Musings on ‘Medium as Muse’

MUSINGS ON ‘MEDIUM AS MUSE’

U20153

Isn’t it interesting, medium as muse. I never really thought about it, it’s always something else that inspires us and then we simply choose a medium that will best represent it. The medium itself hasn’t ever been the source of inspiration. But that’s not the case for G. Ravinder Reddy, he let himself be guided by the medium, by the feel of terracotta on his hands and the sensation that it produces. Kind of reminds me of Louis I Kahn, after he designed IIM Ahmedabad he was asked why he chose to build so many arches and circular openings in bricks? He replied, when I asked the bricks what they wanted to be, they said arches. It might have been a sarcastic reply here, but deep down it shares the same emotion. The emotion of representing the material through something and not vice versa. It’s really fascinating.

Like even with women objectification, that he was accused of, doesn’t exactly make sense. At the first glance it did look like that though, agreed, the sensuality is very evident but then when you try to understand it, it reveals itself to be truly platonic. I mean, he simply used the female form and face to explore his medium, simply the shape that he chose for terracotta or ceramic or gold was the female form. The nostril being red, the face painted from bright blue to red, the way he played with colours, primary colours with copper and golden, the difference in the finish in terracotta and ceramic, the intricate detailing of the hair and its ornamentation, the tiny hair clip, the garlands of small flowers and nets over a bun, even the shine of the hair...they’re all representing his precision with his craft, the time and hard work for the material, a clear representation of his patience and love.

I think what I really learnt was to be more aware of the medium..I don’t quite know how to put it down, but even right now while I’m typing this, I feel more conscious towards my keyboard, the keys and how they press down, I’m letting my fingers linger over it….it seems so much more real...it makes me feel so much more involved. I just used the word ‘feel’, I guess that really explains it right, ‘to feel’? It’s beautiful. One might comprehend me to be a little crazy but in this moment, I feel quite lost in this sensation. It was really a lovely lecture, to have made me feel so.