Asim Waqif’s ‘Bordel Monstre’ (Monstrous Mess) is on view at the prestigious Palais de Tokyo, Paris - the culmination of his fall residency in Paris, supported by SAM Art Projects. A gallery note elaborates: “In an atypical space, evocative of archaeological ruins but also of a survival from modernist architecture, he produces a deeply committed and witty intervention which visitors are invited to walk through and experience.”
The New Delhi-based artist studied at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. A graduate in architecture, the artist (born 1978) has a practice turned as much toward art as design, but always closely linked to town planning and policies for the use of public space. Many of his previous artworks comprise video, sound, sculpture and dance.
“I was never interested so much in contemporary art, and never also thought of becoming an artist,” he has stated. Formerly working as an architect, he felt constrained while designing within the formal confines of an office, and hence began producing avant-garde installations about seven years ago. After working as an art-director for film and television he later started making independent video and documentaries before moving into a dedicated art-practice.
Demolition, deconstruction, the in-between stage are central to his installations, created in situ, whether it be on a river, or a piece of derelict land. He tries to mix tradition and technology, in a gesture that is poetic, but not devoid of risk. For his latest dazzling display, he has employed an array of unconventional materials, weaving debris into an elaborate, interactive sculpture.
His recent projects have attempted a crossover between architecture, art and design, with a strong contextual reference to contemporary urban-design and the politics of occupying/intervening/using public spaces. Some of his projects have developed within abandoned and derelict buildings in the city that act like hidden activity-spaces for marginalized people.
An essay on the artist's site states: "Concerns of ecology and anthropology often weave through his work and he has done extensive research on vernacular systems of ecological management, especially with respect to water, waste and architecture. His artworks often employ deliberately pain-staking and laborious manual processes, while the products themselves are often temporary and sometimes even designed to decay."
The New Delhi-based artist studied at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. A graduate in architecture, the artist (born 1978) has a practice turned as much toward art as design, but always closely linked to town planning and policies for the use of public space. Many of his previous artworks comprise video, sound, sculpture and dance.
“I was never interested so much in contemporary art, and never also thought of becoming an artist,” he has stated. Formerly working as an architect, he felt constrained while designing within the formal confines of an office, and hence began producing avant-garde installations about seven years ago. After working as an art-director for film and television he later started making independent video and documentaries before moving into a dedicated art-practice.
Demolition, deconstruction, the in-between stage are central to his installations, created in situ, whether it be on a river, or a piece of derelict land. He tries to mix tradition and technology, in a gesture that is poetic, but not devoid of risk. For his latest dazzling display, he has employed an array of unconventional materials, weaving debris into an elaborate, interactive sculpture.
His recent projects have attempted a crossover between architecture, art and design, with a strong contextual reference to contemporary urban-design and the politics of occupying/intervening/using public spaces. Some of his projects have developed within abandoned and derelict buildings in the city that act like hidden activity-spaces for marginalized people.
An essay on the artist's site states: "Concerns of ecology and anthropology often weave through his work and he has done extensive research on vernacular systems of ecological management, especially with respect to water, waste and architecture. His artworks often employ deliberately pain-staking and laborious manual processes, while the products themselves are often temporary and sometimes even designed to decay."
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