Social Art in the Public Realm

I would like to start with why I got involved. After reading yet another forward on the art practices in the city, what really caught my attention with this project was the fact that it was about the city and would be within its streets (and not another galleries or studio). It took some convincing in figuring out why artists from across the globe ‘intervene’ the city’s streets with art practices that would sound esoteric to the communities in these pockets. I was still uncertain with the ‘fear and gender’ concept. So the best way to figure it all out was to go see for myself.

I met Ana and Richard on the 20^th of Jan 2009, at St. Mary’s Church in Shivajinagar, missed Liz’s mapping intervention due to some ‘permission’ issues. Was hoping to take Ana’s photo-mapping project, but she was still scouting for people and wasn’t prepared with the cameras. Richard had planned for a ‘Sound Mapping’ exercise, so since we were there…we just joined in.

Follow the leader….listen…observe…feel (the last one I added)!!

Auto horns, children crying,

Fruit vendors, a flute seller,

The flower lady

The butcher’s knife

A bollywood tune,

one o’clock prayers from the loudspeaker of a mosque..

All rapped up and thrown in together! Noise…or sounds.

We were asked to sort of follow a leader who led us through the tiny lanes of Shivajinagar avoiding contact with anyone- he specified not just to refrain from speech but also eye contact. “Just follow and observe the sounds you hear”.

At the end of a ten minute walk through the very busy market I caught myself making rhythms and music with all clutter-clatter around me. But after all the collection, there was no closure… I had just gathered sounds and voices in my head.. it was long before I let it diffuse.

Personally I’ve been in and out of these streets and they sound very much like any other market in the city. But there was something about the volume and intensity of the sounds. It takes you into a swirl and you can’t help but notice the increasing and decreasing of sound decibels from one lane to another.

I couldn’t stop the voice in my head that constantly kept updating me with my visual imagery of the sounds. We did share our responses with the group which consisted of Anoushka and Mrinalini from Srishti, me and Poornima. And of course Richard who was also our leader for the exercise. I found the process very interesting but couldn’t direct my ‘emotions and questions’ to any paved route. I felt we were left to interpret the process into our own vague abstract conclusions.

But then again this was my first day at the intervention. The Srishti students were initiated into it much ahead of us. So I stopped complaining and let my lost self gather the experience and save the questions for later.

Looking back now, I can tell you that the exercise and the unanswered have made me want to walk and observe very closely the sounds, its patterns in randomness. This makes me wonder what it was that Richard was trying to achieve through that process and my incomplete answer to that would be to ‘be aware’ of not just the ‘self’ but also ‘how’ the self maneuvers itself through the varied experiences in a day. And sounds to me represent the everyday elements that we consciously omit but unconsciously seep into our patterned routines.

Pallavi

from maraa

Disposable Cameras…

Connect…n click!!

Spaces that are safe

Spaces of fear…

Warm..n cold

Black or white…maybe just grey!!

The simplicity of the method which brought out the subtleties of the process excited me. The device was as simple as winding the knob and pressing a button. It was quick and easy to convince people in the local community to handle the camera and experiment with the process of capturing visuals of things/ people they felt safe/ fear with/ without.

Met Ana on the 20^th of Jan at Infinitea with Vera and Carolina when they met the Srishti students to discuss ‘ideas for Venue 2’. The concept of capturing ‘my public memories’ reminded me of an installation I had worked on in college the previous semester. The process left me with many many questions and I could not put it into an appropriate point of view. And in some way this brought closure to some of those doubts.

After two cups of Koshys filter coffees two days after a previous meet, Ana give me three cameras. One for myself and the other two I had the choice to give them to anyone I wanted to.

I chose to work around an area I was most familiar with, Kodihalli. A stretch of, say a kilometer en route to my house from the Airport road quite beside the very grand Leela Galleria.

Most of the people on this street have seen me dodge my way through the three-way (sometimes even four way) traffic of cows, fruit vendors, double parked cars, meat stalls hounded by hungry dogs with drooling jaws and over-flowing drains. The hustle and bustle of the street can intimidate a newcomer. For me, it is a place that I strangely feel very safe in; even to walk home at 11pm. Often greeted with an expected smile or an occasional stop to have nonsensical conversations about the filthy roads has kept me occupied during my many visits to the mallu (Malayalee) tea stalls and bakeries. Sometimes I feel even the cows give me a nod when I pass by.

I attempted to talk to a couple of them about the disposable camera project and tried to see how many of them would break the barrier of just surface conversations and allow me to take a sneak peek into their private spaces. I found most of them instantaneously getting curious and questioned me in depth about the concept and what I would do with the pictures. Many were excited about getting free developed pictures of family members and extended relatives and friends. But most of them backed out once I suggested that they take the camera and bring it back for me to develop it. I realized that most of the women were not sure if their husbands would approve of this; although they were very excited about clicking pictures of themselves and sticking to the brief I gave them.

Chintamaniaayi, an old vegetable seller who sits outside a temple, said her three sons might break it and was scared they would ruin the process if she took the camera home. (She also mentioned in passing that they would be drunk and their wives might not like an old lady showing off with a gadget). She did click a few pictures while I was talking to her…gave it back to me after 5 shots. And the men were reluctant, they said I could follow them and click pictures but they weren’t comfortable of taking it back with them. Feared it might disturb their business. I took the cameras home.

My little eight year old neighbor, Muddhamma, was very excited about the gadget. She learned to use the camera in just 5 minutes. Muddhamma stays in a tiny make-shift house in a vacant site beside my house. Her mother is a construction worker, who works all day at the upcoming plush flat across the road and her father works as a coolie (manual labour) for scrap-collectors. I’ve had several conversations with her on random things. She was quite curious about the process and was eager to play with this new toy that she had never explored before. The twisting and winding of the role, the sound of the click interested her more than actually focusing on an image. She told me I was to see for myself in the images what her story was… She is keen on seeing her pictures and I wish to soon give her a print of the roll. (Will post her reactions too)

I gave the second camera to my grandmom, she agreed but was too scared of using an unknown gadget (she fears the every bit of technology except the TV remote…very much required to shift her Tamil channels, Sun TV to Jaya TV). The reason I picked her was because I felt it was an important process for her as she never steps out the house. She fears everything that is the ‘outside’; she has mastered her daily routine and refuses any alterations. And I found that quite interesting. I am amazed at how she has found her ‘comfort’ and ‘safe’ blanket. Not wanting to alter it any way possible, she was documenting this herself…and stepping out in some way.

The third camera was for me…the process was exciting. Handling a camera wasn’t new, using a disposable camera was. Just as any other camera you would say. But I feel these days with the digitized SLRs, we have gotten so used to predicting the visual and manipulating the subject. Not that I do not enjoy that process, of course I do. These disposable cameras were definitely a challenge in the sense of not being sure of the result. And just the simplicity of the technique got me curious.

The brief was to ‘see through your eyes’ and visually document the things/ spaces/ people that make you ‘feel’ safe/ fear. I found the immediate connect working with the nuances of ‘emotions’ and it came pretty naturally. I did notice that there is a queer sense of ‘how’ a picture ‘must’ look and ‘what’ it ‘must’ include. Breaking these ‘constructed’ conventions was yet another highlight of this experiment that I wish to further explore and understand.

Another thing that I was glad with was the fact that Ana made it very clear from start about the representation of the works, the anonymity of the visuals during display. No names just credits for all the participants. Calling it a collective work and emphasizing the model of equal collaborators, organic as the project itself. We had roughly a week to experiment with the disposable cameras. After which it was time for ‘the’ presentation of ‘the’ works. To me the project was more of a ‘process-driven cum experiential and very personal’, so I was wondered how she would choose some and omit the others for the presentation. But then again it was a collective work of art!!

Exhibition at One Shanthi on 28^th Jan

Ana managed to develop all the rolls at G.K Vale on MG road,

Printed visuals

Red, pink, yellow..flowers

A clear sky with a kite caught between lines.

Poses of a woman against a bright shiny pink backdrop

Her wavy curls rushing through shoulders.

A coffee cup…half full or half empty?

Next image…a broken cup.

Images of a demigod

Thrown and hiding behind a fence.

A school bus

Construction workers

And that was what it was….a collective work of art. No justifications required! Narratives from the participants spoke volumes of their journeys through their daily routine. Fear and safety perceived in ways that one chooses to interpret them in. The perceptions that one takes from these images are as personal to the viewer as to the photographer. The concepts and ideas might merge in the visual journey. But that is something I feel only the visual can tell.

Pallavi

From maraa

Hangovers
Since the public spaces exercise was also meant to test notions of fear that were “perceived or real” some of our peg-points in initiating conversations were, asking people about the safety of space. In Shivajinagar, while mapping happened within Russell Market space, I spoke to some of the “rooted community members” asking them if women found it safe in ShivajiNagar (as opposed to a space like cubbon park- where the possibility of a rooted-in community was very little- Russell market stall owners were in here for the longest time) .

The immediate response was that it was indeed a very safe space. They very firmly and passionately spoke of how the nights too are really safe for anyone to be walking around. 12 am, 2am, thickest of night times, the roads and spaces in Shivajinagar were safe.

I had to check this out with some friends. And yes, there’s a whole gang that concurs. They think that Shivajinagar is actually really safe in the night as opposed to the other bus and downtown crowded area, Majestic. Majestic was a reference made twice for its “shady behaviour” and unfriendly, over quoting auto drivers. The Shivajinagar auto chaps were definitely business oriented but not trouble causing. The night rides would cost you the usual legal after-hours fare but nothing more. One would most definitely find a ride to any other part of the city one had to reach.

Story of Vera (19TH Jan 2009)
The bus stop stood large, looming and unconquered. It was the next space, the next intervention area. I was happy and a bit tired with the morning, and wanted to go home. But then, I also was drugged with this new high of rediscovering spaces…

Also, as an artist who was interested in movement and discovering the body “tool”, I really wanted not to miss the bus stop testing exercise. Vera was going over with her students to poke the space around a bit- poke it gently with body, tap and test its tolerance. My first impulse was to ask her to be sane and call it off. Public spaces and appropriate behaviour in India always meant no provocative physical moving whatsoever. Making the body invisible was rule of the land.

I have always felt really free and very at ease while I traveled…to whatever part of India or outside.
I have traveled to rural spaces and other urban spaces and have done so with gay abandon. There’s something easy to do when you don’t belong to a space. There’s freedom to move as you would wish…
The other times I’ve felt this is while I performed. The liberties to move within a legitimized performance space keep my sanity. My moving around within an artist’s safe zone identity takes my limits away. It frees me. So there’s mental and physical freedom of movement.

Vera’s exercises had the potential to be used for self awareness (how do I function in a space; how does my body conduct itself?)
and also provocative (I will break the unsaid pattern and agreement of public conduct. I will move, sometimes against the tide…)

Questions in brackets could be statements both real and perceived, and could rise in either party concerned. These “tension point statements” need to be exchanged as feedback through dialogue. Dialogue in this case could also be done with the body.

The students were asked to make small challenges to the flow in the space, ways of holding body, to imitate other bodies and figure permissible ways of how inhabitants of the space held their body…
This was to feed into a planned intervention where Vera would possibly be choreographing movements and have the group utilize the tool of body at the bus stop space.

Intervening Subway (22nd JAN 2009)

A locked, foot passenger subway runs across the main road and into the Bus stop at Shivaji nagar. People wanting to safely get to bus stations or cross the street (filled with a mad rush of buses entering or exiting the station) may choose to do so. Only, the subway is locked and grilled and the intestine of the subway now sees an office space for BMTC services.

The intervention began when all met at St Mary’s Church (up the road) and shared the flow and sequence of events. Cell phones, text msgs and sonic technology were to be used as information and update channels, and to document the happenings.
The sequence went something like this…

The first thing to do was to gather names and terms that meant “woman” in different languages: ways of referrals, dialects, slangs etc. This was then to be said out loudly at the entrance…as chants rather.
What this would be followed with was a

miming/mimicking/mirroring exercise at the gated end of the subway channel. The officers had not objected to the activity fortunately (permission letters were produced perhaps, I’m not aware). The group would be within the enclosed side and would “gently” mimic crowds that passed. If any connection was made to an individual, no word was to be exchanged. Rather, the mirroring would continue until connections broke or verbal demands were made by the subject. Following this, an actual mirror would be held up as a sign or symbol or abstraction of the self and the other…
The last parts involved running out of the subway space, and vigorously shaking out of the body and its restraints- and to challenge the space. Then, one was to run up to a dirty bench, clean it with a towel thoroughly and offer a glass of water to anyone around willing to engage. (If someone could elaborate on the train of thought that led to this bit: responsibilities of cleaning public spaces- would make interesting read)

The chants got negative attention. One of the booth managers came up and asked the group to retreat. He then vented his actual anger on the locals by yelling disrespectfully at some spectators. Was intense.
I was tense myself. Provocative interventions call for intense calm from executioners and additional tools/ or set up to dialogue. They cannot be left hanging in space, having entered a community one doesn’t belong in. I was worried about the interpretations, more misconceptions of “the other” setting in, ideas of the intent of activity etc. So that’s what I thought I would work with. I would feign being another passerby and ask people around me what was happening. I would pretend to not be a part of the group. This led me away from some of the other activities that followed, but it allowed fruitful dialogue in a different sense.

I spoke to two men who were glancing at the artists group in a quasi-intrigued fashion. When I asked why these women were doing this; they said that perhaps they were tourists and this is how they “enjoy”. When I played devils advocate and asked if they were ok with outsiders creating a ruckus in the name of enjoyment, they didn’t react much. I then threw the question: What if these women were expressing the needs, anguish and desires of the feminine in spaces like this? Are these spaces safe for women?
The trigger word “woman” made the man spill some seemingly personal stories. He seemed to speak with controlled anguish, pain and frustration. Domestic frustration. His story was about how women from low income groups have high expectations within families. They aren’t too satisfied with the husband’s financial returns. And they don’t have the skills to financially help out…and he said that the women were choosing divorce. I was quite surprised. Here was a man who was talking divorce as accessible solution for a woman of lower economic stature (he obviously knew folks connected to this “case/s”, directly or indirectly). When I quizzed him further, he said that his wife actually earns some money through her sewing machine skills and services, so I wasn’t sure if this were his story.

The other intervention bit began…the group had gone underground and was heading to the grill gated passageway. I stood on the other side trying to observe and capture crowd reaction on camera. The crowds were responding. Many of their actions were being mimicked. Some chose to “safely see” from a distance…people were taking notice and drawing their own inferences of what was going on. When I quizzed some, there were bizarre answers. A young man thought the mirrors were held to reflect light or building structures so my camera (on the other end of the road) could capture things effectively. When I briefly told him the intent and my perception of what the mirroring and mirrors probably meant, he was intrigued.

He lamented that many are really shy to be curious and initiate dialogue in public areas. They would assume and leave- rarely clarify and stay to know more.
The crowds were a bit frenzied with so many of these foreigners doing weird mimicking things. So when I reached there with

my camera, I got a group of young hawkers all upon me. This turned into a rather interesting conversation. The boys started commenting on how I was this rich man and that my clothes and camera were an indication. They did start in a semi-mocking confrontational tone but I gently refused to latch on to confrontational mode. I instead gently challenged their notions of who they thought I was. As a child, I had lived around in the cantonment area so I told them that. They were stunned. Then, I told them I don’t wear branded clothes as many had just accused me of. I showed them my jeans and T- labels-these were local. This turned into  a long and elaborate exchange of do’s and daily lives. Sharings like porn being a regular thing in their lives and internet as easy access to porn came out in confessional fashion. When I asked if the internet could be used for alternate purposes, they didn’t know what else could come out of this medium.

The highlight moment was when this young man, who worked at  a butcher store, took off his shirt to prove to me that his meat eating habits brought him the abs and muscles. He said I needed to eat meat to physically be like what he was. He then detailed his local gym programme (push ups -100) and advised me to do at least the surya namaskar (a yoga salutation using the body) as my workout routine.
He also told me I should soon start eating good wholesome meat 

I of course missed the “shaking and cleaning benches” bit due to this rather intriguing cross class boy-to-boy exchange. Richard’s sonic recordings of the indianscape playing out in loops down below (in the subway passage) and the red halo smudge of the walls reflecting sunlight made for a super chaotic meditative effect. I left.
I walked up the street and saw a bakery with those unique “shivajinagar stuffed onion” samosas. Just then, an old man approached me for some money. I decided to buy him samosa and bought two. I then decided to munch on one myself.
I ate a whole samosa. Just when I was done, a friend loomed out of the bakery stall stating that those mutton samosas were pretty good

Deepak

deepak@maraa.in

Pictures: Pallavi

Ruben Christopher, a youngster shares his idea of Bengaluru
map intervention after effects

Two spaces within the same locality stand explored
Populations, communities, communication in “un-totality”
Nagara means township, community

Two interventions- very different in flavour
Bringing in moments to talk, communicate touch share

Did you make connects, did you share?

Part 1

Liz used her map at Russell market the other day (Monday 19th Jan 2009).
Located in Shivajinagar, looking straight out of a Indian pre-independence film set and smelling of all things from heavenly flowers to fruit to not so heavenly fresh meat, its quite a sight-o-sonic for even some “used to” types like me.

I walked in with an apprehensive Ekta. Ekta has a severe critical eye for any community based exercise. She will not gulp it down if it smells of yet another elitist take on art and community and I knew her critical glasses were high-on-up-the-nose.

No one in sight at the entrance, no curious crowd in sight, no crazy artist group, no map…

As we walked straight in and when the brighter outsides & darker insides worked to balance my vision and the surrounding space out, I saw straight ahead, by the end of the corridor, some light, some people and the map.
A few people were standing around, curious. One or two stitched up designs on the map. The rows of shops I had walked through didn’t seem much affected by the group’s intervening. The space was calm but the spaces were separate. The new group was welcome, it co-existed, but it didn’t matter much to those inside. I wondered what they were thinking this was about. But they didn’t give me the “curious energy” either.

As we went closer, I tried to strike up a conversation with a few curious-energy-but-scared-to-ask types. “Hindi, Kannada, Tamil (tamil and hindi were big here) ?” “What’s happening here?” “What do you think is going on?”

They say, “Don’t know” Smile
Me: “This is a map, do you know what a map means?”
They: Smile.. “No”

Me: “Well, if you were on a plane or helicopter, or you simply were able to fly high, where would you be and what would you see? Where would Russell Market be? Where would your home be? Where would Shivajinagar be? How would it look?”

“What if I said that what one would see (if one could see all of Bangalore from the top there) is shown here, on this cloth?” (used “this could be ulsoor lake” often…people immediately understood what the white sheet on the table was)

Some: oh!
Some others: “Aah yes, Map, map. Now I know”

Me: “So what you can do is, perhaps find your home…where is home?
“Coles Park, ShivajiNagar, ummm…”

“So find your area and you can then mark it, and then stitch a symbol for home- some symbol that will make you feel this is your home…”

…this communication then being handed over to the student artists

Community art, community exercises, togetherness. To foster togetherness

In South Asia, we have many community rituals. Many of these have turned mundane. They don’t spark off interactions that are fresh, out-of-context of running into “the other” type.
Simple, non-provocative, and yet, leading to ripples of interactions and levels. Neutral cross community exercises like this one worked differently.

Some questions need answering again and again and need to fully “come in” to awareness…
These flicker with an answer and then disappear…so we need to stitch them together on our mental maps

1. Was it the art intervention exercise by itself that worked? What sort of an intervention was it?
My answer: The map exercise is certainly a great tool. But what about the component of communicating and dialoging with community? Language, trust and participation eliciting seem to go hand in hand. Such an exercise in south Asia (particularly India) should bring about an opportunity to articulate.

2. Why is articulation important? What are the forms of articulation?
My Answer: Articulation is important because when you are trying to articulate a certain exercise (in this context, verbally) , and try to make connects and fill gaps, you are truly filling gaps for yourself and for a collective. And this sharing brings and resolves external tensions and internal conflicts, while the art intervention has been an “excuse” to be able to talk outside of our minds, outside of our usual social circles.
Forms of articulation: In this case, there were the map navigators (once they knew what it was about), there were the “map stitchers or mappers” who quietly stitched away, then there were the folk on the periphery, happy to be there and use the context and idea of Bangalore and mapping the city to talk about the community. I spoke to a group of store owners, four muslim men and one hindu man who were the 3rd or 4th generation store owners. They spoke of the Bengaluru’s religious communities and their uniqueness. They claimed that their area was the most “secular”. Shivajinagar saw temples and mosques and churches stand together, with people of either faith using each space of worship and festive occasion as their own. They even had blurred boundaries of religious practices and spaces…Russell market playing “guest house” during church feasts- how they shut business down to be able to host Christian visitors and devotees during St Mary’s feast.

Part 2 shortly…

Deepak
deepak@maraa.in

I just wanted to document and respond through written format, the first collaborative pre- intervention exercises that happened at cubbon park. The intervention was designed to result through a three step process, spanning three days. Day one involved surveying the actual park space of approximately 150 or so acres (including library and court areas, that have been designated as part of cubbon park recently- according to one of the cubbon park visitors I spoke to). The survey was documented through pictures of the space/s within the park. (I wasnt around on Jan 16th while this happened). The group met again at a spot that was zeroed on probably because it seemed like most women in the group had concurred that it was male dominated and had a certain “energy”

Aside: Would like to know more about the process of Day 1, ie, observations and comparisons of other spaces within the park. and how this particular behind-the-big-rock, bamboo-spot was arrived at.

Jan 17th saw Shrishti students, faculty and the artists who had decided to collaborate. The focus of discussion in a space like Cubbon Park is intuitive and due to the immediate experience- “public attention/tension”. Particular are gender tension points that involve gender relations in public spaces leading to interactions- complete or incomplete, legitimate or illegitimate, appropriate or inappropriate.

As we sat under the spot, a group of young boys belonging “to another class” came over and hovered around a tree close by. They were hooting, climbing atop the tree and seemingly vying for attention. Our group being fairly large, the affect was merely invasion through and of soundspace.

The discussions then veered towards sexual tension, women’s senses of sanity in public space being assaulted when a man commits or exhibits overt (or any form of  undesired) sexual behaviour. However, we also spoke about examining this a little deeper, playing with it rather than be shocked, stuck, stunned out of a response.
The interesting thing about this conversation for me was the scratching of surfaces of the public and private sexual self. Concepts of self exist; gender is one of course, quite defined biologically. However, the sexual self neednt necessarily confirm to the identity of gender self. Then there is the concept of legitimising the sexual self, expressing through it and also, going beyond it to interact to dissolve the gender tension point.
open questions…

Based on these, the group decided to choose cultural and socially relevant public activities/creative interventions. These were discussed for their provocativeness, efficacy and cultural relevance.
Some interesting ideas that emerged…
-To work with pieces of colored cloth/ribbons and trace ones space with these. This would help “occupy” the space and change the older visual notion of what it signified.
-String bangles and chimes to “feminise” the space. Connotations of loving feminine energy, connotations of the chimes of womanly objects as a forwarning as protectors, reminders, conscience through their sound.
- Occupying the spaces that men inhabited. Occupy the rocks, the trees, and hold mirrors as reflections of the self, and to “reflect back” the uncomfortable, attention giving gaze.

- Dialogue with the other. Legitimise sexual approachability and allow room for communication, rejection- interaction. Work with a booth or a window through which two people could communicate legitimately.

I was watchful throughout for community addressal. Gender in public spaces definitely involves anguish for the woman, for the feminine. But that also could turn into a pursued victimhood stance. Yes, there is a need for healing, there’s also a need for communication and interaction. there’s the larger need to address the missing sexual self. Indian philosophy advocates a certain renounciation of the material. it advocates through a certain puritanical sounding conch…or does it? Have we understood it thus? Are these gender interaction layers stemming from our training of gender, our culture of layered gender interactions, culture upon culture of practices, the histories…
personal histories, class histories, caste histories and colonial histories. All needing addressal…all the traces that happened in a psycho-physico-prototype public space.

I will be uploading some audio clips and interviews soon- bear with me, but to speak of what one gentleman suggested during one of my interactions with the “speech thirsty fringe”- what the park needs is designated spaces for legitimate romance: opposite sex, same sex areas, and family designated areas…seems like a fairly smart move to make- one that will avoid space confusions, and legitimize the “activity” zone. Worth a think, and a debate

Deepak