Presenting Presentations

As part of the current International residency on Bookmaking at Khoj, all the artists have made presentations introducing their prior engagements and concerns. This was an attempt to share their works and conceptual motivations behind them. It was also an initiation towards a dialogue about the interests and thoughts of the artists with regard to discursive theme of the residency.

My attempt here is to briefly outline some of the observations with regard to the practices of the artists and understand their significance within the discursive field. To start with, Sebastian Corodova’s work situates itself within the larger context of urban dynamics. The visuality of the urban architectural spaces becomes a crucial trope in some body of his work. While dealing with the relationship of the Text and the Image, often text inspired by the image, Sebastian explores the maximum possibilities of this overlap and finds an innovative language. The black and white drawings portray everyday scenes of public places and activities with specific reference to his cultural instances. Touching upon the issues of mobility and functionality, some of his works Working Toilet and Working Chair deal with objects like chair and toilet stand. By shifting the space in which these operate and making them as movable/mobile objects, Sebastian re-defines the existing understandings about these objects. These attempts are not mere criticisms of the urban set up’s but also an attempt of play with the aspect of space and function of the object.

Sebastian Corodova

Sebastian Corodova.

Meghna Bisineer’s works are largely based on drawing; they exist as layers of forms and images put together speaking the language of their own. Her animations can be understood as extension to this, as they are drawings that move into different directions, set-ups and contexts, inventing and re-interpreting themselves. It is interesting the way in which Meghna deals with the aspect of process, rather than merely concentrating on the final product, she documents every stage of the process the work has passed through and in that sense each stage of the work can be understood as a creation in itself.

Meghna Bisineer, The Drawing Film, Documentation of 'The Grid'. Part of a Collaborative Drawing Project with Jane Cheadle

Meghna Bisineer ,'String man' , wall animation using string, grease, powder paints

Aditya Pande creates images that are abstract and figurative at the same time. His works adapt a curious method of developing the forms with mixture of lines created through the software followed by working and re-working, through drawing; painting over them. This attempt thus, creates a camouflage not just of the techniques but more importantly of the images that are represented. The technological mediation brings forth a different kind of visuality that situates his works in a distinct trajectory.

Aditya Pande,Who's love is it Anyway?, Ink and Enamel on Paper, 180X236cms, 2008

Aditya Pande, Champa and Snowy 2008, Ink and enmal on paper 93" x 71" (236 x 180 cms)

Logaine Navascues’s works operate with a dominant conceptual undertone to the aspect of love, understanding the nuances and translations of this aspect in various contexts, Logaine tries to archive some of the documents such as love letters in various formats. These stand as memoirs of a history, not of the individual person but with regard to the larger concept of love itself. For Instance, her work Epistola & Diastole is an archive in itself that has the shape of a book and has the architecture of the Box in which every drawer /partition have images, letters, books that in some way or the other articulate the aspect of love. Thus logaine through her engagements deals with aspect of love on one hand and re-thinks the structure of book on the other.

Logaine Navascues

Logaine Navascues, Epistola & Diastole

Sachin George Sebastian is truly a paper engineer as he calls himself. Having a vast understanding about paper, Sachin creates an image with the process of cutting/molding it. Many of his works adapt the genre of pop-ups saying that ‘there should be something magical inside that any one can’t easily imagine’. For Instance His two pop-up books A Christmas Dream and the other The Diwali Night portray an unusual narrative that is being narrated by a character called Toto, the popping up images with the help of the text, surface the ambience of the subject before us. In one of other works he clubbed the images that are usually printed on the back side of different Indian currency notes, basically to look at what kind of implications all these produce when they come together.

Sachin G Sabastian , India through Currency ,Pop-up work

Sachin G Sabastian, From the pop - up book A Diwali Night

Sukanya Ghosh works cuts across mediums such as painting, found images, photo-montage, etching and video and often appear as overlaps. They have as Sukanya says ‘A bit of everything in them’ trying to construct a diversity of approaches within a singular attempt. Her works are also memoirs of differed cultural locations as she had conceived her work in different geographic locations including India. These cross-cultural affiliations bring together a diversity of visualities in the form of a fragmented assemblage.

The above observations were some of the primary reflections/understandings with regard to the works of the artists. My engagement with them and their works as a critic in this residency will attempt to take a nuanced way in the coming days extending my enquiries to much more critical concerns.