Reconstructing (White) 3

This was written for Times of India's Crest edition The 1x1 x1 foot white cubes of this art show mimics the superdensitycrush constraints that Mumbai functions in Once upon a time it was a space that rattled and rolled with the sounds and sights of a printing press, tucked into the property that was one of the many mills that dotted the landscape of central Bombay (as it was then). In more recent times, it morphed into The Loft, a gallery space and, since 2008 a haven for experiments in art, fostered by arts consultant and curator Anupa Mehta. One such project will soon take up residence there, the space re-staged as a studio apartment, part of what is known as 'The Square Foot Project'. Curated by Himali Singh Soin, the soon-to-open show – if it may be termed that – could be seen as a comment on the time-space-density issue that the city of Mumbai (as it is today) lives in every moment. This interesting exhibition is called Reconstructing (White)3. It is made up of cubes, each one foot by one foot by one foot in dimension, each a “paradox of space and its foldability”, each interpreted in a unique and edgy manner by contemporary artists Hema Upadhyay, Mithu Sen, Abir Karmarkar, Prajakta Potnis, Gautam Bhatia, Zuleikha Chaudhari, Niyeti Chadha, Praneet Soi and Chittrovanu Mazumdar. Speaking about the concept, Soin and Mehta explained how it all came about and what it says to the (often rather bewildered) visitor…. Why this concept of white cubes? How did it happen? Himali Singh Soin: The idea of the white cube was coined by a gentleman named Brian O' Dougherty in a 1980's Arforum issue. Anupa and I were intrigued by this idea of both substantiating and subverting this concept, which symbolises not only the sterilised, blank slate created by museum and galleries as a condition through which art might be viewed with a neutral, unconditional lens, but also the larger strictures of society and its control. You close your ears to the sirens outside and enter these little dream worlds of image and ideas. Time frees itself from clocks and their shadows. This is the White Cube: a delusion of neutrality, a systematic context, a modernist shroud for Absolute Art -- a blank slate, a grid for the laying out of impulse. The show deconstructs this perfect cube --- and reconstructs it --- giving artists an important constraint: to create a work of art that exists inside -- or leaks outside --- a 1 x 1 x 1 white box fabricated from a material of their choice. Big things can be contained in little space, by improvising known formulas with 'home-made' idiosyncracies. The White Cube is a space to navigate the formulas we have learned, and perhaps, do away with them, resigning to the shapeless white of naivete. When Anupa decided to convert the Loft as part of the Square Foot project with the dissent that there is a constraint of space in Mumbai and a greed for domestic space, thus did the constraint of the 1 foot x 1 foot enter the curatorial discourse. How did you select the artists that will be part of Reconstructing (White) 3? They are an interesting and fairly eclectic group! Chittrovanu, for one, is rarely seen here, while Praneet is becoming a familiar presence; Gautam Bhatia is primarily known as an architect. HSS: Because the white cube is not only a physical, architectural aspect, but also an interior, psyschological condition, I chose artists that used ideas of space both externally as well as internally, but all in idioyscratic, displacing ways. You're right, Gautam Bhatia is much better known as an architect, but his art includes quirky, severe and humorous critiques of society through the larger rules of architecture: perspective, light and function. I am attaching some images of the evolution of his work and a concept note (the 'final composition' gets lain out inside the cube, and the viewer looks in through peepholes, as a voyeur). With each artist, I have had a three-month dialogue about their concepts and works-in-progress. Would this be considered an ‘experiment’ or ‘adventure’ in contemporary art? HSS: I do think this show would be considered 'experimental', mostly because the process of arriving at the product is just as stimulating and complex as the end. It's curatorial through-line is definite: all the work is created for the concept, and each cube contains a universe of its own, that prompts the imagination to situate themselves somewhere within. Also important is the title, Reconstructing (White)3, written in itself as a formula. It is purposefully not 'deconstructing', as this show, for me, is not about the fall of cities due to congestion, rather about how all life and art grows outward and adapts to its spatial environment. Anupa Mehta: THE LOFT is an arts project space that's funds itself through art sales. The square foot project is an attempt to foster new ways of seeing.... Are galleries and display spaces better than they used to be? You once wrote a piece for a daily newspaper, Anupa, on how tacky most galleries are, if I remember right. Have things changed? For the better? AM: Oh yes, you could say it's coming of age! Is there original art being created in India today? Or is the younger generation being imitative? AM: It's trendy to be imitative, but there are a few very talented artists for sure... THE LOFT at LOWER PAREL Presents The Square Foot Project June 2012 to March 2013