Art exists in varied forms. If trees, mountains and landforms are nature’s art installations, paintings, sculpture, architecture and landscaping form the essence of humankind’s artistic impulses. All over the world, these works of art acquire different meanings based on their setting.
Banksy, the England-based street artist, is well-known for his art works that make satirical or ironic comments on political, moral and ethical questions. He has created subversive and satirical graffiti on the West Bank barrier in Gaza and graffiti spoofs in England. His subjects include an ironic take on government spying scandals, climate change and the greed of corporations. Isaac Cordal’s installation in Berlin is a comment on politicians discussing global warming, and brings in the current climate change debates. Art can also bring us close to things which we never notice in everyday life. Claes Oldenburg’s life-size installations of everyday objects are displayed in cities in the U.S. and Europe.
The variety of themes in art brings us to an age-old question — what is art, and what purpose does it serve? The answer lies in two schools of thought, namely ‘Art for Art’s Sake’ and ‘Art for Life’s Sake’, and partly what lies in between. The former believes the beauty of art is reason enough to pursue it, and the latter believes art helps us realise universal values. The pop philosopher Alain de Botton conceives of art as therapy for the soul, and envisions a way of perceiving art by downplaying historical readings. Whichever school of thought one follows, the beauty of literature is that you can decipher many meanings from a work. Thus, art is what you make of it.
Putting up Art installations is an established practice in the West, undertaken for beautification and to develop interactive spaces for the public. Governments have commissioned art works by artists, who are awarded such projects after competitions and voting by the public.
Looking at the Indian context, there are a very few installations that have gathered attention. The Delhi government, during a beautification drive, and following the western example, commissioned metallic sprouts outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( see photo ). These sprouts symbolised India’s growth, initiating Delhi into the discourse of a world city.
Neglected
But overall, commissioning art installations is a neglected trend. Modern artistic sculptures are a relatively new phenomenon in India. Apart from creating monuments and putting statues, not much has been done in this area. One does recall the hand mudra installations at the Delhi airport, which is a public space. But overall, if some attention is not paid to developing spaces for art, it defeats the very purpose of public art.
Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji airport terminal houses about 7,000 works by some 1,500 Indian artists. It is described by the airport’s operator as “India’s largest public art programme”, a space to display the country’s rich and diverse culture, of representing India to the world through its ancient and modern art traditions. The curator says art must be taken out of the museums and into the wider public domain.
But these ideas smack of a class bias where only those who can afford an international air ticket will be able to view the works on display. Why could these works not be installed in other public spaces such as railway stations or bus stations?
Art is democratised when it is taken out of its original setting of museums and galleries and put in urban spaces where there is more scope for it to be scrutinised and felt by the masses. This pigeon-holing of art in certain locations such as museums and now airports takes away from its democratic potential. Irwin Goffman, in his book Frame Analysis , posits the idea that a frame is equally important to judge a work of art as our behaviour is cued by expectations determined by the frame. In this case, the frame becomes the context and the placement of an art installation. Thus, the project undermines the democratic potential of art.
These projects are put up only for display to foreigners behind gated areas. One needs to question why, and for whom, they are put up and what purpose they serve. If art has a purpose, then are these displays fulfilling that purpose?
The government needs to identify places where thought-provoking public art can be displayed so that it does not remain in the confines of museums and airports, and everyone has a chance to appreciate them.
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