Do not judge artworks by appearances: Swiss artist

Workshop aims at encouraging people to develop works of art on their own

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is playing host to a unique workshop titled ‘Energy: Yes! Quality: No!’, where participants are invited to bring their artworks for evaluation based on a unique criterion. The workshop will conclude on March 28.

The artworks could be a piece of text, photograph, collage, video, painting, or sculpture. There is a catch though — the submissions will not be evaluated on the basis of their quality. In fact, the live feedback session, open to all biennale visitors, involves judging their art on its ‘energy’ quotient.

The month-long workshop led by Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn has attracted diverse group of participants, including those from abroad.

“The idea is to encourage people to develop works of art on their own. They should be ready to have them judged while trusting their own judgment,” says Hirshhorn.

The 61-year-old Paris-based artist says he uses the term ‘quality’ negatively because it excludes others and makes a distinction between good or bad. “To me, judgment is a positive term because judging the work is never judging the person,” he adds.

Hirschhorn’s workshop is being organised at Cabral Yard, which is the site for the biennale pavilion, a multi-functional structure that also serves as an interactive platform for visitors to express their creativity.

The critical workshop is organised as part of the Kochi Biennale’s curatorial theme — Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life. English and Malayalam speakers are invited to participate in the workshop, which is held twice a day, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Those interested in registering for the workshop can write to: applications@kochimuzirisbiennale.org

At one of the sessions, a group of contemporary artists, students, a human rights law professional, a homemaker, and an art writer got together to ponder over each other’s artworks. These ranged from a photograph taken at Fort Kochi, sketches and water colours on paper, a short story, a poem, and presentations by two artists.

While three schoolchildren from Chennai received a lot of critical attention for their imaginative portraits on paper, a work by a Kochi-based woman was the highlight of the session. It had a woman’s face carved out of the bark of a mango tree, in what its maker said was an attempt at creating a self-portrait. The carved-out face, resembling a married woman, was covered with a green dupatta. Long black hair and a gajra had been added to the artwork that also looked like a decorative puppet.