years and every stone of the city embedded with history. In this performance I viewed the city through an archaeological perspective and performed as archaeologist who want to collect all the evidences of historical Kolkata and in the process becoming like a socialist who is bringing the essence of city in the present times, who also stands for protest and revolution every time.

This performance was collaborated with common people as audience, who had their part of intervention, when they lend their voice for the performance, shouting "Ey amaar Kolkata, ey tomaar Kolkata" thereby reclaiming their own city.

Dimple B Shah

2015

Small Piece of Earth in my Pocket

Performance at Swamy Vivekananda Metro, Bangalore, June 10th, 2014.

This was my last performance for month of June and for Live Art Lab, 2014. Concept of event was ‘Warp-Woof-Weft' at Vivekananda Metro, Bangalore. The central focus for the event was on the subject of art and craft. The location for the performance was Bangalore Santhe, a place created by Bangalore Metro to promote handicraft and small arts and crafts. We chose to work here keeping in mind the fact that crafty elements is missing in contemporary art scene, and generally artists hire local craftsmen to create their work instead of creating themselves. 

My performance for the event was titled “Small Piece of Earth in my Pocket”; I intended to focus on two aspects, one rapid development of urban space leading to constant demand for more land leading to deforestation and other harmful affects to the nature in large and the other aspect is constant shift of lifestyle that is inclined to fast-food culture and other unhealthy practices that is the root cause of all health issues and indirectly effecting the economy and farmers are dragged into this vicious trap. 

I used jute for costume and prepared the whole costume by myself to give personal touch and also involve my craftsmanship. I made number of pockets on the sack to keep small cups that had Ragi sprouts (Finger Millet) , since Ragi (Finger Millet) is the most indigenous crop, also blend of organic food and using jute was intentional since Jute crop is suggested to help conserve deforestation and jute in performance is also metaphorical playing same role. During the performance I tried to merge myself with plants and trees that were grown around on the pillars of metro, on the lane and then I dragged a Banana Tree which was already damaged, paid tribute to the dead tree with flower and then I walked to each audience and distributed cup of (Finger Millet) Ragi sprout that I had on my costume and later we also planted some in the garden there.

Dimple B Shah
2014

Goddesses from Common Grounds

A 4km group walk of students & local working ladies, Performance at Basavanagudi, 8th June, 2014.

This performance was Basavanagudi Live Art Projcects last performance and a major intervention. It was basically my reaction to harassment done to one women near Gavigangadesvara Temple. It was there in the news for quite long. One Auto driver harassed a group of women, though this place is much safe for women still one or two such incident happens. Recently crime rates have increased in this vecinity, this triggered the thought of doing a silent walk where household working women and college student would participate, it is basically to gain respect and dignity for women. 

The work was titled Goddesses from Common Grounds a group walk. In todays day to day life there is a never ending concern on safety of women in society, this performance is a small act to Reframe issues of women of all strata, the concern is same to gain importance of their dignity safety and respect.

Dimple B Shah
2014

Time Lapse - Reliving Past

Interactive Performative Installation & Perofrmance on the footpath, next to Ramkrishna Math, Basavanagudi, 7th June 2014.

A generation which ignores history has no past: and no future. 
- Lazarus Long, from the works of Robert Heinlein

Through this interactive performance audiance had a glimpse of bygone era, the sense of past, a journey and reflection of time to relive the time itself. This was done by showing small still moving images in a kaleidoscope box the old medium to reach out people in the present time. This medium was very popularly used in olden days, commonly used in villages, it is like bringing the past in to present.

The old indigenous kaleidoscope was designed in a new way, film positives of images from the past, where people could get the glimpse of that period. Through this interactive per formative installation. This performance was targeted all kinds of audience’s from School Children, Auto Drivers, Common people, Old people and Women. 

This performance is a journey in itself for me since from the time of hunting for old photos online and reading about them and learning more things which I didn’t knew like the history of National College, the first Abala Ashram and going through life of great personalities was indeed a great learning and inspiration for me. One really feels proud living in such a great place with so much history. The outer body of Kaleidoscope was mix of old imagery and flower print, I had also used custom made helmet which could display multiple portraits at a time, like turning pages of history book, with images of important people get registered and when you remember they pop up in our minds and I stood there wearing that helmet representing all those forgotten faces, it was very a tricky design to execute though, but this was a perfect match to represent all by one unknown.

The costume I had chosen again had to reflect time the pata-patti pant which was used in earlier days only few old people use it and you really need to hunt shop which sell this particular or you need to buy material and get it stitched. I went to shop where this man from past 60 year makes this and I got the costume made for this performance for my size and shop person also shared that now only few old people come there buy this since it no more popular now the track pants are popular.

Dimple B Shah

2014

Shadows Of The Past

Footpath next to Ramakrishna Math, Ramakrishna Circle, Basavanagudi, Bangalore, 2014

The second intervention of performance was basically to have interactive interventions with senior citizens who could share oral history of their period share more stories and talk about the time their experience. This performance was about making space for interaction and exchange ideas about the past with the people who have lived and experienced it. This space there was mix of present and past and future in making. This installation was traditional Chappra usually built for marriage occasion but I used it as small Mantapa, a stage where people could come and relax, hear audio, read books and also share their experiences and stories. So it was like small Palce to Sit (Katte) could come and relax. I had also lot of small book to read about philosophy, yoga and poems of DVG- Mannku Thimanna Kagga etc.

After the first event there was feedback from audience and the art fraternity. There were also demands from the public to give them space to share their experiences. I gave thought to it and carefully brought these elements into the program and reworked it along with the already planned second performance. The idea was to build a coconut leaf ‘Chappra’ (traditional festive shelter) and have seating arrangements for senior citizens in it so that they could enter into the shade, relax and hear an audio track before moving forward.

By improvising and modifying my idea to involve senior citizens for conversation, I gained the opportunity to document oral histories of the past of Basavangudi as experienced and remembered by them, since they were witness to it. 

The experience of this long duration interaction and performance was valuable since many senior citizens came forward to share their histories. For those who came in the morning, I had prepared a Kannada script about my concept; it had information about my work. Many could not respond immediately since they were passing by with some other work in hand but they returned later in the afternoon and shared amazing stories.

One man told two stories, one about a snake that understood human language and another about a person who could turn water into yellow color with his magical powers. One more person who is a history teacher in a local college had lot to share about the place. Later a gentleman came up with his own poetry written spontaneously after reading my script, and using information from that. He shared this with Mamta Sagar and other people around. The traditional Mantapa was further used by Mamta Sagar for her performance to narrate a poem on 'Kansugallu' ('Dreams') which she had collected from public interaction. We had also given empty cards to people much before performance to write two lines about dreams and many contributed for it. In an interesting case one lady was hesitant to share her dreams and Mamta had to tell her own dreams in exchange, and then she was ready to share.

I felt the Mantappa had created a great platform, a space where past, present and future came together. I had great sense of satisfaction after doing this installation and performance, though initially it was a challenge to find the right people to construct it.

Dimple B Shah

2014

Basavanagudi Live Art Project (Reliving Past, Present and Future) - Performances by Dimple B Shah

Basavanagudi Live Art Project (Reliving Past, Present and Future) is an Artist Initiative by Dimple B Shah funded by India Foundation for Arts through Project 560. The event will be from April 24th to June 8, 2014.

Basavanagudi is one of the oldest dwellings in the city and has many Temples, Religious Places and Oldest Educational Institutions that has rich history. People from this place has major contribution in the field of theater, Literature and Cultural Development of the City. The very well-known Lankesh Patrike is also based here and also notable theater personalities have grown up here. The Bull Temple, Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, Ramanjaneya Gudda / Temple, Ramakrishna Ashram, Shankar Math and The Flower Market in Gandhi Bazaar all these places have great relevance in the City Map and also played important role. There are many Educational Institution both in Engineering and Art Field that have great contributions to this area. Over the years despite many people migrating here from different places and part of city it has not lost its charm though the new flyover and construction of new metro line is redefining its beauty. Even today we meet lot of people living in old buildings that has history of 70, 80 years, and still exists representing the good old days and charm of that era. The project is basically to do intervention in form of performances in this area on streets of Basavanagudi. This Project is intent to build intervention in Public Space and create more space for Performances Art.

'Road to Thousand Lights' - Performance at Rangoli Art Center, M.G. Road, Boulevard, Bangalore.

Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, that's been our unifying cry, "More light." Sunlight. Torchlight. Candlelight. Neon, incandescent lights that banish the darkness from our caves to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators. Big floods for the night games at Soldier's Field. Little tiny flashlights for those books we read under the covers when we're supposed to be asleep. Light is more than watts and footcandles. Light is metaphor. Light is knowledge, light is life, and light is light. 

~Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

'Road to Thousand Lights' is my second project for Live Art Lab which was based on concept of RE COLLECTION and RE P(L)AY of changes in city and especially in MG Boulevard, Bangalore which is transformed into new Space. Rangoli Art Center being a place for cultural exchanges so I thought the subject will be apt for the performance.

Through this work, I wanted to reconnect and reestablish relationship with old traditional Bangalore with the new grown city. Relooking the old historical roads of Bangalore which are transformed with a new look. The new cosmopolitan Bangalore is recognized with IT industries with hustling and bustling night life, meeting the worlds demand, the city has got new status as Silicon city from Garden city with flashing night lights. There city has undergone tremendous change in last decade with long flyovers cutting across the city and accommodating traffic. The city of Bangalore is slowly and gradually losing its charm and becoming like any other metro city of concrete land, where people hardly get the time to think about what they actual need and what they need to see. The people have blinded by more demands of modern lifestyle, the flashy glaring lights, thereby more and more distancing themselves from themselves. In this performance work I wanted to bring this very same message where they see old Bangalore but in the shadow of new light a mix of old and new together.

I was wearing a traditional hair plaits with flowers (Maggie na jade) replaced by light representing the new development in Bangalore the growth of IT industries, Companies burning their night lamps and city replaced with jazzy lights (electronic bill board night light).

The light has more Philosophical and psychological relevance for our life. We have seen people having suicidal tendency when they don’t see much light in their life the light in not in literal sense but more in spiritual context and connected to broader sense of life, having thousands of metaphoric connotations.

As we are progressing to new age of high tech life style people usual distance to real connection to themselves running behind meeting deadlines making money accumulating things. I also wanted my audience to see light beyond light the more inner meaning and metaphors of lights I felt a need of a hour as we are growing we are distancing ourselves from seeing inner and true meaning of light. In my performance I distributed light stick and light toys and postcard as souvenir to remember light, not miss the real meaning of light this was given in exchange of dialogue and seeking answer to question what is light for them.

Dimple B Shah, 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. 

Dual Paradox - Parallel Existence. Live Performance for Live Art Lab 2012 at Rasa Art Gallery

As a performance artist I wanted to work on public interactive based project, in this direction I collaborated with Live Art Lab, Bangalore, which is initiated by group of artists including me, providing platform for National and International artists to share their works and take up workshops for students and upcoming performers in Bangalore. And also encourage to do experiments in performance art. Live Art Lab conducted its first event where six members  of the Lab, four young artists and students participated.

My performance was titled DUAL PARADOX - Parallel Existence, in this performance I dealt with existential elements which talks about general psychology, that deals with mass hysteria and viral disease in the society and one of sociological aspect which we encounter in our everyday life. I have tried to resurface paradox that is lead by Aspirations - Virtue and there co-existence. This performance brings two contrasting state (fame and anonymity) in one frame, questioning the parallel existence of both in our society. The common frame will not only bring in the two individuals but also their life stories and backgrounds that they come from, you can accept or neither deny/ignore any one. Paradoxical juxtapositions of coexistence while suggesting a more truthful and harmonious possibility of coexistence between two extremes.

The act is like a truth which you can neither accept nor can reject totally which we encounter in our everyday life and consciously questioning our minds with our own identity and entity. Sometimes many of us still keep on juggling between these two positions in these frames sometimes as anonymous and sometime other.

The constant struggle by the large anonymous population to achieve fame, if we consider there are large populations that remain in anonymity and about 15 percent in other half in fame. How this works out when they are put in one frame? The performance also ponders around the well known statement "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." This also brings in question of immortality of name in history books, the questions based on existence like - if they are not famous then does it equals to non existence or no voices heard, hordes of question related to identity and existence.

"Fame" once this was held only by a privileged few, fame went hand-in-hand with respect and hard work. To be famous meant that you had achieved something noteworthy, or had an exceptional talent. But things have changed, as demonstrated by the number of untalented people who are currently famous. Why has there been such a shift and why has the desire for fame become such a powerful motivation for so many people?

I would like to thank friends and artists present, for there overwhelming response to the event and active participation by lot of young talents, with great enthusiasm and spirit and making this event a Festival. Thank you Live Art Lab Members, Bar 1 Members and Rasa Gallery for the support.

All are Welcome to the Live Art Lab 2012

Connecting with the city - Live Art 2011, The International Festival Of Art Performance

Live Art 2011, the international festival of art performance organized by Smitha Cariappa, our adept in the field, was a special event with workshops, presentations and theory. One appreciated her idea to introduce the still new here medium to the broad audience as well as the city to the foreign participants through works by young local artists along a stretch of Mission and Double Roads spanning the artists’ initiative spaces of Bar1, Jaaga and 1Shanthi Road (November 15). Moving on, referring to, questioning and engaging with the place and people, its actual life situations, ethos and behaviour, the artists established a tenuous and fleeting, yet often vital link with the chaotically revelatory dynamism of the surroundings. 

As such, it seemed to bridge the otherwise prevalent and unfortunate gap between artists and the locale. That the performances were simple, easily readable on the surface and sometimes visually striking, indeed attracted passers by, their responses ranging from plain curiosity or literal naivety to basic recognition, policemen’s bewildered doubt included. The day started on a median with Vasudev C in protective gear cleaning it in suggestive-symbolic gestures, after which nearby school children were directed to seriously paint Mangala’s large kite, while Sapna H S as a little girl was whistling shrilly in control of the traffic, her actions later helping the occurrences’ progression. 

A high-point of sensitive presence in gravity became Deepak D L, his body painted the road divider’s camouflage black and white, evoking a fragile center of calm and stability amid the noisy haste. Another focus was Dimple B Shah who on the side of a petrol station spread her ware of cheap healing perfumes, and attired in red robes, her face a telluric green, fascinated onlookers like an ancient ritualistic performer. A very rough, raw and disturbing but also tender piece came from Sushil Kumar, a senior Delhi artist, who circled under the garbage-strewn flyover to cross the road with his head under an old, heavy commode, indeed letting the viewers sense the burden of dirt we imbibe from around. 

As the night fell by the fuming, blaring junction, Mangala wearing an oxygen mask lit by a green torchlight dared the traffic and with ordinary-dramatic gestures confronted drivers letting both them and pedestrians intuit the mutual danger and suffocation. Whilst those contributions provided culmination points, numerous other happenings kept up the interrupted continuity gracefully or with a subtle kind of obviousness addressing issues of drinking water and trash (Pallem Yamini, Monica Nanjunda), personal confusion (Navya A), the fate of urban birds (Asha Rani N) and farmers (Subramanya), spirituality (Samir Paul) and psychology (Deepak and Venkatesh K N), undermining gender roles (Sapna as a fashionable panipuri seller) or proving resistance to the melee with slow-walking on the edge Raghu Wodeyar listening to music.

Whereas Nilesh S Dubrekar displayed a painting on the ground, Vasudev and team performed a surgery on a fruit cart vendor, its strategic placement on a tyre repair shop’s isle both gathering chance spectators and stimulating artists towards spontaneous fun ventures with available objects. The evening ended with a general mock-gun-battle and constant stair washing at 1Shanthi Road by Siri Devi, after a perhaps misguided effort of contemporary dancers (Jyotsna B Rao and Abhilash Ninjappa). A messily charming frame mapping the process was created by Suresh Kumar G R who followed everything leaving behind a trail of yellow paint drips.

Marta Jakimowicz