Instituto Cervantes New Delhi 9/03/2023 – 5/05/2023
Anna Brass, Asim Waqif, Esteban Torres Ayastuy, Hot Desque, Ian Dawson, Irati Urrestarazu, Jemma Egan, Jignesh Panchal, Jos Martin, Karin Ruggaber, Kunj Chawla and Arpan Kumar, Leire Muñoz, Mark Hosking, Mhairi Vari, M Pravat, Ole Hagen, Oona Grimes, Plastique Fantastique, Ritu Sood, Sarah Kate Wilson, Sculptors and Sailors in collaboration with Niroj Satpathy, Shivangi Ladha, Srinivas Kuruganti, Sukanya Ghosh, Susanta Mandal, Ted Le Swer, Uzma Mohsin and Andy Naorem, Vandana Kothari, Xintong Zhang.
Curated by Jasone Miranda-Bilbao
Is the image even human? at the Instituto Cervantes New Delhi
Is the image even human? is an exhibition in two parts. One half takes place online and the other offline. Online and offline artworks operate in conversation with one another (https://www.ideastravelfasterthanlight.com/is-the-image-even-human).
This is the third itineration of a series of exhibitions that started at the Mazecollective Studio Terrace (New Delhi) with 8x4. It glows light (19/11/2021) and 8x4. Two Moons (19/11/2022) co-curated by Jasone Miranda-Bilbao and Ashish Sahoo. It glows light brought to the terrace of the Mazecollective works that ‘glow in the dark’ at a time when the main objective of communication was to keep people at distance. Two moons celebrated the idea of travel and the possibility of gathering again around others, humans and non-humans.
The artists at Is the image even human? have all participated in the previous two editions. What we see now is the unfolding of their works and their responses to the project and possibilities it offers to them in terms of creativity.
The question Is the image even human? throws up the mind - what’s human about the image? Who else makes images, do they have an autonomous life of their own and can they exist independently from humans? And can we exist independently from them, think imagelessly? do we make images or do they make us? where do they originate and how might we live and think in their absence? The works in the exhibition look at us in a playful manner as if in a house of mirrors where the world seems to be arranged differently.
Mhairi Vari Zone of middle dimensions (colour shapes in motion – expanded version). 2023. Wire coathangers, coloured strand, tripod frame, mobile phone clip arms, Iphones, micro-link mini bluetooth speakers, cables and connectors, audi, video, papier mache brick (formed from ‘Information: Documents in Contemporary Art’ ed. Sarah Cook, ‘The Poetics of Space’ Gaston Bachelard, ‘Complete Tai Chi Chuan’ Dan Doherty). 165 x 90 x 90 cm
Ritu Sood Spinal Study I, II, III. 2022. Walnut ink and pencil on paper each 55 x 75 cm
Ted Le Swer Untitled. 2023. 4K Video. Duration 00:00:12 Seconds
Xintong Zhang Escape from the paradise. 2023. Collage with etching, stone lithograph, photo-etching, and real plant printed on paper. 32 x 32 cm
Sarah Kate Wilson Animalia. 2022. Jacquard woven blanket. Cotton and polyester. Edition of 25 + 5 Aps. 182.88 x 137.16 cm
Left to right Sarah Kate Wilson, Xintong Zhang, M.Pravat
M Pravat Unconscious activity. 2016. Photographic prints, brick dust, glass, wood. 29.5 x 29.5 x 56 cm
Left to right Uzma Mohsin and Andy Naorem, Susanta Mandal, Oona Grimes
Uzma Mohsin and Andy Naorem, stills of the installation Yeh Mera Chaman (This Garden of Mine). 2023. Audio Visual. Duration 3.01 Mins.
Susanta Mandal Images of a void space. 2023. Wet collodion plate, iron, glass, LED, paper. Dimensions Variable
Oona Grimes Etruscan noses. 2021-2022. Clay & painted slip. Dimensions variable
View of the works in gallery 1
Vandana Kothari Dinner table. 2020. Mixed media and collage. Dimensions variable
Irati Urrestarazu Pendulo (Pendulum). 2022. Chains, resin. Dimensions variable
Left to right Xintong Zhang, Plastique Fantastique, Ritu Sood, Iraty Urrestarazu, Sculptors and Sailors in collaboration with Niroj Satpathy
Sculptors and Sailors in collaboration with Niroj Satpathy Mariners Knots For Beginners. 2023. Selected pages from ‘Marine Knots: How to Tie 40 Essential Knots’ by Patrick Moreau and Jean-Benoit Heron’, marine cord and hooks. Dimensions variable
This is a collaboration between Sculptors and Sailors and Delhi-based artist Niroj Satpathy. Sculptors and Sailors is a nautical archive formed by artists Peter Fillimgham and Donald Smith who were both born in the maritime city of Postmouth (UK). Using the book ‘Mariners Knots For Beginners’ and the idea of the boating knot as a metaphor of friendship at distance, they have invited Niroj Satpathy to engage with them via the knots in the book. What we see at the Instituto Cervantes is Satpathy’s reply to their invitation.
Foreground Plastique Fantastique, background Sarah Kate Wilson, Xintong Zhang, Ted le Swer
Plastique Fantastique Exquisite Corpse Meme-Animals. 2022. Polystyrene, exterior eggshell and enamel paint, magnets, incense sticks. Approximately 70 x 30 cm each Exquisite-Corpse-Meme-Animals were born into a family of animals that have slowly adapted to life as memes and images, a process that responds to the problem of life in former habitats becoming increasingly unsustainable. They burn incense in memory of their former physical lives.
Plastique Fantastique Communique: Welcome Meme Tech Animals, 2023, video, 9 minutes.
Fever-Actal searches for, and digs out a nest, to find a gift left by ancestors.
Left to right Esteban Torres Ayastuy, Ted Lewer, Srinivas Kuruganti, Anna Brass, Leire Muñoz, Ole Hagen, Jemma Egan
Esteban Torres Ayastuy Submarine. 2017. HD video. Duration 22:10 min
Left to right Srinivas Kuruganti, Anna Brass, Asim Waqif, Leire Muñoz
Srinivas Kuruganti Caught between the moon and New York city. 2007-2013. Digital prints, dimensions variable.
‘My wife’s grandmother, Margaret Jarvis, or Nannu as she was fondly called, lived in Shrewsbury, West Midlands in England. She was a Land Girl during World War 2, and, after much coaxing, spoke of her childhood and her experiences during the war.
My wife Anna, her mother, her sister and I made occasional weekend trips to see Nannu. We spent the time sitting with her as she drank her numerous cups of instant coffee, smoked her John Player Specials and watched the horse races.
I moved from New York to London a few years after I got married. The work during my six years in London came sporadically, and it was difficult to find employment that inspired me.
A lot of time was spent at home cooking, brooding, working the little patch of garden in front of the house and eventually on an allotment a bike ride away.
Anna and I started drifting apart over time but I found comfort in spending time with the friends that I had made. Here are photos of my friends, the landscape I wanted to be near and of the immediate family.’
Leire Muñoz Studio Essays. 2023. Glass fibre, bronze, rubber. Dimensions variable
Anna Brass Flat Pot. 2022. Tufting cloth, glue, wool, textile. 150 x 116 x 3 cm
Asim Waqif Stress Analysis 1. 2023. Cyanotype photogram on galvanised steel.
Sheet metal fabrication under supervision of Lakshya Singla at Anand Trunk Mfg Co, Trunk Market, Gurugram. 114.3 x 83.82 x 35.56 cm
Jignesh Panchal A day in Burgdorf. 2022. Gouache and paper cutting on paper, each 42 x 30 x 1 cm
Left to right Anna Brass, Asim Waqif, Jigness Panchal, Jos Martin, Ole Hagen, Leire Muñoz
Ole Hagen Alap. 2023. HD video documentation of sound sculpture. Time: 2.16min loop. Soundtrack Hannah Jowett (bass) and Radha Pillay (voice)
View of the works in gallery 2
Jos Martin. Infinite (No. 5). 2021. Graphite on paper. 182.88 x 121.92 cm. Infinite. 2008. Pen on paper. 91.44 x 71.12 cm
Hot Desque. Imitation Headlamp (uncertain Age). 2023. Copper, soy wax, salt, wick, pigment. 46 x 24 x 22 cm.
Jemma Egan Cover story. 2023. Cotton sheeting, polyester webbing, thread., chairs. 160 x 80 x 55 cm
Shivangi Ladha Self Portrait III, 2022 - 2023
Watercolor on Rives Paper. 99 x 69 cm each.
Supported by the Generator Cooperative Art Production Fund, Experimenter Lab India.
Mark Hosking HARP, HARP 1. 2022. Painted steel with suction cups, contact microphone, amplifier, cable, tuning pegs, pulleys, guitar and cello strings, each approximately 40.7 x 39.4 x 7.6 cm
HARP is a continuation from an ongoing series of functional sculpture that serve as prototypes for alternative musical instrument design. At the Instituto Cervantes they were intercepted by Delhi based musicians Kunj Chawla and Arpan Kumar who played them during a performance.
Sukanya Ghosh Light Leaks. 2022. Photo diptychs with archival photographs, each 26 x 21 cm
A roll of black and white film unearthed from the recesses of a desk, developed to reveal a decade old set of photographs beautifully adorned with fungal forms. Shadowy figures scratched and blurred emerge from the depths of the shadows and indeterminate greys; a grandmother, father, nephew, sister.
From left to right Sukanya Ghosh, Hot Desque, Shivangi Ladha, Ian Dawson, Karin Ruggaber
Karin Ruggaber Brooches #105 - #110. 2022. Steel wire, clip hook; Brass wire, wool, cotton; Expanded aluminium mesh, brass wire, safety pin; Wire, acrylic airtex, polythene; Steel wire, cotton; Nylon rope, vinyl coated aluminium wire. Dimensions variable.
An ongoing series of small wire sculptures made with different materials and in various scales.
Ian Dawson Sturge.2291.remix 2022. WG.2350.remix 2022. PLA 3D Printed. 18 x 18.5 cm, 22 x 23 cm
Both pieces are re-imaginings of neolithic stone-age objects. These objects were first encountered on a field trip to The British Museum Archive, where they reside. They are carved stone balls found across the British Isles that come from a period of transition from hunter gatherer to plant cultivation. Much is discussed about their origins. Some think that they evidence advanced mathematical skills, others that they were part of didactic processes. The sculptures were first scanned and transformed into 3D digital artefacts before being reinstantiated as physical objects through the 3D print process.
View of the exhibition at the Cervantes institute New Delhi