Self-evaluation: Semester 1

This post is a reflection of my first ADP project. 

Project Title: Mine The City

My initial interest was to explore the concept of space. I felt that by choosing this project it will help me get clarity on what I mean by space and how can I take it further.

As it was open to engagements both in terms of media and interpretation, I felt that it would also help me in experimenting with newer mediums and develop my skill as a new media artist.

Subject matter

As of now I have done two assignments.

1.     The first was about working in a locality and with the use of text bringing forth its essence or our interpretation of the landscape. The title of my final output is called ‘The Rambler’s Voice’. 

The brief given to us was that the work be based on text and not visuals. I chose an area called Basavanagudi. It is an old area which has in the last few decades’ undergone tremendous change. My initial research was involved photographing various types of text/type found in the area along with recording sounds and visuals. As the area had been renovated multiple times, it was hard to trace old typefaces. Also I had difficulty in relating to it for some time.

My second phase of the research was based on understanding the history of the area, and learnt about its historical, cultural and social aspects. For that I used online blogs, websites, read books on scholars who had lived there in the past, research paper on the area, and took interviews especially with residents who have lived there for more than a decade.

 

To execute, I chose a prose from a book called Nivedana, authored by DVG. I inscribed it on the road where DVG used to live and recorded the change of place and time over a period of three days.  

My motive was to inscribe a text on the road that I could relate to its changing landscape. Secondly it was a reminder to the residents of what the place means/meant in terms of culture and history w.r.t. Bangalore. The area is not just someone’s home/ shop/ commerce. The initial planning of Basavanagudi was formulated based based on colonial perceptions on how the society should be shaped. It is now embedded in layers, which is very difficult to sift through. I think, personally, after living in a sub-city for a long time, I have got much more aware that a home is not just a structure with brick walls. So it was personally a way to begin my exploration into what a landscape is in the context of a city.

The text was a prose which I wrote on the road. I had few issues in implementing the text as planned. The initial idea was to write in Kannada. But I could not find one. Secondly I wanted to use local materials to write the text with. But last minute glitch appeared. Hence the feedback was mixed, but I got more insight into the place and culture because of it. So I am happy with the outcome. Also I learnt on how to do public art. The final recording is edited into a 3-minute film which gives a glimpse into the project.

2.     The next assignment was on documenting a commute which I undertook as part of the project. The idea was to put in the experience without using any of the conventional mediums like photography, videography, audio recording. In short all the mediums that we represented earlier could not be used. The basic idea was to express the change in the space and how it affected my thoughts.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective was to engage with the space at different level.

AUDIENCE 

For the first assignment, my audience were the elderly people of the area. The feedback I got was good. There were some concerns on the text, especially the fact that it was in English and not Kannada. But overall they could relate to what I intended to say. They expressed that it was a good initiative given that most of the recent dwellers don't see the place as a cultural hub and community.

The second assignment was a personal journey which I tried to express through drawings. I think the audience could be anybody. Though it is yet to presented so I can't comment on the feedback yet.

CONTEXT 

As mentioned previously, the context of the work was to bring in the community of the locality. Since it was to be written on a busy commercial road, I wrote it early morning and on a holiday, so that maximum number of residents could view it.

MEDIUM/PRESENTATION 

The first assignment had hand written text, which was furthur recorded into a 3 minute film. This helped me acquire video editing skills.

Secondly as part of workshops, I learnt how to use photography as a context based and reflective medium.

RESEARCH METHODS 

The initial research was through photography, interviews, audio recordings.

The second part involved online research to get acquainted. It was then overlapped with related books, research papers and other artistic initiatives of similar nature.

REFERENCES 

Few of the references were very useful. Others were not that productive. But nevertheless, it was interesting to learn about  them.

POSITION & RELATIONSHIP 

It is difficult to answer this at the moment as I see this project as a work-in-progress. That said I have intended to take this project furthur.