‘Scratch’, Sakshi Gallery’s 25th anniversary show, is on view at the Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA), New Delhi. The viewer is welcomed and ushered in, rather conventionally, by a band with drums and horns. An installation by Indonesian artist Jompet Kuswidananto includes band members with no bodies. They only have eerie breeches and shoes, mechanical arms beating on drums and circular video screens for heads.
NS Harsha’s valedictory work has exactly the opposite effect, quietly seeking reflection. “Art is elsewhere” are the words engraved on a block of marble. The viewer is free to draw his or her own conclusions. Two of the video works on view are rather quirky. The camera here gently pans over haphazardly built typical urban dwellings. They capture the gradual rise in the early morning light in the video spanning 6-minute. It features in ‘surround sound installation’ by Rashmi Kaleka.
Accompanying this ubiquitous urban idyll are the sounds of hawkers who peddle various wares amplified to create a kind of pastoral symphony. On the other hand, Priyanka Dasgupta’s 4077 builds repetitive bird call that similarly offsets the slow-motion black & white close-up video of an insect. This smaller version of what seems like a centipede slowly curls and twists on the ground, probably engaged in a life-n-death struggle. The title denotes the 4,077th death in the military operations in Iraq. The artist wishes to show “how hapless individuals are reduced to numbers, under patriotism’s seductive control.”
The Mumbai based gallery requested art collector Swapan Seth to turn the curator for the unique exercise. Incidentally, he collects mixed media (installation) works and new media (video). No surprise then that plenty of both are among the contemporary works on display at the venue. The curator mentions in an interview that there is no common theme or no binding thread.
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