the unsullied river

Thought behind the thought:

The Ganga Project came into mainstream news in a political gathering in the United States recently. The main thing that came to mind is how are we treating these glorious rives once they enter cities. They are neglected and derelict and are mercilessly sullied before they exit the cities. The quote is an attempt to understand how vulnerable a river might feel before she enters a city.

About the project:

“Ganges” is a three part documentary series by BBC in collaboration with Travel Channel and France 3. The river Ganga originates at a glacier on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, some 14, 000 feet above sea level. She travels about 2000 kms till she reaches the sea. Thousands of species of flora and fauna are dependent on her existence. Ganga has always been more than a river to Indians. She has been worshipped like a goddess, revered like a mother and nourished civilizations for thousands of years. The Ganga has mystery, mythology and tremendous enigma attached to her. “She”, is a goddess and one who bathes in her holy waters, rids himself of all his sins. We need to understand that she does not belong to us humans alone. We need to think of how  we are treating our rivers our mothers? What can people do to play a proactive part in maintaining her honour? Ganga you belong to all. We are indebted to you forever.

Credits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM9aPy7H534

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5kbFLrq_tw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEu6TUwOTNU

library of smells

Thought behind the thought:

We have a really old dog and has really slowed down and mellowed with age. Yet whenever a car pulls into our yard he is almost propelled in that direction. He has to conduct a thorough enquiry into the whereabouts of the car. Almost as if he was appointed to do so. He somehow wants to know where we have been and what we have been doing. Dogs communicate in the language of smells. That’s how they get their facts. Smell is a sense that is not explored in the art to a large extent. We wanted to pursue and find out whether it could be a sense that could be explored in art and how it would affect us.

A room made of more than 750,000 cigarette butts

Three tree sculptures made of epoxy, but so realistic! The "Sick Trees"

A bathroom covered with toothpaste and the intense fragrance of peppermint

About the art:

A meta sensory experience is what Peter De Cupere is trying to achieve. Peter De Cupere is an artist whose work is not merely about seeing and sensing but more about subjective and instantaneous response. Visual art allows to a time to speculate whether you like it or not, Odour Art on the other hand is more intrinsic and non predictable. One responds with a sudden reaction to the stimulus. That makes it all the more challenging. His work surprises and provokes your senses into a response. The whole idea of exploring smell in art is unique and exciting.

Credits:

http://www.peterdecupere.net/

ride a bike

Thought behind the thought:
A few years ago I came across a quote by Hemingway: “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.”

It took me back to days when most kids in India would ride to school. The cycle had an iconic place with reference to our wonderful city’s history. The day you got your first bike meant that from here on you were not dependent on anyone for getting anywhere. It is a shame that schools today have desolate cycle stands. Pune was the "cycle city" once upon a time and sadly we are left searching for safe zones where our kids can ride in safety. The all important liberation that a bicycle grants a child can be compared to nothing else. The cycle has been a focal point for many artists in their renditions of the city. I was instantly reminded of Milind Mulik's beautiful cityscape's where the bicycle makes a subtle almost poignant appearance. A mere bicycle holds an important place in our hearts. The bicycle was a reflection of the pace and demeanour of our city. It gave us our limited yet all important freedom. It liberated us to a degree yet kept us involved in the mundane goings-on of the city. Cycling allows you to really taken in the sights, smells and sounds of where you are. Like Hemingway says cycling allows you to slowly absorb and savour your surroundings and it taught one the true meaning of living in the moment.

About the art:

Milind Mulick is a very well known artist in the contemporary art scene in India today. He has been drawing since the age of five and became an accomplished artist by the age of 13. His mastery in water colours is mesmerizing. He makes an instant connection with his audience and one feels like they are a part of the story that’s being told. Two of his subjects namely the nondescript cycle and a wet road have such interesting dialogues with the onlooker that one is drawn into the scene. His paintings are such vivid documentations of the city that one is not limited to seeing the visuals but you actually get the glimpses of the soul of the city.


credits: http://www.milindmulick.com/

seeing our thoughts

What if we could peep inside our mind? Artists and scientists working together visualise the scenarion in the'Allosphere'. It is indeed difficult to classify this as either art or science, and it shows how the two disciplines can effectively come together for futhering human understanding and knowledge!

source: http://www.ted.com/talks/joann_kuchera_morin_tours_the_allosphere

Composer JoAnn Kuchera-Morin is the director of the Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology (CREATE) at UC Santa Barbara.

Composer JoAnn Kuchera-Morin works on the Allosphere, one of the largest scientific and artistic instruments in the world. Based at UCSB, the Allosphere and its 3D immersive theater maps complex data in time and space. Kuchera-Morin founded the Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology (CREATE) and has been the director since its birth in 1986. In 2000 she began work on a Digital Media Center within the California NanoSystems Institute at Santa Barbara. Her fascinations include gestural interfaces for performance and the expression of complex data in nontraditional forms.

snoring

source: https://archive.org/details/popeye_shuteye_popeye

Popeye the Sailor Man is a cartoon fictional character, created by Elzie Crisler Segar,who has appeared in comic strips and theatrical and television animated cartoons. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929; Popeye became the strip's title in later years.

Although Segar's Thimble Theatre strip was in its tenth year when Popeye made his debut, the sailor quickly became the main focus of the strip and Thimble Theatre soon became one of King Features' most popular properties during the 1930s. Thimble Theatre was continued after Segar's death in 1938 by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf.

In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios adapted the Thimble Theatre characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. These cartoons proved to be among the most popular of the 1930s, and the Fleischers—and later Paramount's own Famous Studios—continued production through 1957.

Over the years, Popeye has also appeared in comic books, television cartoons, arcade and video games, hundreds of advertisements and peripheral products

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye

serendipity

Serendipity means a "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise". It was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. In a letter he wrote to a friend Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. The princes, he told his correspondent, were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity

Curator Jasia Reichardt introduces the 'Cybernetic Serendipity' exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8TJx8n9UsA

doubts

Dust on the window pane blocks your view. But what if this became a canvas for art?

Scott Wade, an artist from San Marcos, Texas, uses dust covered car windows as a canvas for a very innovative form of art - dust art. 
It takes him hours to perfect a drawing, and maybe just a light shower to wipe it off. But the unique art piece an be enjoyed in the meanwhile is just amazing!

source: http://adreamcar.blogspot.in/2012/03/dust-on-car-window-so-extraordinary-art.html