Wednesday, December 29, 2010

‘Flux’: A new series of works by photo artist-environmentalist Ravi Agarwal

“Spaces are in transition. Everything around is changing violently. Of course, everything changes all the time, but that happens in many ways, in many places, with many tempos, and with many outcomes. This moment is different. The change is towards one end, one goal, already known, as if a new future is so well imagined that it must be arrived at immediately, ripping off all, which doesn’t fit…”
This is how artist- environmentalist Ravi Agarwal expresses his concerns. There’s hardly any breathing space around anymore. Everything is in flux. The city is in a rapid transition and he is seeking spaces for keeping his own self intact. He adds: Ecology has become an ornament. Nature which shaped the city once is now being shaped by contemporary relationships of capital and power, instead of as a democratic idea of a common future”.

Incidentally, he was invited to take part in Documenta 11 (Kassel, Germany), among the most prestigious art events in the world. His new series of photo images, entitled ‘Flux’ is on view at Gallery Espace, New Delhi. It comprises over 50 images and also a video. A 16 photograph-series 'Tar Machines' express his fascination with issues of labor and industrial machines. Another series 'Sewage Pond' and a set of two photos 'Forest Morning' amplify his concerns.

Largely, the works belong to his long-standing practice of closely examining his ‘ecological relationship’ in context of the developments around, this time with a ‘globalized’ city in transition - literally and metaphorically through forest spaces, machines, flyovers, sewage ponds etc. It’s a curious engagement with a ‘moment’ captured in changing times.

According to the artist, an aesthetic relationship with a photo takes place, during its making. The image is a moment that won’t re-occur. It’s not one of something outside, rather reflective of a relationship. Ravi Agarwal quips: “Nothing is ever going to be the same, and can never be revisited."

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