here has been a growing trend to take installation art out of the white box of a gallery and display it in public spaces that receive high footfalls so that wider audiences can engage with the art.
From display walls at metro stations to the façade of buildings across the city, Delhiites now have the opportunity to see works during their daily commute or during a visit to a mall or a park. Publica, a flagship initiative of the Floodlight Foundation which aims to bring wider audiences to engage with art to encourage patronage, is organising its second public arts festival in the city that will be on all of February at different locations across the city.
Artists in Publica 2016 include Gigi Scaria, Anant Mishra, Owais Husain, Krishna Murari, Tushar Joag, Jasone Bilbao, Bhuwal Prasad, Lucas Minoz and Raktim Parashar. The event has been curated by Surbhi Modi.
After a preview at Bikaner House, the installations will now be displayed various locations across the city. One of the stand-out installations at the show is by Spanish artist Lucas Munoz, who is currently doing a residency with students at the International Institute of Fine Arts, Modi Nagar, for his project Delhi Lungs.
“Delhi Lungs” is a work that addresses one of the most relevant issues in Delhi today — air pollution. The installation, located at the Atrium of the India Habitat Centre, is a machine that has 18 ventilators installed in it, which will be sucking the air of the city for 30 days and blowing it through a white cotton fabric. The outcome of this awareness rising project will then be a low-tech scanner of the visual residue floating in the air.
The other installations include a map-based installation by Tushar Joag called “Peeling the Onion” in Nizamuddin Basti. It is a participatory action piece in which Tushar has worked with various communities in a basti run by the Aga Khan Development Network as part of the Nizamuddin Renewal Initiative.
Gigi Scaria, in an installation “Who Directs Whom?” at Select City Walk from February 20, will re-imagine the city as a grandfather clock, swinging from side to side commenting on the longevity of cities. The kinetic sculpture moves from side to side and has a working clock. It is an attempt to understand the urban psyche in connection with the modern concept of time and its influence on social behaviour.
Rajesh Ram showcases the farmer in his work and represents the farmer’s life struggle and his attempts to commit suicide. His work draws on the emotions of the land and it’s farmers who give us food. The installation will be on display at DLF Cyber Hub from February 20.
Anant Mishra’s “Are We Human Yet” is a seemingly playful work that takes a satirical slant on what it means to be human in present times. The artist questions, whether being human, once heralded as a symbol of the highest level of consciousness, intelligence and empathy, is still true given the quickly depleting moral and social values. The installation will be at the Great India Place Mall, Noida, from February 20.
Bhuwal Prasad’s “Bud” done using acrylic lacquer and duco paints on aluminium sheet and iron is a comment on how landfills are wasting a huge amount of potentially useful material and how everyone must reduce, reuse, and recycle. The installation will be on display at Shanti Path from February 20.
The flagship initiative of Floodlight Foundation aims to bring more audiences to engage with art
