'Glitch Frame Lollipop'

In keeping with its experiments with contemporary art, New Delhi-based Latitude 28 recently hosted the diverse practices of three young artists. Technology, inventive use of material and the unconventional ideas that feature in the work of these artists, along with their sense of irony and wit should turn out to be a unique experience in the gallery, according to its director Bhavna Kakar.

The title. 'Glitch Frame Lollipop', was chosen by the trio to of 'Amitabh Kumar, Prayas Abhinav, and Siddhartha Kararwal to “give an edgy, contemporary name to our work, which says a lot about our society and world but in a cheeky, fun way without sermonizing.” True to it, their works treat probing realities of everyday life ironically, and bring out contemporary concerns by playing with materials and challenges the viewer’s sensibilities with quirk and wit. The glitch often opens unexpected doors leading to the whimsical as well as the profound.

The show also managed to reach out to a large community of artists, art enthusiasts and others merely interested in the glitch through a Facebook group - part of the process behind the process of the show where ideas are continually generated, and possible glitches recorded. Some of these were incorporated into the show, as the three artists collaborated to develop site-specific projects that uniquely responded to the gallery space besides the premeditated artworks.

Among the participating artists, Siddhartha Kararwal made a series of large scale installations, following his work with plastic and other indigenous materials, this time focusing on powdered and processed fabric. His idea is to break the visual baggage which a viewer brings along every time he sees a work of art.

The challenge is to subvert the interference that the potential of a material faces from the culturally charged perception that it already has, the notions it brings with it – breaking the meaning of the material to create something new, trigger an unfamiliar reaction. These concerns were evident in his recent large scale installations like ‘Tomato Mashers and Lick Stick’.