I
THE PAINTING IS DEAD.
LONG LIVE THE PAINTING.
Something to say. Something to display. Something to share. Art isn’t a form of expression - it’s a form of discussion. It isn’t in the brushstrokes, the waveforms, the materials, the electronics - or even in the mind - but in the spaces between. Where a viewer stands in front of something, contemplates it, turns around to his companion and says, “I’m not sure I get it.” And this is where the space comes in.
There would be no art - without display. Not display in it’s simplest visual sense but the idea of ‘display’ - of exhibition, of showcasing, of sharing. And of galleries. Magical spaces that collect, horde and showcase art - and find new ideas and new aesthetics and share them with the world. And in our quest to find the perfect gallery space... an inherently wrong statement, because there is no such thing, we come across the first stumble. What is the relevance of display, in today’s fast-growingbut-growing-smaller world? And what is the relevance of display in a fast-growing-butgrowing-larger design school? And what is the relevance of display in a fast-growingbut-growing-global city.
DISPLA EXPERI INTERA &VIEW
AY FOR ENCE ACTION ING
The Gallery as an entity
the gallery as an evolving organism whose function, role and character are defined
Site as the gallery display and exhibit at the site, placing the work in context
gallery gallery gallery gallery gallery gallery gallery gallery
Sacrosanct space white cube ideology where the art is placed in a position of high value and regard Gallery for high art / low art as a culture validator in the social space that it is created to be placed in Transient galleries spaces of exhibit that spring up in temporary spaces that are defining of contemporary culture
·
·
Other interactive gallery virtual gallery global gallery public/private gallery street as the gallery
··
·
"Theatrical, generalizing, antiseptic environments that make art look like it's in an isolation cell or an operating room." - BrIan O'Doherty
The word gallery today has many meanings, while the common feature is a space where art is displayed. The concept of something like the "white cube" comes often first to people's mind when talking about an art gallery even if this model has quite a short history. The white cube was, in the modern era, and remains, in these contemporary times, the conventional means of displaying art. The 'ideal' gallery subtracts from the artworks all cues that interfere with the fact that it is art. Objects introduced into this space become art. Brian O'Doherty uses the analogy of the tomb and the treasury to illuminate how the white cube was constructed in order to give the artworks a timeless quality (and
BLEACH
thus, lasting value) in both an economic and a political sense. It was a space for the immortality of a certain class or caste's cultural values, as well as a staging ground for objects of sound economic investment for possible buyers. Jerry Saltz, an eminent art critic, writes: "the white cube today is a parody of itself. Since these spaces first appeared in the 1970s, a monstrous reversal has taken place. Where once the ethos of the architecture arose from and worked within the art, on view, today art is being determined by the viewing spaces, which have mutated to a point where they are the main content of any show. The giant white cube is now impeding rather than enhancing the rhythms of art. It preprogrammes a viewer's journey,
shifts the emphasis from process to product, and lacks individuality and openness. It's not that art should be seen only in rutty bombed-out environments, but it should seem alive." If we talk about the gallery being a critical institution, and the accepted premise is "work exhibited at the gallery becomes artwork" - is the gallery then a neutral space for displaying art, or is it functioning as one key in a model where the "framing of art" is made and objects are produced for the purpose of being legitimate works of art?
INTENTIO INTERPRE RECEPTIO
ON ETATION ON
Form?
“CONTRO ” happen not because people are people are against the form.
Our times are well-known for their visual
assault of images in everyday life - homes, walls, roads, billboards, television, behind the garbage truck and under the kitchen
sink. Display is not one of those there-isn’tenough-of-this-in-the-world ideas. What it is, though, is inescapable.
OVERSIES against the idea itself, but because
Galleries are formal spaces that house discussions of display - or, sometimes, displays of discussion. But before one gets to the formal, one must sieve through the non-formal, because it is in the convoluted by-alleys of the non-formal that the real debates can be found.
Non-display, for example - a social idea that has seen a lot of mimicry - and backlashes in the art world, is essentially a theme that selective display has picked up from. In the constant play of the old and the new, new forms of display are created, judged - and recycled.
NON
PARADIGM
S H I
F T S
ON HINDSIGHT
How do you create displays that tussle with old ideas and new forms - or vice versa? As in these submissions for a class assignment, different routes are employed to raise different questions of ethics, boundaries and aesthetics.
(previous page) Buddha listens to music - Rajasee Ray (left) akbar and birbal - Avni Sethi.
Found photographs from Bikaner by Kapil Das
These photographs were found by photographer Kapil Das on the walls of a small hotel in Bikaner, Rajasthan. The artist calls this previously unnamed body of work 'Charlie Bikaner', for that is all the information he has on the original artist.
(left) Charlie Bikaner exhibit, Avani Tanya
(right) Virtue, Madhurya Balan
Looking at the changes in the creation and perception of ‘The Good Girl’ and the notorious ‘Bad Girl’ figures in Indian cinema over the decades. They are tailored and depicted in such extremes, while dictating the level of social acceptance and blasphemy.
Lota Placement and context gives the viewer a direction with which to approach the subject on display, as seen in this particular class assignment. How does the lota - "a simple vessel of everyday use" remain when it is placed in entirely different contexts. The object itself, in most of these images is transformed in terms of function, aesthetic and value. It's not that the context is more powerful than the essence of the lota - but the fact that the lota itself is so versatile.
By virtue of the inherent function of the lota: to carry water - it becomes an object of purification; even though it does bear the same stamp of dirtiness as its surroundings, it becomes the part of the picture that might redeem the rest.
(previous page) Lota in the loo, Rajasee Ray (right) Lota fountain, Alagu Chockalingam
(previous pages) Lota item number, Madhurya Balan and Lota lottery, Alagu Chockalingam(right) Desert woman's lota, Rajasee Ray
You
are
the
au-
the
view-
dience You
are
er You
have
and You
choices. cater
as
you
your
tastes to
them
construct
own
You are the audience You are the viewer You have tastes and choices. You cater to them as you construct your own displays for yourself, for your satisfaction, pleasure and subtle, subconscious craving.
II
“
(In India) It is more dialogue-ic. It is a community seeing things.
�
Vidya Shivadas, Curator at the Vadhera Art Gallery
GALLERY WALKS
It is always a humbling experience to be surrounded by examples. Most galleries specialize in this experiential design - and art summits exploit a ‘meta’ form of this idea. Art, as with most other things, is backed by a market. And a market is backed by the community. Galleries across the country, and of course, around the world - are constantly pushing themselves to be in the right place at the right time. Commercially, they form the backbone of the industry - and socially, they are responsible for a lot more than just the industry. Galleries focus the spotlight on the work - and the work focuses the spotlight on the philosophy of an entire world. Consequently, this creates the need for a set of different kinds of galleries, focusing
on different things. ‘Contemporary’ is the byword of the market - but the number of years it has been the byword for, is neither contemporary nor realistic. The word might just find itself on shaky grounds. But commercial art galleries in India are differently equipped for the future of the art world, depending on their individual philosophies - and also depending on where they are based. There are galleries and then there are galleries. And then there is the art fair.
Art has become an alternative product to invest in.
The renamed Art Summit, in its fourth year, hosted over 100 galleries and attracted hoards of visitors from all over the country. Patrons, collectors, connoisseurs, critics, curious folk and some general mass walked into the massive tent built in the industrial area of Okhla in Delhi, and wandered around to view an enormous collection of contemporary art from across the world. With over 85,000 visitors over 4 days - it was a fair abuzz with networking and connections and, most importantly, a 30 to 40% increase in art collectors - a record number in the country.
International names included Lisson Gallery (London), White-Cube (London), Arndt (Berlin), Imaginart Gallery (Barcelona), Baudoin Lebon (Paris) and others from Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Singapore, Portugal, South Africa and Australia. Top galleries from India that were represented included Nature Mort, Vadhera Art Gallery, Sakshi Art Gallery, Gallery Ske, Gallery Sumukha, Tasveer, Latitude 28. The Art Fair also had collateral events that attracted audience. Among them there were shows and exhibitions at partnering galleries, talks at the venue and even those co-ordinated in the cities of Mumbai and Bangalore.
We have now reached a point where we see not the art but the space first.
Brian O'Doherty, 1976
Functional/Cultural
Symbolic
when the individual experiences
when one relates to
a tension provoked by the
the meaning that the
awareness of a need
product acquires at the psychological or social level
Social
Emotional
whereby the product
an experience
conveys a message about
that is compelling,
one and one’s social status
stimulating and/or fun.
The selling measure or saleability of the piece is always a point of scrutiny.
JAAGA (KH Road, Bangalore)
As in most cities, Bangalore Art Galleries are scattered in small pockets, in different areas. One of these is the Cunningham-M.G-Lavelle Road neighbourhood, very much in the heart of the city. Crimson Art Resource, Renaissance Gallery, Gallery Blue Spade, Time and Space, Gallery G and Tasveer are all located nearby - so that a buyer or an enthusiast - can “do the gallery circuit,” in the words of the receptionist at Blue Spade. Most of these galleries depend heavily on the walk-in crowd as their clientele. This makes it doubly important that they are well located. However, due to the current slump in the art market in Bangalore, the business isn’t booming, contrary to the scene in Delhi. Gallery Time CARRYING ON
WITH THE
GALLERY WALKS
and Space, for examples, sells 30-35 pieces of work
stock is selected differently, with each gallery’s ideologies in mind - the spaces themselves range from a naturally lit hallway in a colonial bungalow(Crimson), shaded by a tiled roof to an artificially every month, and the gallery stocks a
lit small basement room with a central
variety of price-ranges.
pillar(Blue Spade).
Blue Spade has approximately one buyer every month for their “high-end” collection.
Consequently, the experience of the
Renaissance, a page 3 gallery, has
display in each of these galleries is quite
had to resort to rent out their exhibition
unique - although they belong to the
space where they would once only work
same “art walk.” This makes this particular
with consignments. According to their
gallery circuit very different from, say -
receptionist, the market now is “really dull
Lado Sarai in Delhi, a street with lines
and down.”
of different art galleries, all with similar interiors and stock.
Each of these galleries, owned by different people, are completely different spaces. Apart from the fact that the artwork they
Visit galleries with clothes that have pockets (or with a notebook at hand).
GALLERY TIME AND SPACE (Located on Lavelle Road, Bangalore)
Including notable galleries like Jaaga, SKE, 1 Shanthi Road and Bar1(which make up a gallery walk of their own - albeit a rather noncommercial form of the walk), there are various galleries, or rather, spaces in Bangalore that strive to showcase art that raises questions, sometimes fundamentally about the usual norms of display and sharing, and sometimes conversationally about everything else. The institutions in Bangalore with academic approaches - like Chitrakala Parishad, the Goethe Institute or Alliance Franรงais - have their own exhibition spaces, which draw audiences from across the city. These institutes often showcase large projects especially international collaborations, like Urban Avant-Garde, a project that brought together artists from India and Germany. GALLERY SKE (in Shanti Nagar, Bangalore)
Devi Art Foundation (Gurgaon, Delhi)
small talk = big news when you’re on the art scene
The Urban Avant-Garde project took place within the framework of Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities in cooperation with Malleswaram Accessibility Project (www.yourmap.in), Directorate of Urban Land Transport – Govt. of Karnataka, Jaaga and Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore. From 11th to 26th February, the streets of Malleshwaram - and some other venues in Bangalore - hosted Urban Avant-Garde, a project that locates art practice in public spaces.
The work displayed at the Goethe institute was a commentary on the subversive culture of street art and graffiti. Looking back at the history and context of graffiti, the artists’ works at the exhibition was beyond vandalism. Bringing something as volatile and spontaneous as street art into the white cube can be tricky. Curators, Lene Ter Haar and Robert Kaltenhäuser, have been involved with contemporary urban art in Germany and curated the show and hosted a number of auxillary events as part of the project.
Walking down the mains and crosses of Malleshwaram - one can chance upon an abstract spiral across the boundary wall of the playground, a two-storeyed portrait on the side of a rundown house or graffiti signatures on brick and cement surfaces here and there. These - and a series of performances, workshops and lectures - together form an artistic dialogue that is very much urban, local and contemporary. Where do these art practices fit into the street culture of India - already packed with colour, form and crowds, with languages and subcultures of its own?
GERMANY DTagno - Artist ECB Hendrik Beikirch – Artist Gabor Doleviczeny - Muralist Peter Strohmann - Advanced Vandal Nora Ronge - Dancer Rasmus Nordholt - Musician Samir Akika/Unusual Symptoms Dancer/Choreographer Van Laak - Graffiti Artist
INDIA Dhanya Pilo – VJ & Visual Artist George Mathan - Drummer & Graphic Novelist Jas Charanjiva - Visual Artist Ria Rajan - Designer Shilo Shiv Suleman – Illustrator Archana Prasad - Community Artist
“It’s still about the laughter, the soul you put into it.”
‘Who is it?’, a passerby asks Hendrik Beikirch, a German painter known for his large monochromatic portarits, as he’s standing in front of the two-storeyed face he’s painting on a wall off Sampige Road, a rundown wall with “a lot of history.” ‘No one in particular,’ he says - he must ‘fit the face to the given space.’
have to use a “ You different language. You have only a few seconds to convey your art.
�
I don’t really care about getting my work out there, it doesn’t matter what it looks like in the end. The most special thing is when people come and join us from the streets. shilo shiv suleman
" In the beginning -
you're in the game. Have to do more, do better do bigger do faster than the others. Now I don't care about the others anymore. It's my own game. " peter strohmann
George Mathen, ‘artist by day and drummer by night,’ feels that graffiti has directly entered the commercial world in India - as a “young, adventurous, edgy” look - without first passing through any illicit expressive phase on the Indian streets.
Indian street art is already very much present in the aournd us. We are constantly bombarded by colour, accidental display, commercial and hand-painted signage and the visual polllution of advertisement. Although, a movement of artists who take ownership of public space and authorship of what is being said to the public is yet to happen on a large scale.
A heretic in art is almost anoxymoron, as it is a prerogative to rebel and question.
III
"every gal
chara
just like a
lery has a
ctâ„ŽR
rtists do"
Usha Gowde, Manager, Saakshi art gallery
Enter the protagonist. Young, distanced - and yet, very much implanted - in the context and the premise of the background. Or if it isn't yet - it must grow to be. Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology - in Yelahanka Satellite Town, quite a distance away from the city centre - but an art and design school in Bangalore, nevertheless. If the school were to incorporate, within its administrative folds, a gallery - it would essentially have to pick up from what it taught - and give back more of it. A new gallery, with a new vision, placed in Bangalore, with its existing art culture - and art walks, placed in Srishti, with its existing non-rules and semiotics of display.
What do we want our gallery to do? What do we want our gallery to say? What do we want our gallery to be?
white-cube-intimid atio
codes of conduct in a gallery space mostly derived from the west putting people, with little or no idea of the context, behaviourally out of place.
Bleach out the past, control the future.
the gallery
the artist
the audience
THE SPACE
artists have to survive.
the artist
Artists engage with the market through curators, galleries and buyers. There needs to be an aspect of saleability in the artist’s work for the gallery to be interested in displaying it.
the gallery Building an identity & defining the character of the space is most important. Auxiliary limbs and extensions of the gallery allow for engagement and conversation with the audience.
The gallery must decide where it stands.
decide where you stand.
the audience
The audience is the ultimate validator. A collective word that includes viewers, students, critics and collectors - both gallery and art are ultimately recognized and evaluated by the audience. They sustain the gallery - and the art - directly or indirectly, depending on individual roles.
THE ART culture
EHT TRA context
it is important to promote literacy in visual language & culture through spaces of exhibit and dialogue
AFFORD ACCESS
ANCE + IBILITY
VALUE?
The commercial value of the gallery is measured by the saleability of the artwork. The overall value of the gallery, quite like that of any art, lies in how much discussion it generates - and how many people it reaches. At any point a gallery should be able to evaluate itself.
INSTITU PRETEN KNOW WHYTH SHOWA
TES DTO *
every institution has its own mechanism of intrusion/exclusion.
EY ART.
relationships pulse
THE INDUSTRY
THEY MEAN BUSINESS
“everything about art is very practical” – Vidya Shivadas, Vadehra Art Gallery
Commercially, gallery practice is an art of precision. It involves not only the evaluation and selection of art that will then go into the market - but also, handling everything for the artwork and the artist after that publicity, exhibition, transportation and sale. A gallery must be scrupulous, because it is, after all, a business.
small talk = big news when you’re on the art scene
An ideal gallery should have an identity of its own be a space with a voice.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR GALLERY
One could describe a gallery - its traits, its characteristic, its habits, its personality - just like one describes a character. And, drawing from various insights reached from various field trips, interviews and theoretical pursuit, as well as an understanding of Srishti as a community, this seemed to be a good place to start, as a group exercise.
Who is the Srishti Gallery? And how would one define it?
What other small decisions and characteristics can come together to describe the whole?
LOGO AND VISUAL LANGUAGE
Once a conceptual identity is established, it must be translated into a visual form for the gallery to sign off with and be remembered by. The final logo and visual language must embody the identity, have good recall value and leave room for variation.
-----
Zapfino
GALLERY
regular
Srishti Gallery since 2012 ----GILL SANS light Srishti Galler y since 2012 ----Bauer Bodoni std 1 Regular Srishti Gallery since 2012 -----
G A L L E RY
A signage system for the gallery was worked on using visual elements and cues from the logo.
Gill Sans MT BOLD Gill Sans MT BOLD Gill Sans MT BOLD Gill Sans MT BOLD Gill Sans MT BOLD Gill Sans MT BOLD
VIEW.
SHARE.
LISTEN
IIII
“When you're running a gallery you're doing everything for the artist brochures, exhibition, publicity.� -Salloo Daruwalla, Crimson Art Resource
And then a machine must be
built - with all the cogs in
place, the joints well-oiled, the teeth well-filed, the
pulleys connected by strong threads - all placed into a
working box with a painted lid that says, “Srishti Gallery.� There is no one mechanism that is perfect for every
gallery. Learning by example, models must be identified in
the context they are placed in - and redefined to suit a new context, one that is created when the umbrella vision has been penned down.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT THE INSTITUTION WHICH YOU WORK WITHIN AND DECLARE WHERE YOU STAND, AS A GALLERY.
The vision must tie up with the context - and the context must tie up with the institution. The gallery, therefore, must
start where Srishti left off, and proceed from there -
with appropriate caution,and inappropriate daring.
VIDYA SHIVADAS, VADEHRA ART GALLERY
GUIDELINES & GOLDEN RULES FOR YOUR GALLERY
1
DECLARATION
A
permanent
gallery
will
be
established at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology serving
as an exhibition space for ongoing projects, faculty work and visiting artists. Srishti
platform
provides for
the
requisite
innovation,
making
it the melting pot of contemporary
art and design of the country.
DEFINING YOUR MISSION, PHILOSOPHY, CHARACTER
Through the display of cutting-
edge work, the gallery will elevate the country’s identity in the field of international art and design.
From the proposal of Srishti Gallery, crafted as a group exercise in a worskhop.
Words
like
‘cutting
edge’
and
‘contemporary’ are littered across gallery whether
statements
commercial,
everywhere
-
alternative
or academic. If the gallery should exist to create an encouraging and inspiring
platform
for
Srishti
as an academic institution - and that is its unique selling point -
then the idea must be foremost in
the definition of the philosophy, mission
gallery.
or
character
of
the
A
permanent
gallery
to
be
established at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology serving as a platform to showcase and archive
work
from
the
Srishti
community artists and designers.
DISTILL THE ESSENCE FOR THE PROPOSAL
From the final proposal presented opening of the Srishti Gallery
at
the
WHY WHAT WHO
IMMERSE ENCOURAGE SHOWCASE ARCHIVE
WHY WHAT WHO
CURATING INNOVATIVE, INSPIRING WORK
WHY WHAT WHO
SRISHTI COMMUNITY AND VISITING ARTISTS
THE GALLERY IS
BOLD SHARED REFLECTIVE
2
WORKING
Example. Example. Example. Since models
cannot
be
cut-pasted
into established systems, it is
important to play out roles and cook a little experimentally. The
working model of the gallery has
to be rigid enough to sustain an identity and a vision - and yet
flexible enough to change with the times.
FIGURING OUT STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS
From
a
different the
role
board
kinds
of
groups,
by
members
galleries
commercial, run
play
collectives
exercise
playing
of -
or
events
out
different academic,
alternative
universities,
in
spaces artist
like
the
India Art Fair - it is easier to
put things into perspective. Who,
sitting where, would use words like “visual literacy” or “assistance”
in their statements? And what are the
dangers
of
introducing
words “student-run?”
the
We see this gallery as a space that is primarily student-run, drawing from the creative minds that are a part of our community.
Catalytic with the energy of young minds,
it
will
burst
with
new
ideas as well as allow for learning through prerogative mistakes.
CREATION REQUIRES VISION
From the final proposal presented opening of the Srishti Gallery
at
the
The student body model is centered around a Gallery Cell that handles all administrative and management roles to do with the gallery. The
student
body
will
decide
and propose the calendar for the
gallery through the year. The body will curate a minimum of four shows every with
year,
each
publish
show
and
newsletters publish
a
book at the end of the year. The artists/designers/students
who
wish to curate and exhibit their work must submit proposals to the Student Body for approval.
AND HOW
A panel, consisting of the
Director, the Deans of Foundation and Specializations, elects the Gallery Cell each year.
The members of the Gallery Cell include:
1 Head Coordinator
Executive Team of 4 Students
(one from each of the 2nd + 3rd + 4th + ADP)
1 Faculty Representative 2 Foundation Interns
Between their skill sets,
experience and capabilities,
AND HOW
they will deal with curation,
documentation, sales, networking and publicity.
Options for Financial Support Models -
1) Registration and Rent 2) Sales
3) Grant options 4) Fund raising
These are just a few of the
possible models for the Gallery. There is huge potential for
defining an innovative strategy to create the model for the gallery.
AND HOW
3
APPEALING
Setting up a gallery is one of those initiatives
that
requires
team
effort - not, in terms of who’s
starting it, although that may be such - but in terms of how many arms it requires to actually set it in motion. and
Identifying
potential
stakeholders
partnerships
is
therefore extremely important, in
the initial stages of the planning. Because a gallery is functioning
START DIALOGUES WITH YOUR STAKEHOLDERS
within a larger context - either in terms of the art community, the
art market or the academic stage - it is important to start the
story with various authors who may not be directly involved with the scripting.
The process of curation begins
with interested artists submiting their proposals.
The Gallery Cell then chooses and selects those that can be allotted into the calendar.
It must be emphasised at this point that the work in the gallery will not be placed
and displayed, instead will be expected to be curated to be exhibited.
CURATION
The Cell will digitize the
information on the Artist profile and statement , Photo/Video
documentation and press after each show.
This will create an incredible
database of artists and work that is produced by or for the Srishti community.
The Cell is also expected to
publish an Annual book at the
end of the year. This tangible documentation is a valuable
artifact that will be produced for the gallery.
ARCHIVING
The Cell will produce (or
outsource to students) material to be published. This material
will be disseminated in the form of different media - newletters, online, viral.
This act will be inclusive of the Art and Design Community,
locally and on an international scale, as well as (specifically and consciously) the yelahanka Community.
PUBLICITY
Including the possibility of the sale of work that is produced in the gallery serves as an option
for supporting the financial model of the gallery.
Networking and publicity assists the Gallery in finding potential
buyers and clients. The artists/ designer prices their work and
40% goes back into the gallery. The Gallery Cell takes
responsibility for the packaging and billing of the work.
SALES
4
CONCERNS
How are you going to be sustainable? Where is your money going to come from?
How are you going to reach your audience?
Each year, the Gallery Cell will
be faced with the questions of what financial support model they are going to employ.
ASKING AND ANSWERING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
A gallery is known by the artworks
it keeps. And a sustainable process of
curation,
has
upheld
the
right
allowing
amount the
of
for
just
flexibility
character
of
various galleries, known for their specialities. Building
the
reputation
of
the
gallery has several benefits that
will be recognised and patronised by the art and design community.
REPUTATION
5
LOYALTY
Networking
is
the
future.
It’s
been
now.
gallery
word the
of
word
the of
the present for quite some time A
independently, material,
cannot
cut
physical,
function
off
from
monetary
or
geographic ties. It is important
to know people - other galleries, critics, artists, collectors, the media,
institutions,
big
names
and, in fact, any kind of name.
A gallery functioning under the umbrella
of
an
institution
has
first-hand access to an existing
system of contacts that can help
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
establish
it
within
the
same
network, and then mutually grow.
Everyone knows someone.
And someone knows everyone. Use it.
ADVANTAGES
I
IIII
It used to be the computer laboratory. Now it's a large-ish basement space, with many walls and crannies, potential for some good lighting - and an old piano, waiting away at a corner. So we said, let's make a gallery of it.
OP EN
2nd April, 2012, we opened the Srishti Gallery with an exhibition that showcased the proposal itself. The gallery spruced itself up - to a nobudget extent - and proudly displayed itself. The exhibits included branding and identity options, physical interior options, a proposal of a working model, a stockroom of research - and various exhibits that called for the audience to leave behind their opinions and comments, approval and disapproval.
Stockroom of research - an exhibit at the show.
Branding and identity exhibit
Branding and identity exhibit.
physical space exhibit
physical space exhibit
actual renders.
actual renders.
actual renders.
actual renders.
actual renders.
PLANS FOR THE PHYSICAL SPACE
plan 1 low cost
Three plans, three materials and three material and maintainence cost compilations were presented.
FLOORING CEILING
- concrete polishing - repainting ceiling with dark grey
ELECTRICALS - using panel for re-wiring LIGHTING - tube lights, track lights PARTITIONS
- movable MDF panels with wheels
SOUND & - speakers & sound system DISPLAY
plan 2
medium cost
FLOORING CEILING
- epoxy flooring - repainting ceiling with dark grey
ELECTRICALS - using panel for re-wiring LIGHTING - tube lights, track lights PARTITIONS
- movable MDF panels with wheels
SOUND & - speakers & sound system DISPLAY
plan 3
high cost
FLOORING CEILING
- epoxy flooring - repainting ceiling with dark grey
ELECTRICALS - using panel for re-wiring LIGHTING - tube lights, track lights PARTITIONS
- movable MDF panels with wheels
SOUND & - speakers & sound system DISPLAY
Interactive timeline
Interactive timeline
The evening culminated in a drawn-out discussion about the possibilities that the gallery entailed. As a design school a little away from the city centre, Srishti needs a gallery space for more reasons than just coursework display. Having a working model that incorporates a running gallery within the academic structure invites a multitude of possibilities and potential - and these, along with various suggestions -Â were discussed and debated.
a p r 1 2 “Can this space help us create a dialogue with the other institutions?� comments and suggestions from the timeline at the gallery opening in april.
SRISHTI GALLERY
detail from the back of the reflective
newsletter that covered the event
“We have now reached a point where we see not the art but the space first.” Brian O’Doherty - 1976
BO LD “Thanks for making me IMAGINE the gallery” comment left by a visitor at the gallery opening in april.
sh
hared
“Young galleries create young buyers.� Vidya Shivadas, Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi
The exhibition, or rather, the opening - will hopefully serve as a palette, from which the college community can draw inspiration or just the idea - that this is a space that can be used - and will be used for display, exhibitions, workshops and gatherings. That this is YOUR gallery.Â
THIS
IS
YOU GAL
UR LERY