24 March,2011 09:03 AM IST | | Sheena Thomas
As you enter Jitish Kallat's show, you are welcomed by a 750-part photographic work, titled Epilogue, that traces his father's life through all the moons he saw from the day he was born, till his death. The overwhelming work is a tribute to his father, who seems to have had a profound effect on Jitish's life. The artist speaks to CS about his ongoing show Stations of A Pause at Chemould Prescott Gallery, Fort:
Cycle of life
Epilogue emerged from a series that I did in 2004 called Conditions Apply. It touched upon time and sustenance, depravation and hope. Then when I made this lunar cycle, it hit me that the emptiness, synonymous with the crescent moons, eventually turned into a full moon.
So in 2010, I archived my dad's life, tracking its lunar cycle from 1936 to 1998. It is fascinating to note that no two frames are same and the last frame just has one moon, symbolising my dad's death.
Though many might find my work profound and severe, I think that it is also very bizarre and playful. For instance, I have made a video called the Forensic Trail Of The Grand Banquet, which gives you a glimpse of the cosmic journey.
So, the microscopic organisms, nebulae, or underwater formations that you see flying around you, are actually an X-ray of food items like samosas, kachoris, corn, etc touching upon the need for sustenance, once again. The concept of a banquet uploaded into the cosmos is quite bizarre in itself. It's how you choose to look at it.
Art from the heart
Art can be interpreted in various waysu00a0-- it's about how one object finds an unexpected retina that reads it in a way that you might not have expected it to. And that's the ultimate joy of making art.
I've had some very special encounters with art lovers who have seen my ongoing show Public Notice 3 at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's great to see a student of Pastoral Studies commenting on my work in his blog and other students responding to it. The realisation that your own work changes voice and meaning when someone else looks at it is beautiful.
Desi hai hum
It would be very wrong to expect Indian artists exhibiting abroad to showcase art with Indian influences. You would be limiting your scope if you were to make your work culture specific. When I entered art school in 1991, we only had three hours of MTV and our Indianness wasn't spelt out in double quotes, it was seamlessly merged with a broader dialogue. So limiting your expression would be like denying yourself the energy and beauty of a broader world that you've absorbed.
If you're coming from Palampur and have visited Paris, it would be wrong to turn a blind eye to the exposure that you've received. There is a difference in the artists who operated during the Independence movement and the younger ones who come from an India that has many voices and speaks many languages. And that difference is evident in our work today.
Who: Jitish Kallat
What: Poses in front of Epilogue while talking about the art on display
Where: Chemould Prescott
