Lost expression

At a time when his 2008 public art project in New Delhi is under attack yet again, this time by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation, Vibhor Sogani has just completed a similar installation in Dubai. Sprouts, consisting of a 35-ft-high installation and 80 smaller clones, was commissioned ahead of the Commonwealth Games in the capital but is often threatened with removal, or — as now — recommended for concealment with a cascade fountain and flower beds as part of NDMC’s “landscaping” exercise. In Dubai, Joy is one of the larger public art installations in this neck of the woods and will hopefully have a more positive reception. It has been commissioned by Emaar in the Dubai Creek Harbour where the Dubai Creek Tower is fast nearing completion and at 1,300 metres will be the tallest tower in the world, dwarfing the Burj Khalifa’s 828-metre height as well as Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower at 1,007 metres. Dubai continues to think in hyperlatives and at 30 feet Joy is minuscule by comparison, but no less conspicuous for it. 

Unlike a lot of public art, Joy is simple in its conceptualisation, a bunch of steel balloons clustered together in what appears to be a vase. Its context is simple, a reminder of childhood and unadulterated happiness with a pinch of curiosity and a dash of bliss. Like Sprouts, it consists of mirror-finished stainless steel spheres that reflect its built environment, the passing stream of vehicles and those people who pause beside it to see their changing likenesses. In this, at least, it is not unlike Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate in Chicago which too mirrors reflections, exaggerating or diminishing them as people move around or under it.

Sogani himself is a little difficult to qualify. Even in a time when pure distinctions between artist and designer continue to dissolve, he is considered someone who designs lights, or light installations, but not an artist — a territory that is fiercely guarded by the art community. Lighting entrepreneurs Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth of Klove could empathise with that. Yet, Sogani is no stranger to unique, single-edition works that are site-specific and commissioned in the nature of art. But the very idea of designing something with a purpose — lights — is contrary to the idea of art. Both Joy and Sprouts, on that count, fail the “utility” test and can be regarded at least as public art projects, allowing Sogani to validate his claim as a follower of the legacy of Marcel Duchamp.

But in this too Sogani is placed within a group of successful artists blighted by what is regarded as “decorative”. Beauty and simplicity are mostly anathema to modern and contemporary art. Shorn of social messaging, art for the sake of aesthetic alone contributes the “low” to what is otherwise regarded as “high” art. True, there is some merit in the idea that public art that reaches out to so many more people than a museum or gallery has the responsibility of shaping diverse opinions. But must this be its only intent? Imagine the uplifting of spirits of the modern-day commuter, or jaded traveller, on sighting a cluster of giant balloons soaring to the sky — so what if they are made of steel — defying gravity, a scene of endless charm, reminiscent of the innocence of childhood. For that alone, Vibhor Sogani’s installation needs to be commended so far away from home. As the Indian state becomes more conscious of street and public art in India, artists — and, okay, designers too — should be allowed to mark our spaces with works that distract from the grim reality of traffic jams, road rage and urban squalor.

Kishore Singh is a Delhi-based writer and art critic. These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which he is associated