An exhibition of images and objects in motion, featuring works by 16 Indian and international artists is open at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) here.
The interdisciplinary exhibition is titled "Delirium/Equilibrium", and brings to the audiences an experiential space of video, virtual reality and kinetic artworks.
It brings alive themes of mystery, suspense, anxiety and disorientation, and "is a strong, telling statement on technology and how we are in the grip of it", said curator Roobina Karode.
"We're talking about today's world, which is disenchanting and distraught with problems, yet is tempting," Karode told IANS in a telephonic interview, reasoning about the theme.
"Artists, perhaps, are looking at both sides of the world. They see how it's getting fragmented and fractured, but at the same time, it is a theme that demands their attention. There is a desire for stability and balance in a topsy-turvy world, which is why the title."
She talked about how many tech-inspired works are delirious in a sense, and transport the audience into an imaginative space.
More From This Section
"Many have gibberish noises, unsettling animated landscapes, mechanised objects coming and going, virtual journeys. Somewhere there is a persistent quietness, which is very interesting, there are no speeches and no narratives," Karode said.
What the viewers experience, then, is a world created of its own, to which they are drawn.
Karode -- whose main interest also lay in moving objects, along with moving images -- said the artists have transformed physical objects into a psychological space.
Mumbai-based artist Kausik Mukhopadhyay's work "Small, Medium, Large" resembles a gadget graveyard, and opens the exhibition.
It features "dysfunctional, discarded, dead objects" he has been collecting for over six years.
"You see dead objects lying, and suddenly you see a phone ringing. It almost comes from cinema -- the mystery and suspense. They are dormant and suddenly come alive."
To this extent, the exhibition also marks a shift from what is understood to be art in a gallery or museum space.
"Artists have started from paintings and sculptures, and moved to multi-media practices, explored diverse mediums that were suited to the themes they wanted to project. For me, doing a show like this was extremely challenging," the curator explained.
She said that despite an exhilaration about working with technology, there is too much anxiety because one is completely under its control.
"There are concerns In terms of cost, investment, and transportation. You want to create navigational paths, dark or semi-dark spaces, but want to minimise noise spills, and give each project its space."
Finally, Karode says it's all about the experience of it, and being there to read the works in one's own way.
The exhibition shows works by Amar Kanwar, Alia Syed, Kausik Mukhopadhyay, LN Tallur, Mithu Sen, Naeem Mohaiemen, Nalini Malani, Nandita Kumar, Neha Choksi, Ranbir Kaleka, Shazia Sikander, Sonia Khurana, Sheba Chhachhi, Shezad Dawood, Vibha Galhotra and William Kentridge.
It opened on Saturday, and is on public view till October 30.
--IANS
sj/anp/bg