It was in the transitional phase of the 1990s that the Indian art fraternity decided to draw upon the interactive and multi-dimensional possibilities of electronic media. Setting aside the two-dimensional painted frame, the purview of art practice then, they took a leap to explore the myriad possibilities of video art. The passage happened when this medium was flourishing in western countries but, within a span of two decades, there was a narrative shift and video art established itself as a distinct art form among the Indian art circles.
In the beginning, video art was brought into the conversation of the Indian art world by galleries, albeit a few, which promoted and supported innovative practice. They provided an alternative space to those who grasped the potential of electronic media and could experiment beyond painting and also beyond the confines of a ?gallery?. However, now, we have many purveyors of innovation like Gallery Espace in New Delhi, which has been making a laudable attempt to form audience communities for video art. In 2008, the gallery initiated a project called Video Wednesdays, wherein they showed videos conceptualised and directed by eminent artists from across India, on the last Wednesdays of every month for a year. Continuing with this outreach programme, where moving-image-based artworks can be understood and appreciated on their own terms, Gallery Espace is back again with the second edition of Video Wednesdays. And this time, through collaboration between renowned art critic and curator Gayatri Sinha and Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, Indian audience can also view some of the best works by Chinese artists.
?Chinese art is different from Indian art and Video Wednesdays is a platform to bring together Indian and Chinese video art,? says Gayatri Sinha, who is curating the Indian component of Video Wednesdays II. She is also of the view that video art has become an integral part of the contemporary Indian art scene. ?Although video art has still not attained the status of an institutional art form in India, it isn’t too long when it will. We have many artists who use video as a medium to express their creativity. Their works are comprehensive and they move very easily, either from sculpture or painting to motion art,? says Sinha.
A mixture of interesting and innovative video art from the two Asian countries rolls off the catalogue of Video Wednesday II. Kochi-based artist Rajan Krishnan?s The Teacher of Incongruous Lessons questions the irrelevance of teaching in his eight-minute single channel video. It examines the predicaments of teaching and education in a contemporary society, which goes through great shifts of character and temperament. ?I am not critiquing the education system, but I am trying to reflect a social system, which is clasped by dark hands and chases the shadows,? says Rajan Krishnan. Krishnan, who draws inspiration from his immediate surrounding, says the video also mirrors the state of government schools in Kerala. ?When we were growing up, we all studied in public schools. Now, there are no students in these schools. This is not just pertinent to Kerala, but all over the country,? he adds.
Sweetheart by Neha Choksi, who trots between Mumbai and Los Angeles, is a juxtaposition of the old and the new, the dead and alive. The image of a fresh sprig sprouting from the hollow of a missing limb on an ancient oak tree may remind one of the inevitability of death or of the numerous possibilities of what a beautiful life may offer. Shot at the Inglewood cemetery in Los Angeles, Sweetheart represents ?the cycle of life in its own way?. ?Themes like absence, abandonment and loss have always attracted me, maybe it is because I am not attached to the material world,? says Neha Choksi.
Abhishek Hazra?s Radio Jena was first exhibited at On Certainty, a group show at Bose Pacia, New York. This 12.58-minute single channel video traces the evolution of yogic postures through fauna of the natural world like fish, salamander, pig, calf, etc.
I Will Die by Chinese artist Yang Zhenzhong is a disturbing yet poignant video, showing the inevitability of death. For 30 minutes, people face the camera and say ?I Will Die? in Chinese, French, Dutch, Korean, German, Japanese, English, Spanish, Mexican, Arabic and Italian. It was shown at the Venice Bienniale held in 2007, and created a stir.
The second edition of Video Wednesdays will feature around 50 to 55 artists, exploring varied themes and issues. The culmination of the project will be a grand finale, which will be held around September where some of the biggest names will feature their best works.