Wednesday, February 14, 2007

himanshu s encounter

today in the encounter slot himanshu showed his public art projects where he engages with an audience in a far more tangible level, making work that is ephemeral and easy to consume. his work with children and the photos he gives away were charming in their intent. the aesthetic concerns emerge from these concerns for consumption, using everyday language and adamantly ‘ordinary’ modes to communicate. there was an easy accessibility to the work made even more so by his tendency to simplify and make cute. i must admit not being completely convinced by the anti-market stance. after all there is another form of market of this kind of work. the vicious swipes at some artists were pointlessly caricaturish to the point of being mean-spirited. is the posture of being an enfant terrible of indian art also a piece of well orchestrated performance art? andy warhol was quoted multiple times, and pop is classic commodity. madonna does it best. and sure makes a lot of money.

4 comments:

pappu poppins said...

hmmm good point.
after the encounters, we were discussing with himanshu that it was interesting how he was using the gallery as a space to sort of question, well, that kind of space and the kind of market it creates.
i'm not totally sure he does manage to really question it, apart from well, making fun of it.
he appeared to be slightly,ummm... anti-everything, sometimes just for the heck of it...

Anonymous said...

true true..anti a lot of things. mebbe he thinks if u r not with the school, the only other way is against, maybe the middle path,or a more thoughtful path never occured.

neway, am thinking when i be rich enough will hire him and his band of merry people with 'regular life' as also the kids to do my house..actually a wall.
-prachi

this word verification thing is quite a piss off!

Anonymous said...

aarey! just realised he is not a markey person!!! well then i dont need to be rich, just need a house.

Siddharth said...

i agree with the pt tat being anti-market is just trying to find another market. what i found refreshing was the fact that he didnt behave like 'the artist' but rather more like an initiator/organiser of art..never claiming that he has all the answers to what art is.
of course the rebel without a cause behaviour was sometimes too irritating.. but isnt it somewhat needed when, as with all things in this india, people are made icons too fast and sometimes undeservingly?? i can immmediately draw parallels to architecture...