Time and space frame our experiences to an extent that’s greater than tangible. Not just experiences, but even our memories and meanings attached to those also shift in the spatio-temporal arena. Exploring these themes is the ongoing art exhibition, Synthesis of Difference, which aims to explore what’s unalike and thus synthesise them using time as a visual language.
It brings together works of four contemporary South Korean artists and six Indian artists, who have inculcated their sensibilities and practices and infused them with that of the two cultures, to highlight the subtle differences and similarities in both. All the participating artists specialise in different mediums. Take for instance artist Ghazala Parveen, who is adept at her skills in visual and performance art. Her work brings together two contrasting views around spirituality. “It’s an attempt where I accept the importance of an organised religious system, but I also openly advocate the freedom of an individual on whether he or she can choose to be in that system, without any fear of being ostracised,” says Parveen.
The gallery has on display, a variety of new media art, paintings, animation, video art, installations, and even performances. Each artist has given their work a new dimension to the meaning of time and synthesis while playing with it in their own unique way. Talking about her understanding of time, Parveen shares, “As a theoretical physicist, Carlo Rovelli holds time as an illusion born of our dubious knowledge; it’s not something that exists objectively. My understanding of time stands in accordance with him, where I see time passing for different people differently. Often it seems inconceivable to comprehend whether we are going ahead in time or going in reverse.”
Explaining the concept in terms of her performance, Parveen adds, “Since the ancient times, people have given antithesis of a prevailing idea and try to normalise dissent. But when we see, in course of time, we are still struggling to harmonize society as our predecessors attempted to accomplish.”
Another participating artist, Jihyoung Park, explores the reflection of collective consciousness through their work, and talks about relationships and the inner world of people through her installations and performance art. For her, “Time is ‘Time goes’ and ‘Repeat’,” she explains, adding, “As time goes, my work is changed and developed. But in that time, my idea is the answer to repeated questions.”
Growing up in a working-class atmosphere, artist Birendra Kumar Yadav’s charcoal drawings explore and reflect his early childhood experiences. He explores time as a recollection of those days, and adds, “I try to understand the present on the basis of those reflections. Of course, times have changed but something has remained intact and that’s exploitation. One could say I am in an attempt to record how exploitation has transformed from one form to other. How power manipulates even time to remain constant.” Elucidating how his work highlights the difference, Yadav says, “As all of my work talks about the abnormalised labour bodies or force in our country, I try to understand throughout my work, what makes them different to the extent of being invisible in the synthesised whole. ” The difference becomes a departure from the manufactured time that synchronises our lives and experiences.
Catch It Live
What: Synthesis of Difference
Where: Nam June Park Hall, Korean Culture Centre India, Lajpat Nagar IV
On till: September 30
Timing: 9am to 6pm (Sundays closed)
Nearest Metro Station: Moolchand on the Violet Line
Author tweets @priyaanshie_