There is an inherent nomadic nature to a site that emerges and dissolves every day. The concept of site-specific art is derived from this idea wherein, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. A team of six MFA final year students from Shantiniketan and 16 final year students of BFA and MFA from Andhra University are exploring this socially engaging art practice in a six-day site-specific art activity in the city. As part of the activity, the team explored the Old Town area on Tuesday. More broadly, the term site-specific art is referred for any work that is (more or less) permanently attached to a particular location and a metaphorical interpretation of a site by an artist.
Sanchayan Ghosh, faculty member of Kala Bhavana, Shantiniketan, who is mentoring the team of students for the activity, said the main objective of the art activity is to introduce the concept of site-specific art to students. “This is an art form where the artist engages with a site, derives an artistic language from the site and thus becomes an explorer in the process. In these six days, we will be exploring the nuances of what creates the city of Vizag,” he told The Hindu . In the next couple of days, the group will be visiting important places of the city like the ancient Buddhist sites and prominent places like R.K. Beach apart from heritage sites and places of historical significance.
Explaining further about site-specific art, Ghosh said the concept originated in the 1950s in Europe and US and was given different names such as land art and performing art. “Later, in the 1960s, it became a more engaging process which took into account several elements that constitute a public space from archaeological and socio-political perspectives. Site-specific art is an interpretive space of metaphors,” he added.
The art activity is an initiative of the Students’ Biennale, which is a part of the annual Kochi Muziris Biennale. The best works of promising artists from the four universities of Viswa Bharati University, Andhra University, Khairagarh University and Burdwan University (College of Art and Design) will be showcased at the student’s Biennale in Kochi. “The site-specific activity in Vizag will explore this method of study from an anthropological point of view wherein the students will try to involve in a dialogical relationship with the city, its past, its loss and rejuvenation and translate them as site-specific art projects,” said Noman Ammouri, curator of the art activity. At the end of the six-day activity, an open studio will be held on August 22.
