Artist Susanta Mandal's new series

Gallery SKE presents a new series of works by upcoming and talented artist Susanta Mandal. In a succinct discussion on eve of the show, he explains the various aspects related to his art practice. Here is what an accompanying note and the artist statement mention of the works on view:

"From basements to the top-most floors of multi-storeyed buildings, walls and roofs together break up spaces to create endless small pockets. Behind walls, inside roofs and below the ground, are a hidden zigzag of inter-connected pipelines and connections of other power lines whizzing silently, through which numerous “soft” elements (physically and virtually) move. These pipes create multiple pockets of tunnels inside the solid space.

I have used glass and steel to create structures that attempt to provide a visual depiction of the invisible energies that run through these pipelines. The provoking motif here for me is, ‘How long will they run?’ and so the idea is to expose them and lay them bare. The pipes made of glass allow the transparency of observation and allow the unseen to be seen. This is further reinforced by imagined perceptible depictions of the visual flow of energy using signals of light, threads that move and air pressure along with soap solution; sometimes creating confusion when the threads begin to move in the opposite direction.

These structures are mounted on the wall and in some cases have a photograph of an actual building that has been implanted with the knowledge that the whole will be installed in an unknown place. At the end, this structure becomes an alien part in the existing body of architecture.

The other body of work in the show evolved from the knowledge and fear of an escalating shortage of resources. Here lenses enlarge the clarity of candlelight (like a magic lantern), and project many small details from the architecture which might hallucinate, with ghostly images familiar to it but unfamiliar at the same time."

(Information courtesy: Gallery SKE)