Social Art in the Public Realm

Letter to the MD of BMTC Seeking Permission to use the Shivajinagar Subway

Summary:
We seek permission to host a video and audio art display inside the Shivajinagar Metro Station on the 27th of January from 6 pm to 9 pm.

Proposal:
We are a collaborative effort of professional Bangalore artists, Shristi art students and international artists who are keen to explore creative and constructive ways to begin a dialog with the city and the residents. As a culmination of our research and efforts, we would like to host a public art interaction on Thursday the 28th of January from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Shivajinagar Metro Station.

This interaction involves 2 audio artists and I as a video artist, who will together create, mix and project live sounds and video footage at this public venue. We hope to create an awareness of the space and its significance to the city and its people through our efforts.

In doing this interaction we do not intend to call or invite an audience, but in fact hope to initiate a dialog with the pedestrians present there. The whole process from setting-up to shutting-down will approximately last 3 hours.

We seek your support in allowing us to conduct this interaction inside the newly constructed Shivajinagar Subway. It is a symbol of the city’s growth, progress and developmental change. Additionally, many other major cities such as New York, Paris and Tokyo routinely host art activities in public venues like transportation hubs and we hope that a tradition of such activities in Bangalore could add to the stature of the city.

In closing, I would like to reiterate that this is not a commercial venture. It is the creative efforts of 3 artists to communicate and interact with the city and its people in a peaceful and constructive way. This project will in no way destroy, disrespect or cause an obstruction to public property and to the people.

It would be a pleasure for us to work with you towards creating a friendly, creative and artistic Bangalore.

Best Regards,
Archana Prasad

Project Affiliations:
Shrishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka.Dept. of Media and Communication Studies at Malmo, Sweden
Maraa Media Collective, Bangalore, Karnataka.

Members:

Archana Prasad
Performance Video Artist
Master of Fine Arts in Art History, CKP, Bangalore
Post- Graduate Diploma in Animation, NID, Ahmedabad
www.archanaprasad.com

Richard Widenberg
Sonic Artist, Sweden
Faculty, Media and Communication Studies. Sweden

Jutin Vidyarthi
Sonic Artist, Banglaore

Zeenath Hasan
PhD Candidate in Media and Communication Studies at Malmo, SwedenMS Communications, Manipal Inst. Of Communications, Manipal Karnataka
www.zeeniac.net

Hello artists, students, collaborators and visitors of Social Art in the Public Realm!

Here are a few examples of my favorite websites by artists or collectives which map cities or other spaces in different ways, mostly psychogeographically (to follow up on the talk I gave in Srishti).

First, a very fun video by a Berlin-based artist and designer named Tine Papendick.  She rides around the city on a bicycle with a roll of red string coming off the back of it, wrapping string around things and then mapping the city in fabric.  The link for this video is called “FAHR. RAD. FILM. NEW!!!” and can be found on her site:

http://ti-pi.de/

These next two are quite similar to my work, except they are digitally interactive instead of hands-on work in the public space.  The first is about the entire city of Barcelona, and the second about a community center there.  In both cases people who visit the site can add comments, stories, and photos about their experiences and emotions in those places.  Sorry they´re both only in the Catalan language but I think you´ll get the picture visually:

http://www.bdebarna.net/v2_/index.php
http://www.illafortpienc.net/mapa/

For those interested in embroidery, the next is a project in which artists Eleanor Eichenbaum Eubanks and Heather L Johnson embroidered people´s personal memories and stories onto hankerchiefs, and then went and left the hankerchiefs in the places in Manhattan where the stories took place, letting anyone pick them up and take them home.

http://cracksinthepavement.com/thepickup.html

For those interested in technology, Christian Nold digitally maps people´s emotions as they walk around cities, by giving them devices which record their “Galvanic Skin Response”…..and thus showing the spikes and valleys of areas where people are scared or excited.

http://www.biomapping.net/
And a great friend of mine who I have collaborated with many times, Margarita Pineda, Colombian-born and Barcelona-based artist, did a wonderful project called “Cartografías del Arraigo” for the Havana Biennial.  She went out to the public space and asked locals to draw their local route onto a piece of paper.  She also asked them to give her an old t-shirt, and in exchange she gave them a new one.  Onto the old t-shirts she embroidered their routes.  Here is her website:

http://www.margaritapineda.net/

I hope you enjoy!!!!!

Just a note to say that we have a venue change for tomorrow.  We wanted to set up in the Barton Center, but after talking to the building manager, he told us that all 9 people on the board of the mall would need to receive official letters and approve the project.  I have sent them emails, but the most likely scenario is that I will never receive a response, or receive one much too late.  Thus we will set up somewhere on the street either on MG Rd. or Brigade Rd.  I think it is interesting to note, for future interventions, which spaces are open to projects…Sigma Mall´s manager, for example, was very quick in giving us permission.  Hope to see you in the streets tomorrow!

between self and the other, falls the shadow

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.

get up, stand up

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.

she's a rainbow

- 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

Attention:  Change of Venue:  Wednesday we will be on one of the small streets surrounding Commercial St., from 3-6 pm.

Days 4 and 5 have been eventful and exciting.  Thanks to Huda and Pushpi we now have the instructions and questions translated into Kannada and Hindi.

On Monday we set up near the flower stands inside Russell Market, an area infused with aromas, sounds of flowers being clipped, bright colors, and buzzing bees, and quite a lot of interest was generated in the project there.  In particular, a group of very sweet street kids who actually live on the roof of the market participated and even helped us pack up.  Ekta was very helpful translating to Tamil and Kannada to the kids, and Deepak helped translating interviews.  One young man told us about an area near Tannery Rd. called Hegde Nagar, which is a very dangerous place where he himself has seen two people murdered, and where there are many rapes as well.  He commented that the symbol for not wanting to go to this place should have been a knife, rather than a moon, which he considers to be sacred.  

Today we went to Shivajinagar Bus Station, where after 60 seconds of setting up we were told we needed a permit.  This began a wild goose chase in which we were sent to talk to many different station managers, and ended up having to request permission in Shanthi nagar at the central offices. This process took 2 hours, but we did actually obtain the permission, and proceeded to have a great intervention at the bus station.  Once again we were surrounded by very many curious men, and just a few women.  Some women did participate however, and one told us that the City Market is a place that is fine for women to go to during the day, but too dangerous at night.  

Here are a few photos taken by myself and by Elena Pereira.

-Liz

Documentation of Transformative Actions at http://www.creativeactions.com/BANGALORE_2008/index.html

In the first week of the collaborative, public exercises, one of many proposed interventions was conducted at Cubbon Park on Sunday January 18th. Along with students of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology the artists invited and offered people to take part in transformative actions at a selected site in the park.

The students drew a map of Cubbon Park to invite and show the public their suggestions for a self-guided tour of creative expressions in public space. The map wasn’t really necessary for the public, cause people joined the transformative actions right away. Mostly men joined, cause they are the majority represented in public space, and women tend to keep back, and await allowance from their men to interact. In terms of the group’s working methods the Charter/Map was important in terms of coordinating and understanding our own actions taking place in the city as stage.

“Sunday afternoon we invited people by the rock and bamboo area to participate in braiding the space with colorful fabrics - Opening and transforming the site into a joyful space for connectedness across cultural and lingual barriers. Opening for conversations between the sexes. We invited people to tie ‘wishing’ bangels and bells onto the fabric lanes to make wishes for positive understanding and sensitivity between people. Everyone participating all at the same time made sound with the bangels and bells.
The intervention created a temporary space for new ways of dialogue between strangers in public space. The day finished with the participants going in female couples to the shady bamboo grove near the park entrance thus visualizing the necessity of a site for female lesbians too, as the site is already a spot for gays.”

One of the exercises carried out at the site on Friday 16 also included female students making a meditation sitting on the rocks in a circle, creating space for inner body-experiences, meditating on their personal imaginative animal. Afterwards they turned their bodies facing the surroundings looking out and started braiding each others’ hair two and two as an act of reclaiming public space in their own feminine way.

In performing these transformative actions, the participants wish to challenge the predominant ways in which the city is experienced partly due to cultural and religious conditioning.

In terms of having consistant value for the society in Bangalore the transformed site could have been used during Sunday evening and the following days for more transformative actions focusing on the sexual-self versus the religious/cultural gendered-self and having discussions with ngo-groups keeping the dialogue with the attracted public, which were mainly being men.

Other transformative actions that we talked about doing this Sunday, which could be great to do at another occasion:
- The girl students playing loud music from their mobile phones while hanging out near the trees and walking the area, thus taking over a usual male act in the park.
- Asking passing by women to write a note on where they feel fearful/joyful in public space in the day/night. They would then be asked to hang bangles and bells at this place as a ritual transformation from fear to joy.
- The student girls climbing and sitting in the trees, copying usual male acts.

The gathering of artists and students went on into other city interventions…experimenting with more methods in terms of creating “inclusive, creaitve, participatory spaces” in the public realm.
See the following posts…

Documentation of Transformative Actions at http://www.creativeactions.com/BANGALORE_2008/index.html

Attention: Change of Venue:  Monday, Bangalore´s Urban Fabric will be at Russell Market from 8:30-12:30

For the past three days, Pushpi, Huda, Elena and I (along with some helpers) have taken the embroidered map of Bangalore out to different public spaces.  First, Coles Park, then Sigma Mall, and today Cubbon Park.  In each one there have been many people who have participated, and even more who have been curious.  It has been a pleasant surprise to find that men love participating in this project…in fact they often seem absolutely comfortable interacting in the public space with something new.  Women have been a bit more reluctant, but perhaps this is because there is often a large crowd of men and boys surrounding the table.  Since we feel that perhaps this aspect is sometimes deterring women from participating, we are compensating by trying particularly hard to encourage women to participate.

There have already been quite a few interesting stories, which we´ll share with you on the day of presentations.  So far, probably the most popular questions that have been answered are : “What is the heart of Bangalore?”, “Where do you live?”, “Where is a place where you mourn the loss of trees in Bangalore?”, “Where is a peaceful place?”, and “What is a place that makes you very happy?”.  We don´t yet have enough responses to see patterns of places which provoke fear in people, however a couple of the places mentioned so far have been Outer Ring Road, and Shivajinagar Bus Depot.  It must be said however that the Bus Depot and surrounding area have also received the opposite comments, by people who feel very comfortable going there, people who have lived there for years, and even by a man who enjoys going to the bus station at night to enjoy the silence.

Many of our questions do not focus on fear and gender, however I think that being a group of women going out to the public space with this project is in itself something which creates situations and conversation about fear and gender. And certainly, we are experiencing everything that goes along with working in the public space. For example, today we enjoyed the participation of some school boys who proceeded to steal my mobile phone. Theft is definitely something that I have experienced before while working, but, a pleasant surprise, and something which I feel could only perhaps have happened in India, is that they came back and returned the phone (after Radha found them and talked to them about their CONSCIENCE).  It was quite a beautiful moment.

-Liz

Greetings to the participants of the project in Bangalore, from a cloud and windy Rhode Island, US.

Remembering my first visit to India in 2003 in search of “inner peace” at an ashram outside Bangalore. Finding my self pretty scared and distrustful when arriving at the central train station in the middle of the night. Was wondering why and realized that it probably would have been the same anywhere at that time of night in a new place. It was the feeling of being disconnected to the people and the space around me that created this fear in me, not feeling like I belonged there. If I felt like one with all, would there be no fear in me anymore? And would I really want to be rid or all fear, or is a pinch of fear necessary to keep oneself alert and cautious enough to stay out of trouble. I guess it depends of the situation, if the feeling of fear is just prohibiting us or helping us. And is it the feeling of fear or the actual danger that is most essential? No matter if it is motivated or not, the feeling is there and it is real. So, how do we deal with it, how to overcome it? I’ve realized that this search for the feeling of connection and belongingness is something that most of my work revolves around, on a hopeless quest, trying to manifest through form, this longing which is formless.

Wanted to cite some words on “fear” from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (in who’s Ashram I was staying on my first visit).

“Because fear is love standing upside down, everything that can be interpreted with love can also be interpreted with fear. A child clinging to his mother can be understood in both ways – the child clings out of love or out of fear.”
“Fear is an impression of the past reflecting the future of the present. When people delay fear, they become egocentric; when they recognize and accept fear, they go beyond it – they become free from it.”
“Total lack of fear is possible only in utter chaos or in outmost orderliness. Neither a saint nor a fool has fear, but everywhere in between there is fear. Fear is essential to preserve orderliness in the world. It is a primal instinct.”

Students of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology collaborate with performance artist Karoline H. Larsen to act out situations associated with fear. Blogged by the students themselves here:
http://fearandgender.blogspot.com/2009/01/acting-out-situations-associated-with.html

Read the daily minutes by theatre group Maraa.

Participants discuss personal perceptions of the public space. Work proposals for artistic engagement in public space are discussed. Show of interest in collaborating across proposals by visual and performance artists introduces synergies across formats.

(The visual in the background is an exhibition set-up in progress. Archana Prasad, whose work is exhibited, is an artist-participant for the Fear and Gender conversations in the city.)

Read the daily minutes by theatre group Maraa.