Digging below the crust of cacophony of celebrations

The decibel levels bordering ‘The Anatomy of Celebration or The Party Plot’, as depicted in a new series by Vasudha Thozhur, are almost unimaginable. In fact, several such events simultaneously take place or rather collide - in the same locality, resulting in a whole new genre of music, and death-inducing at times, as a few people are reported to have died of cardiac arrest right at the intersections of such cacophonic celebrations.

“Music mimics music, to an audience that mimics enjoyment and can no longer appreciate the difference – both have evolved through a series of simulations have long since obliterated their origins in experience, and are reduced to incomprehensible abstractions: a common enough occurrence in today’s increasingly estranged world…” the artist notes. All this against the background of an otherwise troubled political climate, and the stringent moral policing, which has become a part of the nightlife of Baroda and Ahmedabad, make it even more inexplicable.

Still, it’s a visual experience - with a darker edge. The artist has shot some very shaky video footage from her terrace and during a walk along the highway at night. She mentions that digital media are an unavoidable part of our lives, and hence incidental as opposed to an artistic choice, at least in this case. She wondered what she could do with the footage. The content seemed more like weird wonderlands in haphazard sequence, sans obvious narrative; the handling of the camera was hopelessly inept.

“There emerged, however, from this set of dysfunctional relationships, the undeniable fascination of glowing nocturnal dreamscapes shot through with dazzling displays of lighting and fireworks. They were in fact, panoramic works of art that performed a very significant function in mediating the events that were staged in their midst, on a scale and with a conviction that is not often achieved in the ‘real’ world of art. Addicted as we are to pondering on the function and meaning of art vis a vis so-called reality, it was intriguing to see how interchangeable the two were,” Vasudha Thozhur states, elaborating on her new series presented by New Delhi-based Latitude 28.