There is no flower

There is no flower

a durational Art Performance by Anupam Saikia at Howrah, India.

This performance is part of Srinagar Biennale International, Howrah and Sweden at 2017.

Brick tied on chest tightly, Flower and Flow War written on that. Wearing a yellow helmet and a flower garland covering the mouth, he was started walking. Holding a water melon he walked for long, Walk, Walk and Walk. When he crosses the railway line he cut the Water melon into two pieces. Walk again; finally reached Saraswati Pally (a slam area in Howrah) he gave the Water melon to children to have it. He finished his action after he wrote on a blackboard “Where is the flower?” 

Anupam Saikia  |  anupam.saikia87@gmail.com

Shadow of a shadow | A performative Installation at Crack

This project was Documents by Hossain Atahar Surjo and Fatema Helia

A site specific performative installation (?) titled “Shadow of a shadow” was done on the open day of Crack International art Camp. I want to create a painting in the site which we may call site specific painting where the act of painting is no exist but the element or subject of my previous painting is physically exist. I am obsesses with some element like bed, body in landscape in my painting. Therefore, in the camp I decided to select a wide horizon / landscape as background, and the middle ground there is tilted bed on the water surface and I perform in the middle ground, and the foreground there was four body marks by white line and dig on the ground. For me the whole area is like a painting in physical and existential as well as audience can move inside the painting.

Indeed, the whole work is open for the public, where the local villagers were come to attend / participated / engage / see those work in the camp. So, are they able to understand that I am exploring a painting in the form of site specific performative installation? It is obvious no, than what is my address of interest to that public? The answer should be in subjective way, where I tried to communicate through some action relation with day to day narratives. The people, mostly from farmer family who are very much conscious even they can comprehend about performance, installation etc to some extend because they have experience through the camps open days. Some of them started to come to camp for interacted with artist two/three days before the open day. Even some of them can talk about performance as medium.

(c) Anupam Saikia.

11th edition of Crack | Kushthia | Bangladesh.

December 2017

#performance Art #artperformance #liveperformance #sitespecific 

The soul subsists in a silent breath from there to hear/ here.

A site specific installation and art performance part of  6th Episode of Uronta Residential Art exchange Program. Venue: Gourarong Jamidari bari, Sunamganj, Syllet division, Bangladesh. 2017
Curated by Sadya Mizan, Bangladesh.

Pics 01 / left: Details of the site specific Installation and Right: Part of the Performance 

History of a land and ownership always changes in time and we may nostalgic and sometimes rational.  My meet to this Art project towards history that “How a psychology took a shape when the geographical contour deviations. Meanwhile conflict endures from there to here.

Space and context has played important role in my work. The space carries minimum 200 years of history, which slowly demolished physically as well as the narrative should rebuild in the context. On the other hand, the context has historical connection to my homeland that I want to re-establish through the political map in different time, which is draw on news paper, and pasted on old wooden door. I took an impression from wall of the old Jamidari Bari on paper that pasted in another old door and in a same way; I pasted some manipulative sketches of the recent owner of the houses. My aim is to juxtaposed different narrative pasted on outside of the door, which carries the binary of inside out, the underneath conflict from the past that has to re-encounter through this project. All the way through my performance, I wish to involve, re-action, respond, and reinterpretation with the history space and time.

Pics no 02 / Painted part on the door. 

In this part, I painted geographical map of the region on news paper where i painted the eastern region of India Subcontinent. There is a four-part and every part has another four-part divided by door structured itself, where one is only land and water, though we can recognize the land but not naming by the ownership and the second part is the growth of British Bengal, Assam and Burma. the third part is in 1947 "the partition" and the fourth is after the 1971, "liberation war" of Bangladesh. We can see the land and ownership is changes always time to time and the narratives, conflict fabricated in locals at the same context. Details of the painted part as billow :   

Pics no 03 / Details of the painted surface.

Pics no 04 / Details of the painted surface.

Being an Assamese it is very difficult to work in Bangladesh region, because there is lots of migration issue over the 30 years. The conflict is politicizing everywhere. During the conversations with the locals I found many similarities with my homeland such as language, dialect, culture, food habits etc, where somehow the contour doesn't work in between. The locals often asking me what is my religion, I replied "by born I am Hindu" or if the person is Muslim, I said i am "in between Muslim". Here is the "Artist position" is very important where the locals giving importance in religion, and the other hand the idea of work demand this position to take through the process. 

After the initials phase of emotional, psychological, physical and anatomical engagement with site i started took prints from the wall embodied tried to imprison the texture and the damaged wall that carries the history and time as well as the human marks on the wall showing the power, also reflecting the animalistic instinct.

Pics no 5 / display of the print 

details of these prints as billow:

Pics no 06 / Details

Pics no 07 / Details

Pics no 08 / Details

In the middle there is another old door where one part was broken but still its lock with the other part. I pasted some manipulative sketches of recent house owner on this door. 

Pics no 09 / Middle part of installation.

Pics no 10 / display and the locals.

From the day begun at the site, i tried to intervene through my body and communicate with the locals. I wish to involve, re-action, respond, and reinterpretation with the history space and time. Everyday I tried a develop an exercise of performative intervention with the installation and site.

On the last day, sitting in front of my Painting Installation, I covered myself with a transparent plastic and blowing almost 20 balloons inside that. Sometimes it was blast and created unwanted sound. Indeed, the inside space of the plastic I felt suffocation and i was sweating like anything.

Pics no 11 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

Pics no 13 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

 All the way through, I fill up the map with mud which is one best part of the performance. 

Pics no 14 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

Pics no 15

Pics no 16 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

Pics no 17 /  Photographer: MD Shahariare Khan Shihab

In between I tied an old broken tin which created sound while walking and indeed there is a word "Breath" written on the tin. I pushing a bullock-cart wheel in front of the installation, finally fall near to the political map.

Pics no 18 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

Pics no 19 / Photographer: MD Shahariare Khan Shihab

Pics no 20 / Photographer: MD Shahariare Khan Shihab

Pics no 21 / Photographer: MD Shahariare Khan Shihab

Pics no 22 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

Pics no 23 / Photographer: MD Shahariare Khan Shihab

Taking a small nap and I thought, I should ended the performance. I started walking towards the pond and have bath in the pond beside the Jamidari Bari. Indeed when I moved back I saw the locals waiting to look after me. Here is the question came that is they expecting something more or they involved into the essence / mood of the performance. When I came back to the site after changing my cloth, some of the locals just sitting, standing around me without asking anything. I felt uneasy I moved to other area, again they moved with me. I didn't understand that what they wants from me through silence and even I didn't ask anything, I don't want to break the silence or might be, my questions make uncomfortable them.

Pics no 24 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

Pics no 25 / Photographer: Shams Xaman

The next day of the open studio day of the residency I went to the site, the other artist's works destroyed, the paper, writings, poets, photographs etc torn apart by the locals but the part of my painting installation, the political map is still there without damage. this is the best feeling in the residency program.

Documentation by Shams Xaman and MD Shahariare Khan Shihab.

Anupam Saikia, Assam

They live We sleep, Conflicting Space // Howrah and Sweden, an Art Project by Anupam Saikia

"They live we sleep" A video installation under Conflicting space.

venue: Howrah and Sweden. Date: 21 April to 30 April 2017.

Conflicting space is a project under Srinagar Biennale where rather than public art project this exchange is about making a visual narrative between two different conflicting spaces. Both the spaces “Howrah and Sweden” in one hand carrying a potential living historical memory, on the other hand also has the hidden possibilities of contradiction. In this Art project the artist from India and Sweden are trying to question and explore the area of hidden possibilities through their different kind of medium. The exchange and the collaborating with two curator one is from Sweden Tamara de Laval and Chi muk from India starts with a dialogue between the artist which is more about idea of space, intimacy, bonding, struggle, body, labor and contradiction of nature and culture. Also the artists are trying to evolve the possibilities of conflict between visible and invisible line where there is always much hidden disturbance and conflict within the space and the space become the boisterous silence.

Video still from "They live we sleep" 

Here the idea of this project, collective is very important role in my practice. Because of this reason I like the idea of Conflicting space where this project not limited only to produce an Art product for final display. Though it is important also this project focus on process which can help to share, discuss with each other work and going through a collective approach. Also it helps to Artistic growth where every steps going through research based.

Video still from "They live we sleep"

During this project my question is that how to executed multidisciplinary work. Space and context has important role of my work which are very fragmented. Basically I am talking about site specific installation as well as live performances. Meanwhile those works are very fragile / temporary and on the other hand the Art performances have the same quality like work has finished when you ended your performances. Perhaps we took pictures / video as documentation and showing it somewhere. Indeed, there is always one question that how to documented this kind of works? I did the same things like I took photographs and moving clips. If I represent this documentation in front of viewer what should be the format. I believe that representation should carry the essence or mood of the work. Sometimes I used sound in my installation and my performances which were recorded from nature and from different objects. I want to juxtaposed those materials like sound, photographs and moving clips embodied some drawing transformed in many small clip of stop motion animation. Those clips display in a digital devices and install it in space which is selected according to the concept. This works are initially worked in performance and site specific which is work later in digital format.

process of the display at Shibpur, Howrah

I am working in a video format with some of my performance juxtaposed with moving clips. This project residue was not to display in white cube format, so I chose an active iron factory near Shibpur, Howrah to install the video. Firstly the factory owner doesn’t want to agree with our idea of the display because they afraid of disturb by our work and finally agreed with us.  During the conversation they always question us about what it is? Why it is here? What we will do after this? and many unpolished question forced to think about the idea of Art and public. Also they were very happy to communicate with us as well as the viewer for the space, even later period of the display they were able to talk about the project with the viewer. Even they wish to provide that space for the future. Indeed, the whole idea is not only display an Art in factory; it is about to collaboration with the worker, communication as well as participation in the factory and art itself.

the video is played in a old TV

In that factory there is very old wooden Almirah with a big mirror and the Almirah is used for their tools. My video was played in old TV in front of the mirror. Viewer can see them-self in the mirror. Indeed, I used some text in the mirror (see the image) when viewers were reading the text they can see self images with the video. The space has a sound produces from the welding machine and the worker enhancing my idea and the site specificity. 

the text in the mirror

Here is the text in the mirror “The coexistence of fear and violence in our everyday public, personal and private spaces lead to the regimentation and disciplining of everyday work conditions. As a consequence, the possibility of workers’ self-control on their work in the area of knowledge production as well as scope of developing of anti-hegemonic subjectivity constantly faces a threat. The ‘thoughtpolice’ keeps us under the invisible surveillance. In my perception these fear and violence fabricated silence in our psyche embodied a frame of isolation. Everybody lives within a frame that’s created by us as well as by social or political structure. There is no way out of this frame.”

as usual day of the factory with the installation

opening day of the "conflicting space"

viewer reading the text on the mirror

public and the work

This project is exchange program between Howrah and Sweden, the video was displayed in a restaurant at Malmo, Sweden. The customer was waiting for the food and they are watching unusual video before the food.

“They live we sleep” is a series of multidisciplinary approaches where trying to explore the frame of isolation where subconscious uncertainty hidden within it. In this project I experiment in video where juxtaposed images in different manner with moving clip.

  

Video install in a restaurant at Malmo, Sweden.

By Anupam Saikia, Anga Art collective, Assam