|
‘'Guaranteed to
work throughout its useful life’
By
KAUSIK
MUKHOPADHYAY
April 9 – 25,
2009
Works:
These objects are guaranteed to work. In a future world, new
life forms evolve assembled out of the debris of civilization.
These fragments are assembled together to make war machines that
create a spectacle out of comic juxtapositions and movements; a
computing machine bleeds its wires all over the floor as it
generates answers; a city is made out of what used to be parts of
its most base infrastructure and a garden is created that is both
absurd and beautiful.
Tiny fragments enlarge to become part of a larger whole
through a shift of scale and vice versa. We recognize the pieces
that make these machines only for a moment before the stability of
signifier disappears into the assemblage.
How long will these machines last or how long should they?
Once their life is over do these also disappear into what remains
of our history- waiting for another purpose, another meaning- an
afterlife?
Edge of Nations (at Pundole)
A miniature tank assembled out of a car jack, cycle wheels,
etc rumbles across the floor. You can control its movement up to a
point until a parallel set of controls begins to take over.
The Computing
Machine (at Pundole)
This machine can answer all the questions of the universe-
except that all answers are randomly generated through a circuitry
of movements and noises. The only answers possible are ‘yes’, ‘no’
and ‘cancel’.
The Garden (at
Pundole)
This is a garden made from the fragments of our everyday
lives. In it is a longing for elsewhere. The other place is
desire.
Infrared
cannot be seen by naked eye (at The Guild)
We walk into this city and join a lost car as it tries to
navigate a maze like city of high rises and surveillance. A roving
eye, a helicopter, a clock, a light house watches over us.
Light Tank (at
The Guild)
As a turntable makes its perpetual turns a tank spews out
light in spectacular patterns that fill the room.
Rohan Shivkumar
-----
Kausik Mukhopadhyay has shown widely - some of his selected
shows include ‘Maps. Metaphors and Mythologies’, New York; ‘Edge
of Desire’, Perth, Australia; ‘Century City – Art and Culture in
the Metropolis’ Tate Modern, London;
9th Asian Biennale, Dhaka. Kausik has been recipient of Charles
Wallace, grant for residency at Gasworks, London UK, Fellowship
for artists working in India, Inlaks Foundation and fellowship at
Kanoria Centre for Art, Ahmedabad.
The Exhibition will run concurrently at:
The Guild
Art Gallery
28 B, Pipewala Building 50/70
Shahid Bhagat Singh Road
Corner of 4th Pasta
Lane, Colaba, Mumbai - 400 005 India.
&
Pundole Art Gallery
369
Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Mumbai - 400 001 |
