Here There Now Opening ceremony November 26, 2007

On the day before the Play with your food/Melt in your mold workshop started (previous post), I was admitted in the hospital, then there was a call from the owner of Gallery Soulflower, Ms.Natasha Tulli, asking me to design ice cream or sweets for the opening ceremony at her gallery. She randomly found me on my blog and felt interest in the gourmet dog food which I and Yapan Catering have made for cesar event.

The event is to announce the launch of the monograph “Here There Now : Contemporary Art from India” in conjuction with an exhibition of the same title. Mr.Brian Curtin is the author of the monograph and the curator of the exhibition, coincidently he is a friend of my teacher Dr.Tagerng Pattanopas.

According to the press release, Here There Now celebrates contemporary art from India. All the artist have international reputations and Here There Now showcases the diversity of materials, methods and concerns that underline these reputatioins.

Central to this monograph and the exhibition is the recognition that the work of these artists constitutes a necessary aspect of what the “Contemporary” means. These artist actively contribute to the international significance of contemporary art practice. All the more so becasue of theirs individual histories, culturally nuanced understandings, and particular uses of different media.

Within global terms, the critical ambition to offer strict definitions of how art functions for the contemporary context is all but obsolete. Moreover, attempts to theorize the relationship of non-Western artist to occidental “Others” can appear misguided in view of trans-national movement and exchange. Here There Now celebrates these insight, highlighting the value of departures as well as connections and dissonance as well as correspondence across the breadth of contemporary Indian art and beyond.

The artist featured are Arunkumar HG, Tushar Joag, Vineet Kaacker, Pushpamala N, Justin Ponmany, Prajakta Potnis, Sharmila Samant, Gigi Scari, Mithu Sen and Kumar Kanti Sen.

I design an ice cream and some sweets which is inspired by the art pieces od each artists.

“Bulls are watching” is the original art installation by Arunkumar HG.

 “Silence of the other” end is the actual work of him for this exhibition.

“Bearly Bear” is inspired by the work of Arunkumar HG “Silence of the other end”. Using the same technique, it’s constructed with the edible red and green jelly bear gum to form the shape of a bigger bear.

“Mutants of the Street Vendors mimetic scheme” by Tushar Joag

“The Truth beneath the Table” It’s inspired by the work of Tushar Joag; “Mutants of The Street Vendors Mimetic Scheme”. His metaphor is “Indian street vendor as a superhero”. They use their strength to escape the police or disguise themselves into the environment for example. This imitation uses typical Indian nuts table. But if you look carefully, the reflection reveals the truth that there is a super hero beneath the table as if he is carrying this table on his head or on the other hand the Indian nut vendor is a SUPERHERO!

…. so can you see the super hero?

Vineet Kaacker’s art pieces.

The work of Vineet Kacher inspired this piece. But this is not a rock like the original. It’s a chocolate rock!

Seems like Her Excellency Latha Reddy, Indian Ambassador of Thailand was enjoy the Vineet chocolate before she left.

Pushpamala N and her work.

and…. Disguised Pishpamala N with my work :)

Pushpamala has many roles in the Indian society, from ordinary Indian persons to female gods. With these “mustache” and “jewelry” straws, you can also play a role of an Indian person while enjoying sparkring yoghurt drink.

Special photography tecnique piece, “Prabhu” by Justin Ponmany

“Reverse” imitated the work of Justin Ponmany; “Prabhu”. He explored the translation of 3-dimensional objects to 2-dimensional artworks. Here, his concept is reversed back by forming his 2-dimensional work into 3 dimensions, in this case, ice cream cups.

The top view of these ice cream cups displays his complete 2-dimensional art piece while the colors of the ice cream match the colors of the picture on the lids. The flavors are Masala tea, Salted lassi, Mango Lassi and Spice chocolate.

“The skin of pimples” by Prajakta Potnis.

This piece is inspired by the work of Prajakta Potnis; “The skin of pimple”. People believe that eating chocolate leads pimple. This piece of chocolate has something behind it… The back side looks like skin with pimples!
It’s quite interesting that just by turning something upside down, the meaning totally changes… from something yummy to something yucky!

Sharmila Samant’s work

“Chocolate Puzzle” The idea is taken from the work by Sharmila Samant. Her work displays a group of scattered squared photographs of the same object. This is imitated by dicing chocolate bars into squares and disordering them.

Gigi Scari’s work.

This is inspired by Gigi Scaria’s work which is the interviews of a group of people who have met Mahatma Gandhi. “Charkha” or “Spinning wheel” is another symbol of his effort to call for the freedom of Indian people by making their own cotton yarn/clothes. I borrowed the idea to make some cotton but it’s candy one.

Many thanks to Mae Aew+ for this antinque spinning wheel.

Mithu Sen and Kumar Kanti Sen’s chair.

“Sen’s little chair” This cocktail platter is inspired by the chair of Mithu Sen and Kumar Kanti Sen. The cocktail sticks imitate the chair’s back support and the mayonnaise on the sausage looks a little like the pattern of the cushion. 

The guesses were enjoy the exhibition as well as my creations, so does our chief guest, H.E. Lathea Reddy, Indian Ambassador of India to Thailand. Some drank my drinks without even noticing that there were something attaching on their faces!

From the left hand side, Pushpamala N,  H.E. Lathea Reddy, Indian Ambassador of India to Thailand and Natasha Tulli, the owner of Gallery Soulflower.

Many thanks to Natasha for this opportunity to colaborate with all these great artists and opportunity to expose my works. Also many thanks to P’Bank for this super nice English art text. Kob kun naka :)

Pictures in courtesy of artists, Gallery Soulflower and my mom. For more pictures, please click here.