art or not?

Thought behind the Thought

One thing that you can't miss if you are a traveller on Indian roads is the 'HORN OK PLEASE' sign painted on trucks, and the whole gamut of elements that go with it. Names of gods and godessess and prayers seeking their blessings for a safe journey, remembarances of family and friends, auspicious signs and symbols, philosophical musings, and at times, favourite film stars painted in all their colourful glory!

Is that art, or not? That is the question. If we shed our elitist definitions and think afresh, art is anything that expresses and communicates feelings, emotions, meanings. And it can express itself though any medium at any time, on any canvas that happens to be available.

Art just needs an excuse to set it's foot on the stage of life. Were it not so, Art could not have been born, leave alone survive on the dreary landscape of a Truck Traveller's life!

About the Art

The pictures say it all!

Truck art finds itself the subject of a documentary film!

do visit http://www.projecthornplease.com/research-2/photo-gallery/truck-decoration/# for the film and some very interesting research on truck art

Horn Please is a short film by directors Shantanu Suman and Istling Mirche, all about the bright and colourful hand-painted trucks that fuel India‘s massive goods transportation system. It is an insightful and captivating expose of this fascinating cultural phenomenon, touching on the history of truck painting in India, the significance of the designs and the lives of the painters and drivers. It also offers some differing points of view on the future of this specialised art form in the face of technological change.

A key distinction offered up in the film is the personal artistic nature of the truck paintings, versus the purely commercial motivations behind shop and other advertising signs. The pride and ownership of the truck paintings by the drivers themselves is something to behold, and it is this which brings such character and distinctive designs to the vehicles.

Source and Credit for information

http://www.ghostsigns.co.uk/2013/05/horn-please-and-the-wonderful-world-of-indias-hand-painted-trucks.html

http://uppercasemagazine.com/blog/2014/1/20/the-truck-art-of-india#.VNNd69KUdMg

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05/colorful-indian-street-art.html

http://www.thealternative.in/lifestyle/the-highway-project-making-the-most-of-being-stuck-behind-a-truck/

www.indiamike.com, www.bizzareculture.com