21 November,2012 07:31 AM IST | | Avantika Patil
The sculptor this time has gone on board to bring alive the pawns! Showcasing his new collection Chessmerised in the upcoming India Art Festival, Arzan talks to CS about getting inspired by chess:
Who: Arzan Khambatta
What: On his latest collection inspired by chess
PIC/ Santosh Nagwekaru00a0
The right moves
Even though I have done an entire show inspired by the game of chess, I can't play chess at all. Although I love the game and it intrigues me but I could never learn it. My aunt has tried her best to teach me this board game but it just isn't my cup of tea. It is such an intelligent game with so many permutations and combinations possible. One move is different than the other and can't be copied. So much thought goes behind each and every aspect of it. I just love it. Personally I am a word person when it comes to board games.
Pawn story
It was difficult but not impossible to capture the nuances of the game. What interests me most is that each pawn has a different shape and size with a set of particular skills. My favourite is the Knight. The fact that he is seated on the horse like a warrior makes it my favourite. The King is my second favourite as he has all the powers possible. As an artist I have taken the liberty to give life to these pawns and give them a human form. One of them is inspired by a famous television quiz show and the sculpture is called Pawn Banega Corepati.
Caught in hues
The first thing that came to my mind were the colours black and white. In this collection, the sculptures look grey which is a combination of black and white. The material I have used is iron and wood and the tinge I get here is a pure iron colour after a gas blast. u00a0 u00a0u00a0
