The timeless of time and vagueness of infinity, the mysteries of the past and the uncertainties of present and the space in between metaphysics and empirical existence - these multi-layered dimensions are braided together in an
exhibition pushing the limits of sensory thinking and belying one's own perceptions.
This is what Raqs Media Collective, known for merging contemporary art with myths,history and research, is showcasing in its exhibition titled "Asmayavali"
or "Untimely Calendar" at the National Gallery of Modern Art(NGMA) here.
More than 50 works ranging from video, installations, mixed media, sound, photography, print and sculpture spread across 3,200 square meters of the Jaipur House Gallery lead the viewer into a magical, labyrinthine container of stories, riddles and every-day events - that usually go "unnoticed".
Bringing to notice these mundane, irrelevant and neglected aspects of life is what the trio of Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi and Shuddhabrata Sengupta have been doing ever since they got together 22 years ago to reject the "straight and narrow" path of the artistic world but kept their curiosity alive, nurtured it, distilled it and transformed it into artworks that send across strong messages of global warming, labour
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industry and the relevance of history in today's time.
One of their works investigates what happens to the "Missing Persons" one usually comes across in newspapers - distorted images of missing people who disappear without leaving any trace.
Divided into five video frames: The missing person; the scene of crime; the assailant; the trial and the motive - the artwork takes an interesting journey into the life of what would have happened to the victim.
Similarly, clocks and mythical beings Yaksha and Yakshini are constant companions of the three artists and most of their reasoning abilities are reshaped by analysing how time is experienced by all and why questioning is important to seek the truth from the myths.
"Time is one thing that we all experience. We all can think of time, especially when it comes to time travel. Even in a city like Delhi you time travel between the ruins and modern infrastructure," Sengupta told IANS.
"Art can play an important role in encouraging people to ask questions and that is what we aim to do with our work," he added.
And this is why we have two clocks depicting two different things and dimensions of time - if "Night and Day, Day and Night" represents things that denote numbers, "A Day in the Life of Kiribati" is about an island nation in the Pacific Ocean.
Here the timeline of the clock is replaced by heavy words like "duty", "guilt", "indifference", "awe", "anxiety", "remorse" and "panic".
What it represents is that the island would be the first to be washed away when global warming reaches its peak.
With this, the choice of words and their relevance to the artwork becomes important and highlights how we are witnessing the decay with mixed emotions.
The exhibition is on till Feb 15, 2013.