Public Art: Students in the Spotlight

The title of this project originates from a Wall Street trader’s alleged mantra for future investment. It raises questions about the ways in which we assign value to aspects of the world once assumed to be the right of all.

The reciprocal nature of our relationship with the environment is nowhere more acutely or intimately demonstrated than in our need for water – it constitutes around 60% of the composition of our bodies. It provides us with images of purity and corruption.

The value we confer on it takes many forms; biological, agricultural, industrial, aesthetic, spiritual, environmental and financial. Many of these demands are in competition with each other, if not in conflict. 

As many cities appear on the verge of a water crisis, brought on by changes in climate, increased demand and poor management, its financial value seems set to increase, paving the way for sometimes distant speculators to benefit financially from local shortages.

Art has a part to play in helping us to order our priorities in the light of these various demands. This exhibition demonstrates how artistic choices regarding medium and technique can be brought to bear on these ideas and issues. Much of the work in this show originated from research in Chennai.

A person is influenced and made by the landscape of the place the person inhabits. Landscapes are also made by people involved in these places. “Invisible” layers form the landscapes around us; it is the history, scenery, people, and habit, eroded or lost in the flow of time across various contexts.

16 students from Srishti researched such landscapes across two cities of Bangalore and Chennai. Contexts of architecture in the colonial era, a textile factory, graffiti on the walls of train stations etc. were some of the locations chosen to enable dialogue between the two cities and their similarities.

Artist Jun Homma shot the portraits of students with each background and uses these as a medium to explore these invisible elements of various contexts. 

The portraits will be exhibited in both cities, thus themselves becoming a part of the layer of landscape acting as a catalyst that connects the past and the present, and the distances between both cities.

The coastal areas of Tamil Nadu have been prominent with culture, trade and architecture since the Sangam era, which dates back to 3 CE. The geography is layered by complex historical events, dynasties, natural calamities etc. Perhaps the most important historical event that happened on the coast of Kerala was the arrival of Vasco Da Gama in Kappad, Kozhikode. 

Even before that, various ports in Malabar had trade relations with the Arabs, Greek and the Chinese. Since then, the land has witnessed innumerable sedimentation of history, culture, and socio-cultural renaissance.