We have always known the city we call home as the Garden City or IT City. For German mixed media artiste and bangaloREsident@NCBS Simona Koch, however, Bengaluru is one big, living organism.
Showcasing her interpretation, Simona recently exhibited Superorganism #1 Bengaluru , with a multimedia display at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, GKVK Campus.
Basing her observations on the city’s growth over a period of time, the artiste created a multimedia project, including a video installation showing the small cell of Bengaluru growing into a massive organism in constant activity, and animated city maps from six different moments of Bengaluru’s history with pencil drawings. A set of collages, photographs of the city and a web of strings illustrating the evolution of the organism was also part of the installation.
On how it all started, Simona recalls that she was here for five weeks and became interested in the talks with the scientists here. “I also had to go to the city centre every second day. My way through the traffic and the city life gave me the connection of the city being one big organism.”
Inspired by Bengaluru’s cityscape, she describes the roads as the veins of the city while the city itself is supplied with water and nutrients. “As an artiste, my work is related to aspects of living. So I wanted to do something based on that idea.” Simona adds she had something similar in mind with the city of Vienna but found she could start her work in Bengaluru itself. “The feeling of the city as an organism is stronger here than in Europe. The vibe and activity is much more here.”
What makes Bengaluru special? Simona admits that while she’s toured several cities across continents, Bengaluru is very much in a state of constant flow. “Everything is flowing into one another. Even in the chaos of the crowds and traffic, it’s amazing how there are no accidents I’ve observed. After about three weeks, I also started to flow. Before that I was scared to even cross the road. Now I can cross on my own - I just go. The flow will also take care of me.”
Will people learn to appreciate the city better when they observe it as an organism? Simona says it will definitely open the mind for a new perception.
“Also the life and other organisms that are part of this superorganism are also important. I took pictures of trees with cables wound around them. This living and non-living cohesively existing is one of the many aspects of the city’s superorganism nature.” To people who show an artistic interest in her work, she says every artiste has his or her own special interest on what he or she is working on.
“But I believe you always need to go to another place. In your own place, you are already part of the organism. You wouldn’t ever see the things I see. When you come to my city, you will observe things differently from how I would see it.”
Simona says: “When you see how fast the city has grown, you really don’t know where it will go. From my perspective, I think humans are getting a bit too many. So if it continues growing like this, all the megacities will grow into each other and the whole planet will be infected becoming a super megacity. But probably nature will bring some disease to use against us to deal a balance.”
