A Dialogue between Easel and Chisel

It is fairly common in a classical Hindustani music recital to have a jugal-bandi, where two or more musicians (either from the same or different gharana or disciplines, or playing two different instruments, or a vocalist with an instrumentalist) get together to explore various interpretations of a particular theme, or pit each one’s musical and technical skills against the other, thus creating an exciting moment in the recital, building up a palpable crescendo, for both the musicians and the audience to enjoy and applaud. Variations of the jugal-bandi can be seen in areas where the classical meets the contemporary in other creative forms as well such as dance and music, music and painting, performance and percussion. Such experiments often extend the horizons of creative disciplines, resulting in unexpected, surprising and usually delightful outcomes.

Experimentation in visual art space, between two visual disciplines, however, is quite rare. So it was a treat when Ahmedabad-based art lover and collector, curator and organiser, Neena Parikh recently organised a Workshop in Ahmedabad that explored a jugal-bandi between painting and sculpture. Appropriately titled, “A Dialogue between the Easel and the Chisel”, the Workshop was held over about ten days at the iconic Louis Kahn-designed architectural environment of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, bringing together painters Indrapramit Roy, Amit Ambalal, Tanmay Samanta, Lalitha Lajmi, Anandajit Ray, AmolPalekar and sculptors Karl Antao, PankajPanwar, Vyom, Sojwal Samant to get together and conceptualize a thought and create work of art jointly! Neena describes this process as “a new creatively exciting experimentation, a dialogue of interdisciplinary thoughts, where mediums could be anywhere from colour to sound and light. It is an interaction of thoughts which can run wild, of abstract ideas which can take wing, as we walk together in this exciting visual experience. I have always been intrigued and amazed with the journey of innovative ideas and creative thoughts. It is this exploratory process that fascinates me and I look forward to this exciting confluence of creative minds.”

Two artists worked together in a team to create one or two artworks that captured the essence of each one’s artistic style and idiom, and yet tied the content to a commonly agreed upon premise. The teams were Indrapramit Roy and Karl Antao, Lalitha Lajmi and Pankaj Panwar, Tanmay Samanta and Sojwal Samant, Amit Ambalal and Amol Palekar, Anandajit Ray and Vyom. A group of enthusiastic students from local art and architecture schools ‘assisted’ each team with their requirements, but in the process also imbibed significant lessons from the artists. A show of the finished artworks, open to the public, was held on August 20 in the hallowed environs of the IIM, Ahmedabad.

The experiment, unusual as it was, threw up several possibilities. In the first place, there was this palpable energy that one could actually feel at the venue of the Workshop, as ideas bounced about, took shape, were re-thought, scrapped or improved upon, and finally, as D-day neared, given the last touches with a flamboyant flourish! In the words of Seema Khanvalkar, who documented the process, of this unusual jugal-bandi, two artists creating a single or complementary work of art, “Working in a group of two, they have come together to dialogue with each other and respond through their art, the form, and the material. As their endeavour takes shape, their personas, their beliefs, and their own artistic prowess and has been put to test in many ways. The artists have had to create and recreate in several stages. The initial dialogue that took place beyond the IIM Campus, telephonically, in person or in the electronic space, through drawings, sketches, discussions, sharing of thoughts, were soon to be transformed by the space that they were to occupy for a whole week. There was a gestation period, a period of just imbibing and letting go of the minds, of feeling the physical structure of the IIM campuses, the experience of the old and the new, and then embarking on their week long endeavour to respond through their artistic imaginations. The initial excitement with their thoughts and ideas, turned into inspirations, either by the architecture of the campus, a new material, a new discovery during the process, or just a momentary flash as they moved between each other’s spaces, got a glimpse of each other’s progress, and material, or conversations with the young students. The onlookers, the curious observers and those who walked through these spaces, were forced to stop in their tracks to take in the assertive presence of art and the artists. Some of the artists were gentle, some were energetic, some were hard at work, some were conversational and dialogic, some were silent and reflective, but what struck the onlookers was their commitment to dialogue – with each other and to the surrounding space. For the first time, it seemed possible to break through a physical structure and make it come alive, to touch it, to feel it and to infuse it with stories and imaginations, allow it to speak to you differently. The boundaries and barriers were broken as people from all walks of life – the otherwise stern security personnel, the administrative staff driven by routine duties, the sweepers, the faculty that normally traverse through the structures in a hurried pace to meet their deadlines, the students who at first couldn’t fathom the fuss, the din and the noise of the artists, everyone was compelled to shoot a glance, ask a question, fulfil their long-standing artistic desires, and just want to respond in every which way. The two campuses had been stirred, with many a meeting and dispersal– of the minds, of the artists, (young and old, new age and traditional, silent and robust, assertive and quiet) of the people and of art itself.”

“Ponder Pod” was Indrapramit Roy and Karl Antao’s joint work. An example of a partnership that flowered in every which way, they explored the language of silence, or rather the language of self reflection in their work. Suspended like a cane lounge chair, but designed in a way that the sitter would be completely enveloped, as if in a womb or a shell, this interactive work wove its way in a conical triangle upwards, as if towards heaven itself! It was obvious from how well-conceptualized that work was that a lot of dialogue, a true jugalbandi, had gone into its creation. The challenge, to create a feeling of relaxation and of a meditative rather than a claustrophobic space, was met well, strengthened by the delicate Lakhota paper trails that Indrapramit covered the inner surface of the work with. Embellished by decorated eyelets made with a special blue colored ink, it reinforced the idea of ‘looking inwards’ for the sitter.

It was the sheer youthful energy of Vyom and Anandajit Ray that marked their collaborative experimental works. Using PU (polyurethane) Foam as the material to work with, they let the foam actually live up to its name, as it bubbled up to take forms, sometimes driven by its own inherent nature and at other times by the artists who moulded, cast and scraped it into a weightless pillar with a surface as of exposed concrete or a giant cupcake-like form blossoming out of a bucket, or coloured abstract pieces posing stylishly on formal pedestals. Vyom’s site specific interest conceptualised the pillar in direct contrast to the exposed brick monumental arches, circles, squares of the IIM built spaces, as he turned the idea of a ground-steady architectural element such as a pillar, on its head when it was hung from a horizontal beam, its bottom clearing the ground by a clear foot or so. At one point, the PU Foam began to swirl and curl all over the place in a giant pendant-like form. The artists let it be and then painted it over in black, as in a rocky, uneven landscape; they then hung it on the red brick wall, creating a stark contrast.

Tanmay Samanta and Sojwal Samant borrowed a handful of popcorn-like PU Foam forms to use in their work “The Rabbit Hole”. This was an enigmatic three-dimensional piece – a metal, completely stripped, skull-like skeleton of the Nano car, it had arrow-like structures emerging from spaces where life-saving airbags should have been. The original plan of ‘beating’ up the car to fold it, was abandoned when the artists found that for a toy-like car, its metal body was much tougher than they expected. So they settled for denting it instead until it lost all resemblance to a vehicle that moved. Tanmoy painted the front and inside of the what-was-car with black and silver paint, giving it an increasing surreal look.

Sculptor PankajPanwar and painter Lalitha Lajmi created a jugal-bandi that came together on certain notes but preferred to maintain their own separate identity. The work they created – “Celebrating Death” – was together, yet separate. Panwar’s sculpture evolved and was built up like life itself, in five stages, growing smaller and thinner as it grows until finally it disappears into air like the soul that takes wing. He also created clay wheels that served as frames for LalithaLajmi’s paintings. At 80+ LalithaLajmi is not unfamiliar with the idea of death; often she has seen it far too closely than she would have been comfortable with. But she also sees the joyful element in the relationship between life and death and her paintings celebrate this lyrical relationship through those between humans, especially the strong one between mother and child.

Amit Ambalal and AmolPalekar are both painters but one works with the narrative, the other with the abstract. AmolPalekar is multi-talented – a trained painter from the J J School of Art, Mumbai, he was a fairly popular film actor in Bollywood, and continues to do serious theatre and directorial projects as well. He has returned to painting after a while but does not look like he has lost his touch. “This kind of jugalbandi is like a three-legged race – rhythm, laya have to match the pace, the heart-beats for a meaningful work to emerge,” he laughs. Both of them confessed their initial apprehension, but when they decided that the end result is not as important as the value of the journey together – understanding each other, explaining, finding new things – then they could comfortably take the project forward. Amit Ambalal created a three-sided sculptural painted work, his interpretation of the Narada and the monkey story; it was playful in its conception since it was built in three parts and each one could be easily rotated to create several combinations of the imagery painted on the papiermache panels, thus enabling several narratives. Amol created a two-sided abstract work using colours complementing those in Amit Ambalal’s work. Fitted in a standalone info stand like a scroll, the canvas flowing out on one side, Amol also embellished it with bits of PU Foam from the Anandajit-Vyom ‘studio’! Amit put it succinctly when he remarked, “I followed the Bhakti Marg, Amol followed the GyanMarg”!

For whatever it is worth, one certainly applauds the courage and chutzpah of Neena Parikh to put together this art project and explore an idea at a practical level. She has done artists’ camps before as well but they have always had an edgy quality about them that does not only translate into commercial terms, as happens in most artists’ camps conducted by galleries and supposed art connoisseurs. This is what sets her apart from the ordinary and the humdrum. Cheers to that!

The artists participating were:

1. Amit Ambalal
2. Amol Palekar
3. Anandjit Ray
4. Indrapromit Roy
5. Karl Antao
6. Lalitha Lajmi
7. Pankaj Panwar
8. Sojwal Samant
9. Tanmoy Samanta
10. Vyom

All photographs courtesy Neena Parikh and photographer ShilpaGavane.