ARTS
CULTURE
THE WEEKLY OBSERVER SUPPLEMENT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016
The Language of the Street Graffiti is a civic conversation like no other. It should be encouraged not frowned upon Pallabi Sutar
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s you enter Koramangala 5th block and walk along the street besides Jyoti Nivas College, you cannot help but notice the colorful artwork painted along the length of the wall. This creative transformation of a city street was part of neighborhood street-art festival. Sadly though, such a welcome initiative was possible only because it was part of a festival and the artists were encouraged to use the wall as their canvas. Graffiti to this day is for most part illegal and some people prefer to treat it as vandalism rather than an incredibly vibrant form of art. Over the years Bangalore has been warming to graffiti and today we find a growing acceptance of “street art”with graffiti artists freelancing or working on commissions. JCV aka Shaktik of Decipher crew, a Bangalore based graffitiartists group, says that the market is expanding for this expressive art form and they have worked its magic on the interiors of gyms, colleges and clubs. Shunnal Ligade, another Bangalore-based independent graffiti artist, says that increasinglyBangaloreans are open to getting their home and workspace interiors painted by graffiti artists
Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable
and he has been getting requests from café owners and home owners to revamp their places in quirky, offbeat styles. As Bangalore keeps growing by attracting people from all over the country and indeed the world, this once ITcentric city is becoming more diverse. It is reflected in a cultural renewal that is so evident, a culmination of different art forms and lifestyles that can be seen on every street and corner of the city. Graffiti artists have also picked up on this heterogeneity of culture and society. For example, the Jyoti Nivas College wall conveys a strong feminist message beautifully expressed by Shilo Shiv Suleman while another on MG Road by an unknown artist propagates the message of equality. These artists seem to have taken a cue from the famous British graffiti artist and political activist Banksy whose
satirical street art delivers wry messages on war,slavery, capitalism and other social issues. JCV believes that people have to learn about the origin of the graffiti art form to fully appreciate it and bring about a drastic change in the cultural outlook of the city. Though cultural and social reform may not be a priority for most artists, their different styles and artistic expressions has certainly turned heads and made people not just aware of their presence but of the limitless possibilities that abound. But there are both pros and cons to this attention.Graffiti walks a thin line between public acceptance as decorative art and wanton disfigurement of public spaces akin to political hoardings or film posters. JCV speaks of his crew’s hardships while working on a street-art project “We have always got to look out for cops and ‘social activists’ and so some of the work could take several nights to be completed as we can never work during the day.” It is high time that we de-criminalized graffiti and other forms of street art and allowed our artists the freedom to create a more beautiful city; moreover, one which gives them the same respect it accords other professionals, be they doctors or engineers. Art, after all, plays a vital social function. As Banksy so eloquently put it, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”
Killing Me Softly Cartoons enrich public debate thanks to their ability to gently mock our worst pretensions Sonal Agarwal
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They say the best cartoons are the ones without captions,” cartoonist Satish Acharya reminds us.In fact, cartoons are supposed to replace written with visual comment. Caricatures were the first form of cartooning and their deliberate distortions would often express more than words ever could. But often a cartoon needs a caption or dialogue to make its point, and thus the best cartoonists are as adept with their hands as they are with words. The introduction of printing gave a major boost to the cartooning profession. Printing not only made it easily accessible to people but, with the rise in literacy and the emergence of a middle class,critical views expressed in cartoon form could be widely disseminated in society. Cartooning provides artists the liberty to express their thoughts without the filter of political correctness, however defined. A good cartoonist has the skill to convey a critical perspective on society or a powerful personage not by depicting reality but by merely alluding to it. Political caricatures are a clever weapon against cynical politicians who shield themselves from criticism using defamation laws. In 2012, a Jadavpur University professor was arrested for allegedly sharing a cartoon that mocked Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal. The West Bengal government invoked Section 66A of the I n fo r m a t i o n Technology Act
Politicians must learn to be tolerant. This is not a dictatorship
which prohibits sending offensive messages through an online medium. Though the charges were subsequently dropped and compensation of Rs.50,000 was granted to him, the government’s action was a reminder of the
potency of political cartooning. As justice Markandey Katju, former chairman of the Press Council of India remarked, “Politicians must learn to be tolerant. This is not a dictatorship.” Cartooning has evolved into multi-billion-dollar
comic-book and animated-film industries worldwide, encompassing every conceivable genre and catering to varied audiences: from the Marvel Superheroes to theAdventures of Tin Tin, to Garfield andArchie to the sexually explicit Manga in Japan. Comics provide images to a story, giving readers a mental picture of the tale being told. The migration of cartoons first to film and then to television was inevitable and now the Internet has made the works of every single artist available around the world. Social media sites have become the preferred forum for budding cartoonists to promote their work. But with the rise of multimedia, print is seeing a decline almost everywhere around the world with predictable consequences for print cartooning. “Print didn't always encourage new talent, especially newspapers,” says Acharya. “Now there's an audience and there’s no editor to stop you from reaching the audience. Yes, there's an overdose of cartoons. But the reader is always king, who can decide which cartoons to read,” he adds. Acharya has around 100,000 followers on social media. But on the Internet, cartoonists face competition from unexpected quarters. “Sadly people have started equating editorial cartoons with memes, typically humorous images and video clips that are spread rapidly by users,” says Acharya. “Editorial cartooning is not the only one making fun or ridiculing. Social media is full of memes, jokes etc. So, it’s challenging for a cartoonist to avoid repeating someone else’s joke in his cartoons. But when you create a really good cartoon your audience is multiplied manifold, especially when it goes viral,” he added. In cartooning, there’s only so much that can be taught. Institutions offer courses in cartooning, but as Acharya points out, “editorial cartooning requires three skills: the skill of an artist to draw, the skill of a journalist to offer an opinion and the skill of a humorist to add a wicked twist. Teaching drawing is straightforward, but learning the other two requires a particular sensibility.”
ARTS
CULTURE
THE WEEKLY OBSERVER SUPPLEMENT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016
Contemplative Moves
Tshechu dances are a form of meditation, a path to enlightenment Ishita Dave
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himphu’s placid demeanour is interrupted by the vigour of one of the grandest festivals in Bhutan, the Thimphu tshechu. It is only 7 am and already the streets of Thimphu are lined with people waiting for the spectacular dance festival to begin. The city is a kaleidoscope of colour, glittering brooches, intricately woven patterns on the kira, bold jewellery, with everyone dressed to impress. The sounds of bells, drums, flutes and cymbals welcome the tshechu dancers who swirl in exquisite costumes to produce a mesmerizing performance. But each dance is more than just a performance, it is a recreation of an ancient Buddhist tale. Karma Dorjee, a tourist guide explains to bystanders the significance of these dances. “The tshechu dances are more like a form of meditation. It is believed that the dedication of the mask dancers invokes deities. It is believed that the dancers
achieve enlightenment; they become one with God when they are performing.” Masked dances or Cham, as they are locally known, are considered a form of meditation, an offering to the Gods and are supposed to cleanse the dancer’s sins. According to popular folklore, Cham dances were first performed by Guru Padmasambhava, the 9th century teacher of the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He is believed to have performed a tantric dance with colourful robes to ward away evil spirits and dreamt of the dance steps and of the faces the masks depict. Faces of stags, deer and demons are common designs of the masks. Worn with the ornate costumes, they help in creating an alternative reality of demons and deities. Oded Deghany, an Israeli photographer who has studied a number of cultures, found it difficult to reconcile a meditative and austereculture like Buddhism with such energy and flamboyance. Tshechu’s dances tell stories to entertain even as they liberate it practitioners from earthly woes and guide them to the path of enlightenment. Monks as well as other trained dancers rehearse for these dances throughout the year. Each dance can last anywhere between fifteen minutes to one hour. A mask dancer who participated in the Black Hat Dance, said that these dances required a lot of physical endurance and that the weight of the dresses and the masks made it more challenging. Thimphu’s tshechu is a threeday affair and each day has different dances to offer.Durdag is the dance of the masters of the cremation ground. These masters try to keep demonic influences away
from the grounds. Zhanag or the black hat dance is another dance that involves rhythmic pounding of the feet on the ground with the beat of the drum, announcing the victory of good over evil. Dramitse Ngachamhas been recognised by UNESCO as a masterpiece of Asia Pacific’s “intangible cultural heritage”. In this dance, twelve or more dancers wearing yellow skirts and animal masks beat drums as they dance to represent their Guru’s entourage. Raksha Machham,or the dance of the death, is a dance that is performed on the last day of the festival. It represents the day of judgment and narrates how a deceased person is sent to hell or heaven based on their karma.Tshechu’s contemplative dances provide an insight into the culture of Bhutan and the rich religious and cultures that contribute to Bhutan’s unique measure of social well-being, Gross National Happiness.
Game On! India was a late convert to computer gaming, but it’s catching up with a vengeance Vivek Dubey
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omputer gaming has evolved from wired to wireless to the point where we play online with others anywhere in the world. The earliest computer games were not at all video-based. Rather they depended on text to give commands for the players to explore. The first of them was Adventure, designed by Will Crowther and further developed by Don Woods. Text-based games worked with the limited Random Access Memory (RAM)of early computers by concentrating on the storyline instead of graphics. With the advancement in processors in computers and consoles, adventure games and video started to develop in unforeseen ways. The increase in gaming hardware helped gamers master various games and made it easier for them to complete various levels at a much faster pace. The Atari 2600 had no storage option and virtually no Read Only Memory (ROM) and RAM. Graphics were displayed at a resolution of approximately 160 by 228 pixels in 128 colours. Modern consoles have hard drives measured in terabytes, graphic cards and RAM averaging eight gigabytes. Secondly, controllers gradually became more intuitive. The classic Atari joystick had a single button and directional control. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) controller had two buttons and four-way directional pad. Current consoles such as the Xbox one and Playstation 4 have controllers with one or more thumb-sized joysticks, directional pad, triggers and buttons that can be combined to create any number of different inputs. Indians have caught on to the fad of playing on gaming consoles as they are available at a lower cost and are more user-friendly.
Atari and other games never caught on in India. Gaming as a profession and hobby began only with the turn of the century. After 2000, when computers became more affordable and the first Playstation was launched, people took to gaming like fish to water. India haduntil then never been considered a market for gaming, but now developers have begun to appreciate its
potential. Initially, only games like Mario and Dirt Bike were launched in India as people here were new to the gaming culture. But with the advent of technology and knowledge, different games gained currency. Games like FIFA and Assassins Creed also started becoming popular. The online gaming sector in India is being driven by the
increasing number of Internet users, increase in disposable incomes, and propensity to spend among the youth. The growth of Internet cafes such as Sify i-way and Reliance WebWorld, who have installed online games to attract more consumers, has also contributed to the rise in online gaming in India. Zapak and other gaming centres also came up in major metro cities exposing Indians to advanced online gaming like Dota, Marvel Heroes, Deadbreed etc. These games have a huge fanbase in India with people eagerly waiting for the launch of newer versions of these games. However, gaming history has never been a linear progress towards more graphics-heavy, larger, more complicated games. Text-adventure games have not yet vanished. For example, Infocom Corp has developed and released text-adventures beginning in the 1980s. They regularly compared their games to the raw graphics available on computers and consoles at the time. “We draw our graphics from the limitless imagery of your imagination—a technology so powerful that it makes any picture that’s ever come out of a screen look like graffiti in comparison, says Jeremiah McCall, author of Gaming the Past. Fans of the text-adventure games have started developing their own software which enables them toplay and distribute for free. Thus the advance of technology has helped both the gaming industry and ardent gaming fans push the boundaries of gaming in different directions.