Radhika Mantri - Dust-oor by Art in Transit

TYNDALL KE

d u s t- o o r diploma documentation book bY rADHIKA mANTRI

TYNDALL KE

DUST-OOR 2.

FOREWORD Having being brought up in an inherently orthodox marwari culture and being schooled at an orthodox catholic school, one was never allowed to forget vicious cycle of karma. My father had practically achieved sainthood 1 made one part of enough charities and public events to make the with his habit of giving away and school message sink in. That, of working for the greater good and the community.

Not to say that one is any of these. But the Desire to serve the higher purpose runs deep in these genes. The reason one chose to be a part of the design field was to try and use whatever skills one had as an individual, and see how their output could be magnified to suit larger purposes. This path has led to one choosing multiple disciplines and thus being an interdisplinary student of Design. The personal preference for 3D work has also been a criteria, and one has enjoyed working with physical mediums, exploring form and materials and spaces. Most of my Projects have been chosen with this aim in mind. One has fallen and tripped many a time,(literally and figuratively) but only with the aim of learning moreand more in the field of design and educating oneself ,as thoroughly as possible ,in ones preferred areas of interest. This includes working with found objects and forms, and working with spatial design and elements-more specifically, lights. Art in Transit was a great proposition for someone like myself, who was still trying to find their way for diploma. When one was briefed about the project one realised the potential projects that could spawn out of the metro. The idea was interesting and the space was intriguing. And the scale was sufficiently challenging. And finally we were going to be working in a space where the art was being created for the public. This project is about a found Substance- Dust. Dust is an all encompassing entity in our lives, one which we choose to ignore at all cost and at best try to get rid of. My project aims at making dust a more friendly presence, one which if given the chance, can be magical.

‘To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour’. - ‘To see a World in a Grain of Sand, William Blake

LIST OF CONTENTS 1.

BEGINNINGS PROPOSAL 1 PROPOSAL 1.5 THE FIRST BOX FINAL PROPOSAL REFERENCES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BEGINNINGS 1.

CONTEXT

Peenya , the industrial hub of Bangalore, had received a new metro station. Our job, was to try and attract people to this station and make people use this metro line. The metro station was as of now not receiving the kind of popularity that it ought to as a mode of public transport. We had to try and make it a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Destination Stationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; , through our work.

Developing our Tools At the beginning, we were asked to show our work to our faculty, to try and understand our various skill sets and who we were as designers. One discovered that one was all over the place & the one that was common to all the projects, was that they were all working towards a larger purpose. One had indulged in all various fields of design to try and work towards this larger purpose.

Sketches of the Metro

THE

PURPLE LINE We plunged into developing our relationship with the metro. On the very first day, one was sent to sketch the metro. The sketches were supposed to be of the metro stations connecting M.G.Road to Baiyyapanahalli, each to be made from four vantage points, each point situated closer to the metro station than the previous, making visual notes about the area and its surroundings. Taking part in this exercise had helped one become more keenly aware of the surroundings and notice details about the structure and placement of the stations. The architecture

in particular is really intricate. The parallel beams and rods running through and across are particularly interesting to see and visually rich. Understanding the texture and the feel of the metro also helped in enriching my understanding of this mode of transportation. Because one was absorbing the metro and drinking in little details in and about the station, one developed a character of the metro in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head. The character of the metro started to emerge as a bold, new organ installed in the city, one that will help in clearing our traffic and might in the longer run,

help in reducing pollution. It looked promising , with its steel membranes running to and fro, impressive in its over arching form, with walls that looked solid and secure. Although it seems like it still taking time to blend into the city, what was helping in its acceptance was the art centre running below, bringing it to the attention of people in a very subtle way. Whether one was using the metro itself or merely attending shows that were being hosted below, one was being brought to the site and the site was thus getting its required limelight.

Yet the station itself remained sparse and was barely being utilized in its optimum capacity. It might seem a little intimidating to a passenger, possibly. Perhaps the safety of being in the rickety buses, on the road had its own sense of security, with its age old travel routes , and the paper ticket that one could be a little less careful with. The noise of the traffic and the din of the travelling fellow passengers, is most definitely missing in the metro line. Change takes time to rope in everything , and one hopes that the metro will manage to achieve this adaptation.

Sketches of the Metro

The M.G.Road Metro Station.

Metaphors Metaphors are a great way to enrich our own narrative of a particular event. Metaphors allow one to give the event its own unique character and giving it a place mat in our memories. Our understanding of the event remains forever intact in this methodology, and is almost a pneumonic device. Post the sketching assignment, we were asked to draw out metaphors that we thought could help explain our understanding of the metro station better. After a lot of deliberation, the birth of lord Krishna seemed like the most acute way of narrating the event. When one observes the pillars upon which stand the metro rail tracks, they look like pairs of hands upholding the metro , above the city. The distance created thus, adds an element of alienation between the metro and its passengers. This might seem like a personal bias, since I hail from the city of the underground metro, Kolkata, where the metro has never been in foresight and the crowd has never had to deal with the boldness or (in a sense) the nudity of the metro line. The metro runs in the underbelly of the city, where it is much beloved and a much used mode of transport. Thus, to me, the experience of the metro in its totality seemed a little bewildering at first. The distance and its newness felt like it was being upheld to keep it so. IT was built in the middle of the roads, and buildings, and the city almost seems to have had to pave a way for it. This was reminiscent of the birth of Lord Krishna, where the river had split itself to allow Vasudev to carry Krishna to safety. The metro also felt like a new born child, that the city is parting to accommodate. This was my first step into the process. I already noticed that I enjoyed narratives and attaching metaphors to events. I also liked to use form to lead the narrative.

The birth of the Metro.

PEENYA Peenya is the industrial base of Bangalore and is one of the larger industrial bases of Asia. It has know for the production of its machine parts for factories and its garment industries. There is a rough divide between the roads where on one side lie the industries and on the other lie the smaller scale industries, shops and houses. Peenya was reminiscent of the old Wild West, in the way it visually presented itself. There was one Mcdonaldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sign coming out of nowhere, a singular convention centre, small houses here and there, and a general feeling of desicancy in the area, with dust rolling about in the air, and a general feeling of being deserted and devoid of human presence. The truly interesting element of this area is the layout of the roads and the flyover. They are in a curiously levelled are at differentlevels, making an interesting criss-cross pattern.

The Picture below, is of the newly developed Peenya, with its residential colonies, a direct contrast to the landscape across the road.

THE

METRO LINE

The Metro station is large, airy space. The Metro Station at Peenya has elements that could be utilized to great extent. What I find most charming, is the vast amounts of Natural Light that comes pouring into the Metro station and how everything glimmers, bathed in this light. The halls are vast and feel even more so, due to the presence of natural light. Also the omniscient presence of dust which by itself glimmers and could be utilized to create Art that is transient or ephemeral. For a moment I believed that if the ministry of magic ever existed in the real world, it would probably be resemblant of this metro station. We once more made sketches of the space, understanding the metro station, and the play of the negative and positive places as the steel rods weave in and out. The stations on the green line are generally of a larger size as compared to the purple line. Their colour schemes were also more suited to the mood of the metro station as compared to the purple line. The colour palette is cooler as compared to the warm hues on the purple line. However the same problem seemed to plague this metro station. That, of its sparse population. This line being even newer than the m.g.road station, had some sporadic people here and there, but otherwise generally avoided by the local population. Which was strange seeing as it was there for their convenience, being such a huge industrial site, where there must be a lot of people travelling to and fro. Sketches of the Metro

Sketches of the Metro Following this observation, we collaborated and came up with a series of mock advertisements for the metro station. Initially we wanted to work with the concept of contrasts, for which we went on to make a cube, on which opposing sides were meant to make one observe two different textures at once, to feel contrast. However we re-worked the idea to make a series of mock adverts. The Idea behind these adverts was to help portray the metro as an aspirational mode of transport , as compared to the regular modes of public transport.

Concept Note Having visited the Peenya Metro Station, we as individuals, had observed certain comparisons and contrasts between the metro and its surroundings. After getting together as a group we amalgamated our views and came up with a certain chain of thought. Of these, one idea that emerged was the comparison between Necessity and Luxury. The Metro station ( like the mobile phone), is first looked upon as an object of interest and curiosity and will only later become a more necessary mode of public transport. Keeping this comparison in mind, we started viewing the metro as an aspirational mode of public transport, something that people currently treat with a certain disconnect and awe and will only later start getting comfortable using on a daily basis, rather than treating it like a thing of amusement. The occasional amusement will be replaced by daily routine. Hence it is this aspirational element that we are targeting, to help people realise that using the metro is a like a personal up gradation in their mode of transportation. The metro as we present to you is something that aids faster movement between distances and ease out the congestion in the city. The metro reflects development and growth in the city and bring smiles to people harried by long distances and endless traffic jams. If the city were to upgrade its personal hygiene in order to groom itself or function more smoothly, the metro would be like a range of personal health and hygiene products that make you want to aspire to a better way of living and are also to a necessity to our lifestyle.

Mock Advertisement

PROPOSAL #1

Proposal#1 was our first step to occupying space and to putting out some ideas as to the possible interventions in the metro station.

THE TREE OF CHAIRS

The first idea was to create a kind of tree of chairs in the huge waiting areas. I realised that theres not too many places to sit in the station, but that could be due to it not meant to be a place to wait at. However, it could help the place become a little more amicable. This idea was inspired from the metro station at Moscow, where they have tried to recreate a park-like feeling in the metro. The idea could be expanded further keeping a forest in mind, The station provides for a lot of natural and interesting ligvhting opportunities.

THE UNDERWATER PARK

The second idea was to use the exit staircase right from the platform. It is a wide staircase with many many levels. IT could be an interesting way to create the scene of an underwater park maybe? The steps could be used to create various levels of the ocean and create an ambience of it .

THE RESTING BIRDS The next idea had actually occurred to me the first time I had explored the metro station. The atrium was rather beautifully lit and looked like a beautiful cage. It might be a workable idea, if one were to hang or install migratory birds made in some metal or better still, found objects. Could create an interesting scenery .

THE FRIENDLY METRO-HOOD

Theres a lot of crevices and nooks and empty spaces in the metro. At the risk of not knowing which ones will be filled up, post construction, I thought it could be interesting to have characters, or humans or some form of a living being creeping out of the spaces. This could make the space feel more inhabited.

PARAPHERNALIA GALORE

Another idea would be to use objects related to travel and play with their scale/form etc, and place them in and around the station to create curiosity and interest. These could be further elaborated into pieces of lighting and furniture.

PEENYA : THE CHARACTER OF THE ROADS and PEENYA : THE DESTROYER

FACTORIES

JALVAYU VIHAR

INDUSTRIAL AREA

BRIGADE RUBIX

KEY TO THE MAP: 1. CHARACTER OF THE ROADS: RESIDENTIAL AREA

Roads with more stones and less dust. Less Garbage. Found Mostly along Industrial areas.

NID

Roads with plant growth on the side. More organic waste found. Seen outside residential areas as well as industrial areas. Roads with more dust and less stones. more inorganic waste seen. Oustside Construction sites.

CONSTRUCTION AND INDUSTRIES PEENYA METRO STATION

2. PEENYA : THE DESTROYER: PE

The Places where my ankle twisted

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YA M

AIN

Places where it was difficult to breathe.

Dashed Lines to denote various degrees of pain experienced. the lightest yellow being the least and red being the most pain.

RO AD

Mapping and Marking The next brief required us to understand how to map a place. Charity begins at home and so does mapping. Yelahanka was divided into slices and handed to the various groups of two. Each group could choose their own subject of mapping. We also needed to map things that google does not map for us. We began by mapping animals and garbage, and anything that was temporary. After this trial run, we moved to Peenya. Having wandered and gotten lost and befallen many injuries, one knew what was to be mapped. The personal discomfort. The discomfort began on many levels. To begin with, it was very hard to lift your head and walk, because of the dust in the air. It was almost like a blinding veil which had stolen over Peenya and enveloped it. This also made it hard for me to be aware of Potholes and routes, and I got lost a couple of times. I came from the journey, injured but jubilant. I knew what had caught my interest. DUST.

Reflection After mapping Peenya, several things came to ones mind. What was really of concern was the missing human element. There seemed to be a sparcity in the number of people present in the area. It frankly felt a little deserted and dangerous. The people present there seemed to be oblivious to the various discomforts present all around. While dust thou art, to dust thou returnestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was going on in my head, the people seems to be going in and out of the dust without so much as a wheeze. This level of obliviousness made one feel the mechanic nature of the place that seemed to have imbued its people. The movement were more humanoid than human. Which told me that clerly they have packed schedules and places to be in.

Feeling The way one did, the project aim became about making Peenya more human centric. One idea proposed to this end was a set of windows , each taken from a different house. These would entail a story from inside the house, or a recipe. These windows could then be put inside, and joined to make a partition of sorts to put along the concourse. Another option was to work with something ever-present and bring to light, its presence, and its character. This was another way of invoking feelings inside people. And one already had a substance as such to work with, namely- Dust.

Dust is a magnanimous entity. Dust is present everywhere, in many forms and faces. It has a multi-facetted Character, made up of so many different elements that it is indeed awesome. Dust is made of us and everything around us. It has its own stories, and its characters embodied in itself, to make a whole. Dust infact had come up in so many poems I had read in school. That already the the idea in my head the character of dust was romanticized.

Reference: http://ak9.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/2884138/preview/stock-footage-abstract-light-and-dustparticles.jpg

DUST OF SNOW The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. -BY ROBERT FROST

PROPOSAL 1.5 1.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;To create, one must Destroy.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And what lies in between, is dust. Wait. Patience. Travel. Imprints. Steers in Transit. Settles as Dust. Dust is an element that commonly inhabits an area or a space of Transit. It is only right then, that we address it as such and give it its due focus. Dust has an informal and mundane presence in India, one that is taken for granted. In our focus area, Peenya, it is present in abundant measures all around, due the large number of inÂŹdustrial areas. Peenya has largely spoken to me through its dust and grime, and has influenced largely what my perception of Peenya is. Its overwhelming abundance therefore, makes it an ideal material to explore, understand and illustrate Peenya.

PROCESS The Metro Station: Our process began with our initial engagement with the Purple line, or the M.G.Road metro station. We situated ourselves at different vantage points and made sketches to understand what it is that we see and observe. In the process I realised that I was fascinated by the pillars, and the architecture on the underside of the metro. It had a certain rhythm to it, which was very interesting. I come from Kolkata, where the Metro runs in the underbelly of the City. Away from the grime and pollution of the air, the Metro in Kolkata actually feels a lot cleaner. And because of its presence underground, we have never really been asked to imagine what the Metro looks like on the outside. The structure or the architecture has never been in the foresight. Thus when faced with the idea of the metro overhead, I was like, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I have to see it, to believe it.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Having gotten over this initial strangeness, I realised that the height of the metro actually alienated it from the city, almost like the new toy that our mothers would keep away, to keep them safe. This pristine object felt like it was being upheld, as the city had parted to make way for it. I drew a parallel to the birth of Krishna, where the ocean had parted and Vasudev had carried the infant Krishna to safety, so that he could survive and aid his kinsmen. The metro also feels like this special object that is being upheld by the city, that in time, will help the in the greater good of the city. This exercise allowed me to form a better understanding of my own personal connection with the Metro line as such. The Metro became a familiar territory. When connections are made through metaphors, they stay with the onlooker, and assume an identity, making them unique.

Peenya Continuing in the same refrain, we visited the Peenya Metro Station. The metro station itself, was wonderful, and had a strangely ethereal quality about it. It was heartening to see that the station was much more open and not bound in by windows and walls, the way the metro station at M.G. Road was. The play of lines running across the station was exciting, with the kind of negative and positive spaces they created. Even the colour scheme felt more suited to the station. And yet, there was no personal connect with this station. The identity of the station was yet to be established. This is where the mapping exercise was of great help. Visiting Peenya on foot, made me experience Peenya on a first hand basis. Although a painful journey, it brought to the forefront the roads of Peenya, and the atmospheric qualities of Peenya, namely the Dust.

Dust Dust in the Wikipedia has been defined as environments containing small amounts of plant pollen, human and animal hairs, textile fibers, paper fibers, minerals from outdoor soil, human skin cells, burnt meteorite particles, and many other materials which may be found in the local environment. The description itself adds so many dimensions to dust, those in which we take no interest. Even in literature, Dust has always had this transient and ephemeral quality to it, a leveller almost, one that has been used to describe passage of time or just transit, even. It almost stakes a claim over the territory that it settles over and adds so much more to any narrative that the premises might have been a part off. It speaks of both interaction and can literally show us imprints of the past. It is almost archival in its nature. Why not then invoke this magical element to tell us about Peenya.

Inspirations An artist who has worked eminently in this field, is Jorge Otero. In interview, he exÂŹplained that Palace of Doge inVenice was undergoing cleaning for the tourists. But the artist found a wall that was not in the sight of Tourists, to make his intervention and preserve the dust. He explains, â&#x20AC;&#x153;unlike what the other preservationists did, I preserved the pollution that I removed instead of discarding it. In am interested in the idea that our culture has no place for pollution, and yet it is our most common output.â&#x20AC;? There is an almost obscene abundance in the levels of dust that can be found in Peenya. Walking along the roads, it was almost a challenge to walk with your head straight. And yet people continued to work, intoxicated in the dust that they are co-habitants with. This ambient dust seems to have become an unseen component of the people living there, who seem to be oblivious to it. Thus, as an intervention, it seems ideal to use this ambient element as an entry point. I would like to indulge in the act of preserving Dust, and try and follow in the footsteps of Jorge Otero. He had painted Latex on the wall of Venice and had managed to preserve the pollution, and later peeled off the latex to create a piece of art. I had similar ideas in mind, but would like to take it forward as material, and create something out of it. What immediately comes to mind, are Lighting Products and Furniture Pieces. It will be interesting, if the people could really interact with the Dust. Another idea was a museum of Dust, where dust could be an Artefact. However, I would like to explore as far as possible, the various ways to exploit this method and material.

The Way Forward Dust as a Persona, is also a Traveller. Hence, the indicated way forward, it seems would be a rigorous exploration of Peenya and exploring its dusty contents. To also try and record all the different kinds of dust that travel through and the stops they make. An idea suggested that could be useful would be the collection of the different kinds of dust and the surfaces that they inhabit. How they settle, the imprints that are left behind and even absorbed. The kind of surfaces dust is benevolent on while some seem to have had a blink and miss experience. Residues of areas are showing wear and tear, while some are being born. Tracing the path of travel for dust. A large study of these could be useful. Photo documentation and other visual records would also aid greatly in the process. They would also help in adding more dimensions to the project and the research done. While a lot of great ideas present themselves to mind, working with the data collected, would help me ideate and create better.

SOME IMMeDIATE IDEAS

Museum of Dust

DNA of Dust

Dust as an artefact

Dust seemed like an ideal subject to work with because of its weightlessness, and its visible invisibility.

Dust Silhouettes

Dust as an artefact

Collection of Dust

RESEARCH Peeenyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationaship with Dust is similar to how most of the country treats dust and is something they would rather be oblivious to and not want to give it any importance. It is something to get rid off. But studying Dust under the microscope has been rather exciting, to see what it is made up off. After collecting Dust samples, certain questions came up. How is Dust Percieved in Peenya? What is its value and significance? How is Dust evocative of Peenya? In order to try and answer these questions and try and develop a process, one looked up different artists in order to understand various thought processes and methodologies that had been followed in the past. Some of the Artists that came up, were as follows: SPENCER FINCH NYUGEN PHUONG LINH MEREDITH FOSTER JORGE OTERO

Moon Dust, Spencer Finch â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This hanging light piece represents precisely the chemical composition of moon dust, that was analyzed on the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Each light bulb stands for a different atom, the smallest ones represent Oxygen and the large bulbs standing for heavier atoms such as Iron and Chromium.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Reference: http://onceuponaspacetime.tumblr.com/post/70010657525/absolumentmoderne-spencer-finch-moon-dust http://www.kunstforum.de/vorab/198/abb/198/172/003_0.jpg

Dust, Nyugen Phuong Linh : ‘Phuong Linh examines the traces of personal and collective memories and histories. Tied to the history of a given object or place. Phuong’s Linh’s minimalistic, yet sensuous artworks allude to the past, blurring deeply personal memories and national histories.

Dust, Nyugen Phuong Linh ‘...dust often collects on forgotten and disused objects; the accumulation of dust is a natural index of the passage of time.’ The little blueprints skirt around a large ‘Whitescape’, 2 tons of powdered limestone, a breathtaking sight. Disguised as a landscape, the room appears to dwarf. It reminds me of the striking miniature snowscapes by Mariele Neudecker. The dust has been whitewashed, sitting harmlessly like fresh snow. The perils of lung damage have been swept away by the poised visual reconstruction’.

Reference: http://cristinanualart.com/2012/red-scars-and-blue-dust-deodorant-free-installation-art/

Kicking Up Dust, Meredith Foster: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The labor I offer is spent almost entirely in the removal of an unwanted succession of invasive woody plant material that proliferates across organization property, most of which has been introduced to North America within the last century. I determined that the installation was to be comprised of this plant material sourced from local ecosystems. The use of ash and charcoal as the material basis for this work is significant. The collected trunks, boughs, and branches were trimmed to manageable lengths, skinned, and then fired, creating charcoal and ash. Then using a mortar and pestle, the sticks and briquettes were ground into a fine powder, becoming the chief material used in the installation. The powdery subsances are then carefully sifted to construct drawn topographies referencing the areas where the original material has been extracted. Each is a slightly diffrent aerial representation of the Illinois and Missouri landscapes where I live and work, exhibiting subtle variations in topography.

Playing with shifts in elevation, the installation reveals moraines, bluffs, and river systems as a composition of scorched plant matter that originates from and proliferates across the regions being referenced.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Dust, Meredith Foster Reference: http://www.drawingcenter.org/viewingprogram/share_portfolio. cfm?pf=10208

The Ethics of Dust, Jorge Otero: Jorge Otero worked with the Palace of Doge in Venice. He wanted to preserve the Dust and Pollution, because he believed ‘Pollution was our most common output as a culture’, and it too has a story to tell. He also felt that it was a compliment to the architecture. He would follow in the footsteps of the architect and writer, Ruskin, and preserve all the architecture that he spoke off.

Reference: ‘The Ethics of Dust’ , by Laura Raskin; The Ethics of Dust, The Palace of Doge,Venice, Jorge Otero

These artists have dealt with dust in very specific ways, each rooted in the context. They have found different ways to asÂŹsimilate dust,and have chosen different methods to represent them. Some like spencer Finch, Have tried to use atomic structures to show us what moon dust contains. I thought Using Light bulbs to show us these atomic structures was a rather clever idea, and was also creating the same ethereal quality as Dust. , except in amplification. The artist Meredith, has actually synthesized her own version of dust, to illlustrate her motives as an artist. She has creÂŹated Dust as her final form. She was most engaged in in collecting materials that would form the major com-

ponents of her Dust and indulged in a process to create it , thus. Hyugen Phuong Linh, Tried to create memories from her childhood, of the place that she grew up. This was a recreation of the dust she remembers seeing as a Child. Her memories of Korea are the Subject of this exhibition. Jorge Otero has looked at preserving architecture and history through Dust, and his intervention has been to capture the dust that has lain on these structures, preserve them and lay them for everyone to see. Each has tried to work with dust in a different way, and has addressed different situations through dust.

ITERATIONS & EXPERIMENTS Iterations for the exhibition: A couple of constraints came up, after a lot of thought and deliberation. Dust as a material was very vague and ephemeral, the sense that its presence is not felt as obviously as other things. The artefact itself, must not require maintainence. One had to consider the constraints of the space itself, considering the amount of the light that was present in the station, and the crowd is not allowed to be in the space for more than twenty minutes. It should not be a hinderance.

The

TYNDALL EFFECT Upon speaking to my peer, I was introduced to the Tyndall Effect. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Tyndall effect, also known as Tyndall scattering, is light scattering by particles in a colloid or particles in a fine suspension. It is named after the 19th-century physicist John Tyndall. Under the Tyndall effect, the longer-wavelength light is more transmitted while the shorterwavelength light is more reflected via scattering. An analogy to this wavelength dependency is that longwave electromagnetic waves such as radio waves are able to pass through the walls of buildings, while shortwave electromagnetic waves such as light waves are stopped and reflected by the walls.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; This led to the first few iterations.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndall_effect

LIGHT SOURCE

Iteration 1 To have a tall tube glass, that is filled with water and light is allowed to pass through it. This light source could either be artificial, or natural, direct.

DUST

GLASS JAR

LIGHT SOURCE

Iteration 2 Taking on from iteration 1, the form was expanded to making an architectural piece, like the house, or the metro station, and fill it with moving dust, so that when light passes through, Dust literally forms the structure. This idea was based on how everything is made of dust and how everything returns to dust.

DUST

Iteration To show how manufactured, the form of a tree developed in ones head. The concept of photosynthesis came to mind, where the leaves preparation of the food for the trees happens in the leaves. Here the form of the tree wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been as such. The trunk would be made of recycled materials, natural and artificial, and the leaves would be made of dust, which had been collected on some sort of sheet. There could be a light source inside the tree, to add a little theatricality.

DUST on leaves.

WASTE MATERIAL

FEEDBACK RECEIVED Display Dust as it is. May be leave sacksful of it, or just piles of dust. This feedback was interesting, since we were looking representational ways of making art work. Work with the relationship between light and Dust. Use different kinds of lenses. Use bellows to make dust move. Create columns of light, and space consideration could include the staircase, where people would have to walk around the columns. Having received this feedback , one started to research on similar work. One artist that came in research was Ryoji Ikeda.

FEEDBACK RECEIVED : Display Dust as it is. May be leave sacksful of it, or just piles of dust.

Reference: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/ images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNVxKEdpsB8 lpjj4zbHL1Br8aDWKyj6wO8MGDdIMhXlpo1QjgkYg

Spectra, Ryoji Ikeda

RYOJI IKEDA Ryoji Ikeda is a Japanese artist who works with light and sound installations whose ‘vision is both minimalist and monumental. ‘ The particular work that is really significant for me, is called Spectra. ‘Spectra is a series of large scale installations employing intense white light as a sculptural material. The installations are designed in response to specific gallery spaces or public sites selected by the artist. White light is one of the purest forms of transformation from electricity. We see a pure state of energy. Through these installations we witness how the pure transformation transforms the environment itself and ourselves. White light includes the full colour spectrum. With the light installation, the perceiver receives colour information into his/her eyes instantly and so intensely that he / she cannot see anything, just like in darkness. The installation therefore becomes almost invisible. Consequently, the art works provoke a feeling of something indescribable, something sublime and unearthly, something unforgettable.’ The simplicity of it is what is truly magnificent for me. It is evocative and powerful. And the choice of medium was very effective.

Reference: http://www.ryojiikeda.com/project/spectra/ http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/05/ryoji-ikeda-spectrafirst-world-war-artangel

Spectra, Ryoji Ikeda

Reference:

http://data.tomonaga.webfactional.com/static/ri_web/work/ spectra-spectra_paris-2_3_4. jpg; https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic. com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDnEMd6DHK6vRApgCg7xQXJCkHSjcuD6IvauzfXn1O7vNpKkcg, https://encryped-tbn3.gstatic .;com/,images?q=tbn:ANd9G cT4sp_jhWQ4A584JHnVBYVoWePGEOlhbLW5pIaIoFrsamtyzC2;

Spectra, Ryoji Ikeda

Iterations Post feedback LIGHT SOURCE

The Rotating cube was supposed to be a glass cube filed with water, that would have dust infused in it. The cube was supposed to be on a sort of a turnstile, where any passer by could come and rotate it. There could be interesting play of light and dust.

DUST

ROTATING TURNSTILE

A rotating tube, with a similar concept. LIGHT SOURCE

DUST

ROTATING TURNSTILE

. A corridor of light columns. This would allow people to walk around and interact with the phenomena of dust and light.

LIGHT SOURCE

Magnifying glass suface

A lot of glass tubes on the ceiling. The end of the tubes could have a magnifying edge.

A glass tube with different mediums to help manipulate light by using colloids or liquids of different densities.

Magnifying glass suface

Liquids of different densities

LIGHT SOURCE

A horizontal tube on seesaw like apparatus. This would contain water and dust. The movement of the tube would allow dust to catch light in different ways

Specimens of dust. Collect dust from everywhere. Put in jars. Put in a small fan of some sort. Put a magnifying glass on top.

Magnifying glass suface

Same with boxes. Except the boxes could be of different sizes, each representing how much dust found where.

Then there was the literal sack full of dust. A lot of them just piled in a heap, each indicating where it comes from.

10.

A culmination of two ideas. Under every column of light can be a sack of dust. This would look like the Dust is rising from the sack or falling into it.

The Visualization with the Column of Light

The FiRST EXPERIMENT After several trips to S.P.Road, I managed to procure a specimen jar, a microscope, many different kind of lights. And an air bellow. This was my first experience with the material. The desired effect was to pump air through the bellows, into the jar and make the dust move. The Tyndall effect would then be seen.

Magnifying glass suface

As the dust would come up, one could look at it under the microscope. It was not a whole success, but a lot was to be learnt from it. The lights needed to be recessed and of great intensity. Ambient light had to be shut off as far as possible, and the micro-scope needed to be at a certain distance from the object for anything to be seen. The air movement mechanism needed to be constant. This led to a certain iteration where the image of Dust would be projected on to a surface. A strong spotlight, with a projector lens, and a slide of dust, to be inserted between the lens and lamp.

Air Pump

This idea was not feasible due it being too expensive, and not being able to source the required material. There was also a certain stagnancy in the image, which would have a very short lifespan.

Projector Lamp and Lens

Magnified Projected image

A TRIP TO THE SCRAPYARD: The scrapyard was a most inspire place to go to. It was full of all kinds of materials,a nd objects, immidiately desiable to anyone who liked to work with form and found materials.

Pictures from the Scrapyard.

‘One man’s Rubbish is another man’s treasure’

Light source

Dust shooting upwards

Air Bellows

Diagrams for the First Box

The First Box: The first box was a quick rough trial. It was put together using a sunboard, lights, an ac/dc converter. The effect desired was that there would be lights and cpu fans inside the box. These would be wired to dpdt press switches which would be outside the box. One could look in through an eye hole, and upon pressing a switch, the light and fan would begin. This would lead to shafts of lights showing in the box, depending on which switch is pressed. In this shaft of light one would be able to see the dust rotating.

ondly the luminaire of the bulb itself was of great importance. That is what the beam of light depended upon, whether it was a narrow beam or a wide beam. The fixture to be added was also of great importance. That is how we manipulate light.

The box was a not a success. But it was a great way to run trial and error and learn exactly what was going wrong. One of the things was the size of the box as compared to the light source. Sec-

Having learnt from this experience, the actual box for the exhibition was created. It was painted black on the inside , to make it absolutely dark inside.

The light fixture needed to be straight cylinder which would ensure the light would travel in a straight , narrow beam. There need to be some sort of reflective coating on the inside of the cylin der, to intensify the beam.

The Second Box: This box was 3 feet in length, 2 feet in height and 1.5 feet in breadth. The box had 4 holes on the top, to accommodate for cylindrical fixtures for the lamp. These cylinders were coated with reflective material on the inside, which was Aluminium foil. The light sources were fixed inside the cylinders. The cylinders were partially inserted into the box, and that way the light source was given more height and the beam made more directional. There was an eye-hole on the side, for the viewer to look inside the box.

Picture of the box from the outside and inside

The light sources were connected to fans and a Double pole double throw press switch. The fans were concealed inside the box. So every time a switch would be pressed, a light and fan would go on simultaneously, allowing the viewer to experience the Tyndall effect, see the dust particles moving in the air.

What worked and what did not: The Box was a success, in terms of the experiment, and the desired effect was produced. It was received in a positive manner. However the electrical work required a lot of stabilizing. There was a lot of short circuiting, and the lights probably couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t handle being constantly switched on and off. I also realised the importance of the form of the box. I had not realised the importance of the outside, and was pre-occupied with the functioning inside.

The box

Reflections: This exhibition has been a great learning experience for me in particular. Considering this was the first time we were actually catering to the Public, the task seemed daunting and one was almost sure that it won’t happen in time. Thus when it did happen, the feeling was surreal. This has taught one to understand that being an artist requires more than just some eccentricity. It requires dedication and perseverance and some amount of optimism. One feel like these qualities are present in one in some measure but may yet be improved upon. One also tend to stress and become nervous, but that also keeps one pushing along. May be the correct balance of these qualities will make one a better professional. One has also learnt that one needs to find a reliable electrician. About my work , I have learnt that it is going to concern some ‘exact science’ and may not be as easy as was felt earlier. However, it is a new area altogether, one that could be exciting and hugely satisfying if I can achieve the

required result. It is going to help me a learn a lot, whether I succeed or not. It is also my way of finding my feet in the world of lighting design, and would like to experiment as much as possible. The areas one needs to work on are the expressing and the engaging and persisting of ideas. The areas that I may have a firm footing in are developing a craft and in stretching and exploring. My next steps will involve more research definitely and a thorough understanding of light design and the space. It will also include experimentation with materials, to understand how I may achieve a desired effect. One has also learnt about working in and for Public Art. Firstly, ORGANIZATION. One needs to have plans in place and some buffer space, to allow for mishaps and mistakes. One must allow for curiosity, and be ready to handle it. One’s Project should be sturdy, so that the can have a longer life span. Unless the project requires systematic degeneration. One must have as much of one’s plan figured out, down to the last detail if possible, and give it considerable time to mull over and refine. This is essential. One should also resource reliable technical help, and allow them

buffer time. One feels a form is necessary in this format of Art meeting. Forms are easier to gauge and relate to, when the viewer has limited or no time to stop and stare. The balance between the abstract and tangible should be figured to suit this purpose. Public art spaces are vastly different from Gallery spaces, and contextual nature of the project becomes greatly relevant in this scenario. Some things have been understood from reading the article on the TILTED ARC by Richard Serra, a most controversial piece of work. The work has been hailed by some as a space design that forces a person to change their route, and been denounced by others, for its lack of deeper context and connect. The article explains that Public Art should ideally not speak of negatives but of positives. They should be made after proper contextual research, but must at the same time be aware of how much of the Personal side to show, either of the artist or the subject, and be pragmatic about an artefact might be perceived.

Further and FORWARD

THE LIGHT FOUNTAIN Moving on, Several other iterations came up. Two of the most exciting were the light fountain, and half cave seating area. The light fountain, uses complex lights ( LED Par cans, 150 W) an a mix of lenses, and reflectors. These may include involute reflectors, and parabolic reflectors and mirrors. The lenses would include Fresnel lenses, Projecting lenses, collecting lenses. This will however be a costly affair. The Lenses and reflectors might have to be brought or ordered which might increase their expense. This has also made one realize that thae power consumption will be immense. While we are assured a constant power supply at the metro, it is not a sustainable idea.

PAR CAN Lamps : Rs.3,500/- each. Lenses and reflectors : The smallest lens had cost me Rs.250 Keeping labour, fixtures, and electrical material If the magnitude of this project were to be realised, the budget would escalate to over Rs. 50,000

The Light Fountain

FINAL PROPOSAL 1.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; -Leisure , W.H.Davies

SYNOPSIS Dust is an element that commonly inhabits an area or a space of Transit. It is only right then, that we address it as such and give it its due focus. Dust has an informal and mundane presence in India, one that is taken for granted. In our focus area, Peenya, it is present in abundant measures all around, due the large number of industrial areas. Its overwhelming abundance therefore, makes it an ideal material to explore, understand and illustrate Peenya. This Project is about using a rejected substance and science to create a memory or a moment of wonder as people engage in their busy schedules. It is about utilizing that one moment of pause in their routine, allowing the hardworking people to engage and sensitize themselves to a small wonder of nature that is present all around them, but which they choose to ignore.

PEENYA The Peenya Metro Station itself, was wonderful, and had a strangely ethereal quality about it. It was heartening to see that the station was much more open and not bound in by windows and walls, the way the metro station at M.G. Road was. The play of lines running across the station was exciting, with the kind of negative and positive spaces they created. Even the colour scheme felt more suited to the station. And yet, there was no personal connect with this station and there was an obvious lack of human touch. The mechanization of life, really seemed to be the theme. The identity of the station was yet to be established. This is where the mapping exercise was of great help. Although a painful journey, it brought to the forefront the roads of Peenya, and the atmospheric qualities of Peenya, namely the Dust.

DUST Dust in the Wikipedia has been defined as environments containing small amounts of plant pollen, human and animal hairs, textile fibers, paper fibers, minerals from outdoor soil, human skin cells, burnt meteorite particles, and many other materials which may be found in the local environment. The description itself adds so many dimensions to dust, those in which we take no interest. Even in literature, Dust has always had this transient and ephemeral quality to it, a leveller almost, one that has been used to describe passage of time or just transit, even. It almost stakes a claim over the territory that it settles over and adds so much more to any narrative that the premises might have been a part off. It speaks of both interaction and can literally show us imprints of the past. It is almost archival in its nature. Why not then invoke this magical element to tell us about Peenya.

INSPIRATIONS An artist who has worked eminently in this field, is Jorge Otero. In interview, he explained that Palace of Doge inVenice was undergoing cleaning for the tourists. But the artist found a wall that was not in the sight of Tourists, to make his intervention and preserve the dust. He explains, â&#x20AC;&#x153;unlike what the other preservationists did, I preserved the pollution that I removed instead of discarding it. In am interested in the idea that our culture has no place for pollution, and yet it is our most common output.â&#x20AC;? There is an almost obscene abundance in the levels of dust that can be found in Peenya. Walking along the roads, it was almost a challenge to walk with your head straight. And yet people continued to work, intoxicated in the dust that they are co-habitants with. This ambient dust seems to have become an unseen component of the people living there, who seem to be oblivious to it.

Thus, as an intervention, it seems ideal to use this ambient element as an entry point. I have indulged in the act of perceiving Dust and observed it in its natural state. In this state, Dust is evokes wonder in a viewer as it lights in the presence of light. Have a researched a little, one finds that this phenomena is called Tyndall Effect. To understand the Tyndall effect one must understand light. Light is radiant energy, usually referring to electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. The Tyndall effect, also known as Tyndall scattering, is light scattering by particles in a colloid or particles in a fine suspension. It is named after the 19th-century physicist John Tyndall The waves bounce off the dust particles and create the ray of light that is visible in form. This phenomena is what I would like to draw peoples attention to. At a moment of pause at the station, where you allow yourself to get distracted, I would like the passengers attention to be captured by this phenomena and for that moment feel a sense of wonder. The station inhabits an area that is essentially mechanical in its ways of living, to make a small moment of wonder in such a life, would indeed be give one a sense of achievement. It is a delicate phenomena, but that only makes its ethereality magical. Therefore, How does one, as a designer, manage this task?

THE Light Engine: We looked at how different Artist had dealt with this same subject or related subject. One tried several experiments. After several explorations and several experiments, one has arrived at the required parameters to create the required structure. The structure requires a certain depth and height and also complete opacity. The cavity through which light shall enter should be on the smaller side. My current prototype involves a drum, which has been painted black from inside. Holes have been cut into its surface to let light in. Different apparatuses are being applied to manipulate light. The desired effect is to have multiple rays of light inside to create a dynamic light installation, one which can be both interactive and dynamic, yet simple. This proposal moves away from the expensive nature of artificial light and tries to work with natural light. This project may help in adding the human element to the station and also the ordinary to transform into the extra-ordinary.

Pots of different kinds.

Rotating Ring

holes to let in light The Blue Drum

View finder

Filter

SIDE VIEW

(This illustation is subject to change as per refinement)

FRONT VIEW

(This illustation is subject to change as per refinement)

A Cross- section of what will happen inside

The Polarizers at different intensities

A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. - Leisure , W.H.Davies.

REFERENCES: BOOKS: Handbook of Light Design ;

ARTICLES: ‘The Ethics of Dust’, by Laura Raskin; ‘Sitings of Public Art: Integration versus Intervention’ by Miwon Kwon, One Place After Another: Site Specificity and Locational Identityby Miwon Kwon MIT Press, 2002;

INTERNET REFERENCES: http://ak9.picdn.net/shutterstock/ videos/2884138/preview/stockfootage-abstract-light-and-dustparticles.jpg

http://onceuponaspacetime. tumblr.com/post/70010657525/ absolumentmoderne-spencerfinch-moon-dust http://www.kunstforum.de/vorab/198/abb/198/172/003_0.jpg http://cristinanualart.com/2012/ red-scars-and-blue-dust-deodorant-free-installation-art/ http://www.drawingcenter.org/ viewingprogram/share_portfolio. cfm?pf=10208 http://www.poetryloverspage.com/ poets/blake/to_see_world.html

http://data.tomonaga.webfactional.com/static/ri_web/work/ spectra-spectra_paris-2_3_4.jpg; https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic. com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDnEMd6DHK6vRApgCg7xQXJCkHSjcuD-6IvauzfXn1O7vNpKkcg, https://encryped-tbn3.gstatic.;com /,images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT4sp_jhWQ4A584JHnVBYVoWePGEOlhbLW5pIaIoFr-samtyzC2; http://www.englishverse.com/ poems/leisure

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic. com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNVx KEdpsB8lpjj4zbHL1Br8aDWKyj6w O8MGDdIMhXlpo1QjgkYg https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic. com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNVx KEdpsB8lpjj4zbHL1Br8aDWKyj6w O8MGDdIMhXlpo1QjgkYg

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To, The BMRC for the opportunity and the space; My Faculty, Agnishikha Choudhuri, Amitabh Kumar, Samir Parker, Arzu Mistry, Ajai Narendran, Narendra Raghunath, Ramesh Kalkur, and Urvashi, for their help and extremely valuable feedback, motivation and support; My Peers, Nihar Apte, Prateek Vatash, Adeeba Muzaffar, and Aishwarya Nair, Ruchika Nambiar and Alok Utsav, all of whose help and support has been invaluable in my teams of need; My Parents and family for being such Pillars of support all the way; Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology; This student of Design is full of heartfelt gratitude. Thank you. It has been a wonderful journey.