Out of Station : Documentation Book

An Art in Transit Journey

out of station

KARTHIKA SAKTHIVEL

Documentation Book

DMA | B.Cr.A

Project Guides

AMITABH KUMAR

SANDEEP ASHWATH

SAI MULPURU

SUJATA RAMESH

out of station

Since 2017

Karthika Sakthivel

Documentation Book

B. Cr A | DMA Semester 8

An Art in Transit Journey

Copyrights 2016-2017

Student Document Publication

(for private circulation only)

All Rights Reserved

Final Thesis Project

(Undergraduate Professional Programme)

Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology Bangalore -

560064 Karnataka

No part of this document will be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically,

including photocopying, scanning, photography and video

recording without written permission from the publishers and

Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore.

Written, edited and designed by

Karthika Sakthivel

Printed @

KolorKode, Bangalore

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PLAGIARISM STATEMENT

I, KARTHIKA SAKTHIVEL, hereby declare that the content of this student

documentation and final design/artwork submission is my own original work and has

not been plagiarised in full or part from previously published/designed/manufactured

material or does not even contain substantial propositions of content which have

been accepted for an award of any other degree or diploma of any other educational

institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in this thesis project. I also

declare that the intellectual content of this Thesis Project is my own original work, except

to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style

and presentation is acknowledged and that this thesis project (or part of it) will not be

submitted as assessed work in any other academic course.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

I, KARTHIKA SAKTHIVEL, hereby grant Srishti Institute of Art, Design and

Technology the right to archive and to make available my Thesis Project in whole or in

part in the institute’s databank and website, and for non-commercial use in all forms of

media, now and hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act.

Name :

Signature:

Date:

"It's easy to forget

that the way we

illuminate the world

affects how we see it."

(Zorich 2014)

Special Thanks to

Project Guides

Metro Staff

Family

Mr. Amitabh Kumar

Dr. Sandeep Ashwath

Mr. Sai Mulpuru

Srishti Faculty

Ms. Arzu Mistry

Mr. Ajai Narendran

Mr. Sharath Chandra

Mr. Dhoke

Mr. Vasant Rao

Mr. Pradeep (SC)

Security Personnel

VITM Curator

Mr. Madan Gopal

Fabricators

Kalpana Sakthivel

Yamini Sundararajan

Priyanka Sundararajan

Radhika Deivendran

Vignesh Deivendran

Kirthima Vignesh

Mr. Sakthivel Pavalam

Mr. Abhiyaan

Ms. Sujata Ramesh

Mr. David

Mr. Ratan

Mr. Shikhar

Mr. Ramachandra

Friends

Aparna Hegde

Rujuta Muley

GPO Authorities

Art in Transit Team

Dr. Shivaram

Mr. Thimoji Rao

BSNL Authorities

Mr. A. Kanikadas

Mr. Krishnamurthy

Mr.Thomas

Siddhanth Shetty

Yash

Shail Suneja

Mohammad

Mr. Selvan

Mr. Ajit

Mr. Raysamsmart

Ms. Dhamayanthi

Neralu Team

Varsha

This project is facilitated by Art in Transit in partnership with the Namma Metro and

multiple city artists and arts organizations.

Art in Transit is a public art project facilitated by the Srishti Institute of Art, Design &

Technology, Bangalore, in partnership with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation.

http://www.artintransitbangalore.com/about.html

Contents

01

02

03

04

05

06

Prologue

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Epilogue

18

33

63

103

181

199

Prologue

Prior Experience 18

Brief 23

Thematic Interest 24

Prior Experience

Turning Point

After working with Art in Transit a few years ago,

I came to realize that I have a strong inclination

to work with spaces and that I have an innate

need to connect with people through interactive pieces.

In my projection based walkpiece: Namma Mane,

Namma Metro at the Peenya Metro Station, Bangalore,

I addressed the issues of urbanization and relocation

and its impact on the livelihoods of people. Several

unexpected themes emerged during my research so

much so that I want to continue traveling deeper into

the layers of meaning behind spaces, peeling it away

to reveal hidden treasures. This is what drives me to

pursue a similarly challenging project.

18

19

I

believe being from a multidisciplinary background

aids fusion and generation of new means

of narrating/displaying work. Having done

photography, public art, community and creative

art practices, installation and video art, my creative

methods and approach are shaped by several other

defined processes. During my time with Art In

Transit I am looking forward to further exploring the

possibilities of fusion of media, people and issues,

seeking active participation from an individual or a

group of individuals.

Poseidora

A 1 minute stopmotion animation made in 48 hours, looped

for projection upon the tunnel walls of the underground metro

station of Cubbon Park, Bangalore.

Weird Fiction,

Festival Of Stories 2016 | Art In Transit

20

An Artist Collaboration

Aparna Hegde | Karthika Sakthivel | Natasha Ranganath | Shraddha Tiwari

21

Lenses

I initially approached the project through the these lenses.

Potential Domains

MAPPING (Impact of scale)

Public Space

Involvement

Events

Showcasing Stories

Embracing culture, history and heritage

Contemporary/urban monument

Time travel/transportation/dimension

22

Brief

The Garden City. The Silicon City. The Smart City. The

Pensioners Paradise. The Exploding City. The Garbage

City. The Exclusive City. The World Class City. The

Pub City. The Young City. The City of Traffic Jams.

The Fastest Growing City.

There is an experience of what Bangalore was/is

today that predicates a multi layered imagination of

what Bangalore can be. Bangalore is an example of

“the city”, the nature of which is being brought into

question worldwide. The Art in Transit project looks

at the nature of this “city” through the Metro Rail

Transit System. It inquires how experience, memory

and fantasy invent the city and also allows for it’s

reimagining.

The metro within this metropolis is a semi-public space

that offers opportunities for congregation and social

networks. It is here that a diversity of people come

together with a common purpose of getting from

one point to another. The Art in Transit Collective

is interested in a trans-disciplinary framework that

engages through art and design practices with the

‘metro’ as a symbol of a changing city.

23

Thematic Interest

About a hundred kilometers south west of Paris lay the

city of Orléans. A quiet, peaceful town built around the

most magnificent Ste-Croix Cathedrale. This brilliant

structure looms majestically over the people of Orléans

and that of the neighbouring regions as they gather

before its façade for the annual Fêtes de Jeanne d'Arc.

I was privileged enough to be there during this festival

that celebrates the liberation of the city by Joan of Arc

during the Hundred Years War. One specific event that

takes place during this celebration is the screening of a

video upon the frontage of the cathedral.

This sound and light spectacle uses projectionmapping

technology to tell the story of Jeanne d’Arc,

almost playing out the scenes depicted on the stained

glass windows that line the sanctum. The story remains

the same yet the means to access it is different, layering

it further with artists’ representations and depictions.

Every year this magical performance draws quite a large

crowd to the central space outside of the monument,

engaging the public and thus encouraging mass

dialogue. Having stood through history, this cathedral

has served several functions over time but the role this

monument takes on today is what makes it an urban

monument. In the future the children of today will

be likely to associate the space with the communal act

of replaying the past and commemorating it together.

This sort of large-scale engagement between the public

and the history of the space is not specific only to this

city; as a matter of fact several monuments around the

world have lent their facades to being representative

living screens.

24

Fête de Jeanne d’arc 2016

Orléans Cathedrale, France

25

26

Film still from Swadesh (2004)

Rekindling the Lamp

We Indians love a good show. A look into

India’s rich storytelling background is

testament to this. However, the golden glow

of the lamp that projects shadow puppets upon planes

is diminishing. The grandmothers’saris and uncles’

dhotis stretched white across wooden posts forming

tactile surfaces for community film screenings are now

fading black. The essence that had managed to survive

the shift from analog to digital is now all of a sudden

grappling to stay alive. What has led to their demise?

What has happened to the opulent art of bringing our

history to life?

Community Theatre

To “re-establish a proper connection between culture

and community” (Projection Mapping the Past Project)

27

Modern monuments “tend to be con

Beacons of R

Icons of

or Markers

(Parkyn, Neil. 2000

28

nceived - and promoted - as

egeneration,

Change

s of a New.

00. “Modern Monuments.”)

29

Thesis Paper Notes

While studying pieces such as cave paintings

reveals the nature of the time period our

early ancestors belonged to, when taken

out of the original spatial context these images lose

their depth and dynamism. Zach Zorich in his article

Early Humans Made Animated Art explains “How

Paleolithic artists used fire to set the world’s oldest

art in motion” This rather important aspect of

storytelling is something we don’t get to experience,

because somehow not much importance is given to

understanding and maintaining the ‘staging’ (Zorich

2014)

“ The act, process, or result of imparting life, interest,

spirit, motion, or activity” is known as Animation.

“moving animation away from flatness and into real

space”

“Continually renewed spectacle from works of art”

POLLINATION

Sakthivel, Karthika 2016

“A Guardian’s Guide to Animating Spaces”

30

According to me an urban monument is that which

looks to the future whilst acknowledging its foundation.

I have come to believe that there are three key features

to any such monument and they are:-

* Preservation

* Revival

* Restoration

Modern Monument

Modern monuments “tend to be conceived -

and promoted - as Beacons of Regeneration,

Icons of Change or Markers of a New”

(Parkyn 2000, 102) this makes them vital driving

forces of an all round progressive society. By building

upon each other, they develop. Their makers take into

consideration both the past as well as the future in

order to conceive of an edifice that size and uniqueness

apart, hits home. (103)

Parkyn (2000) has articulated the purpose and nature

of a modern monument in the following quotation:

But the ultimate modern monument serves no purpose

at all, or at least not one which can be defended on

the grounds of strict functionality, such as the need

to span a river or keep valuable pictures dry. It exists

to entertain, with a tried and- tested combination of

suspense, surprise and the good old fashioned ‘Wow!’

factor. (102)

“It’s easy to forget that the way we illuminate the world affects

how we see it.” (Zorich 2014)

31

32

Part 1

Immersion 35

Site 60

33

34

Immersion

The Immersion period lasted two weeks. Multiple

exercises were given during this period to break

the ice and seamlessly enter the making space.

PROCESS

Mode of exploring and developing frames through

tactile engagement from the very beginning .

Iterate through making and develop a practice of

working in the context of live spaces.

35

make make make make make make make














36

make make make make make make














Process of making.

Research through practice – practice by making.

Respond through materiality.

37

1

Visceral Quality

Reading

History Lesson – Arthur C Clarke

Sacred Treasures (Sacred though their meaning had

been lost) : “ No one understood the treasures now.

They were from a past too distant for the understanding

of any man alive”

>> Man’s innate need to preserve !!

TIME CAPSULE

Spirit Vs Narrative

<< An object can exist without its context. This artifact

can transcend time, shed all its baggage, lose its primary

intent and purpose, yet exist. It possesses a certain

quality that speaks, irrespective of its situation.>>

What is this quality? Visceral!

Spirit

Make anything that is visceral, something that captures/

incites feeling. Something that has a spirit of it’s own

What do I make that can exist even when context is

stripped off?

Playing with the idea of screens – challenging

conventional notions of screens.

What happens when we project on a reflective surface?

STATIC - Aluminium Foil

Can your artwork incite feeling without explanations?

38

Set up (staging) : Theatre like, watching tv - static

39

Bird Watching

Sky, feathers, beak, eye – various textures stand out

Projecting static image, yet dynamic – appears 3D -‘Wow factor’

40

41

Soundscape

2 3

2) 10 min radius walk in pairs from Cubbon Park.

Switch routes and gather sounds.

Re-imagine space as soundscape.

Everything sounded almost like a call,

Recurring HELLO?

HELLO?(Lawyers) HELLO? (Squirrel) HELLO?

(Bird)

3) Exchange soundscapes, forget Cubbon Park,

Visualize/Re imagine space, respond to sound piece

TANYA SINGH’S PIECE

Data Collection with Sai

42

Uneven dishes

clink and scrape

as pumice stones

exfoliate

A swimming boat

accumulates

dancing light

to rehydrate

shards of a river

that coagulates

(Textual Response)

Poetic Response

Crystallization

How to crystallize water?

Material Exploration – to capture quality as mentioned

in text

NORIHIKO TERAYAMA : Natural Ruler

SASH SIKES

PIA Wüstenberg

Epoxy Resin – Casting – Form of preservation

Araldite Clear

43

STATIC- Illusion of movement

This could be a stopmotion set for water scenes.

Dynamic Static

4

4) Push the visualization forward (Post feeback)

The tableau nature of the piece is problematic and is

too literal a representation.

Using text as anchor : Expand

44

45

Scenarios

Scenarios :

References:

SOPHIA COLLIER

TONY FEHER

LISA CAHILL

SHAYNA LEIB

MILES VAN RENSSELAER

BAPTISTE DEBOMBOURG

LISA KELLNER

CHRISPIAN HEATH

CRAIG KAUFFMAN

CD's

Broken CDs

“A swimming boat accumulates dancing light”

Refection, Texture, Light

46

Sugar Glass

SUGAR GLASS : White sugar, water, lemon, blue

food coloring [ Recipe : earthwulf (youtube) ]

47

Frame of Reference

Alice in Wonderland, to recreate sense of place

References:

GHISLAINE VINAS

MIN JEONG SEO

D & G FALL 2016 – Botanical Garden

SLEAZE BURGER in PARADISE

EUROPERAS

Sugar glass

A magazine collage

48

49

50

5

Erasure

5) @ Dhanvantri

Reading : Public Art and the Space – Stefan Gaie

Tilted Arc – Richard Serra

Humanizing Space

“What is the difference between space and place?” (YI-

FU-TUAN)

Place: Humanized Space

ARTIST POSITION

(to throw open processes)

MEDIATOR

FACILITATOR

SCULPTOR

INVADER

CHOREOGRAPHER

Permanence and Impermanence

Public place art is built on privilege, value and respect

Collective Ownership “You are also part of the public”

Ownership Vs Authorship

Image Maker | Viewer | Owner

1st wall painting experience.

Hissssstory

( Someone took the effort of wrapping a dead rat in

newspaper before throwing it at us) Group collectively

decided not to work in this space. “No feel”

51

"I made this"

52

"This is Mine"

53

Minsk Square, Bangalore

Bangalore Square, Minsk

54

6

Coolant

6) Erase existing structure at Minsk Square and

imagine an intervention in its place.

At present a coolant/chiller plant sits upon Mink

Square, a spot that earlier housed the aircraft HAL

Ajeet and the ‘Unknown Soldier’ both of which

have been displaced and relocated during the metro

construction and eventually replaced by the LCA Tejas.

Town Twinning

Bangalore and Minsk are sister cities. Minsk Square

was named after the capital of Belarus – Minsk.

Similarly Minsk has a square named ‘Bangalore Square’

where public protests and traditional annual rallies are

organized by Belarusian opposition. Apart from this

usual activities include strolling and dog walking.

Msm – minsk square matters

Exchange Relationship : Economy, Trade, Education,

Cultural Info, Technology

Relocation and Replacement

Exploring the ‘Twinning’ and ‘Exchange’ between

Bangalore and Minsk

Exploding the circle that currently exists into interactive

rotating fixtures that boast of realtime remote camera

control.

Minsk will have a similar structure thus facilitating

direct interaction with sister city

3D Dichroic Film Gallery

Mirror Circle example

55

Jugalbandhi

7

7) Drupad Music session. Process and Time. Structure

(Existing framework/material) + Improv

Jugalbandhi – Choose a theme. Back and forth.

Dialogue between practice and reflection. “emerging

third element”

Working with Nandita Ratan

Pampering? Vanity? Luxury?

Siren Call : The enticing appeal of something alluring

but potentially dangerous”

Mermaid’s song

Pied Piper and his flute

Snow White’s apple

Red button

Illusion

Fire

Moths to a flame

Web

Reference to Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson

“A charmed web she weaves away”, “Out flew the web

and floated wide”

Experience: Dark room, one light (backlight), running

fan (wind +whirr), larger than life web, larger shadows.

One person at a time

Alluring : Light and Shadow

Potentially dangerous : Larger than life, scale, absence

of spider

Nandita Ratan’s representations

Material : Fish wire and hot glue

Giant Web

56

57

58

Why "Why?"?

The process of making without dwelling far

too long on the ‘why’ really gave me an

opportunity to try out things I normally would

have dismissed as a result of questioning it too much.

It led to interesting discoveries and countless ‘wow’

moments. I believe this instinctive approach is a good

way to start any process, keeping the excitement alive.

59

60

Site

The Art in Transit Project is site specific, located

at and around the Cubbon Park Metro Station.

The Station has large underground areas and

multiple above ground entrances. By the nature of

their location , Cubbon Park Metro Station is the

access point to places of social, economical, historical

and cultural interaction be it MG Road, Shivajinagar,

Cunningham Road, Cubbon Park, Chinnaswamy

Stadium, NGMA and the various other museums and

shopping districts in the area. The station offers varied

social, economical, political, historical, locomotive and

cultural points of entry to the center of Bangalore City.

During our first official site visit we were urged to

respond to site the same way we approached the

immersion exercises – instinctively.

While on the walk, several spots within and around the

station caught my attention almost immediately.

61

62

Part 2

Cyanotype Picnic 69

The Compendium 84

Weighing Machine 92

63

64

Interventions

(Festival 1)

The Festival of Stories was a platform that offered an

opportunity with a real time deadline to create work.

65

Neralu Tree

Glow in the dark : Radium paint – charges on uv light. If we could re

string dry leaves coated in glow paint onto the tree, it would provide

shade during the day and light at night having charged through the day.

- Magical

Can buildings and trees coexist?

New Mythologies (around trees) : The Compendium of Common Flora

Vol V – An illustrated botanical manual written by Aparna Hegde and

Karthika Sakthivel

Projecting on Trees – Need darkness, footfall at night? Park closes,

Ecological? Bringing electricity into the park…

66

Within the Festival of Stories framework,

Neralu* Tree Festival 2017 (18th and 19th Feb) :

Crowd funded Citizen Initiative

Experience of shade, Celebrate trees everyday.

BRIEF: Event based, under the tree activities, multilingual,

participatory, low cost, ecologically sound.

ee Festival

Challenge : Minimize print(paper) based artwork

Opportunities for interventions :

Tree Walks

Audio Interaction

Wood wide web (www) – Theory

about how trees communicate with

one another under the ground with

their roots

67

In the spirit of making we quickly came up with ideas for

interventions and jumped right into action.

Things Needed

68

1

Cyanotype Picnic

Large scale cyanotype : picnic in the park

Light and Shade

Participatory – activity-event

Tangible memory making

Act of preservation

Imprint

TECHNIQUE

@alternativephotography.com

1) Mixing Chemicals :- Potassium Ferricyanide and

Ferric Ammonium Citrate

2) Canvas :- Pick any naturally absorbant material, coat

and dry in the dark

3) Printing :- Objects or negatives are placed on

material to make a print. The cyanotype is printed

using UV light.

4) Processing and Drying:- Rinse in water to fix image

Soln A

25 g Ferric Ammonium Citrate + 100 ml Distilled

water

+(Equal parts)

Soln B

10 g Potassium Ferricyanide + 100 ml Distilled Water

Converting spare room and bathroom into darkrooms.

1st tries – EPIC FAILURES

69

I ended up creating an ‘Anti Cyanotype’ and disappearing prints.

WHY??

I was numbing myself to failure.

Fix

Solutions

1) Revised Formula ( Tried & tested by Abhiyaan and

Ravi Anna)

22.5 g Ferric Ammonium Citrate

8 g Potassium Ferricyanide

2) Dry overnight (time) : Giving up after the anti

cyanotype fiasco, I left the coated papers in the room

overnight. When I tried my luck the day after, Voila!

It worked! Guess the Chemicals need to be absorbed

into the fibre.

'Anti Cyanotype'

3) Coat Material in minimal light : Just because the

chemical is ‘UV’ light sensitive doesn’t mean you can

have the tubelight blazing. Work in the dark with

minimal light.

4) The more expensive water color paper

70

World’s largest cyanotype (2015) Shootapalooza,

A Smith Gallery

https://shootapalooza.wordpress.

com/2015/11/22/the-worlds-largest-cyanotype/

Risk

Rosie Emerson – Hackney Wicked Arts Festival

(2014)

https://www.riseart.com/article/2014-08-05-

rosie-emerson-beats-world-record-for-world-sbiggest-cyanotype

“They are professionals, you

may not have the experience

to pull off such a large

cyanotype”

. . . Well I wish to take a risk

71

Light Tests

@ Park

Getting the exposure right for a particular time

of the day.

9:00 a.m -better

3:00 p.m – Probably not, shadows are shifting

drastically…

Water Disposal

Source – Pipe? No water source near park.

20 l mineral water cans.

The Chemical waste being toxic cannot be disposed

off just anywhere.

- Drain near Chinnaswamy exit? Ask Cleaning staff..

- Metro Toilet – too far to walk

- Ask Nalini Shekar (Hasirudala)

- 20 l mineral water cans can hold the chemical too,

this can be disposed at any toilet.

72

Orchestration

How will I orchestrate the event?

How will I gather people? – Neralu Tree

Walks culminate @ 9:00 am @ Gazebo

What objects will they place?

How much agency do I give them?

Picking spot with ideal patch of sun, and trees to

conduct the picnic and hang fabric to dry.

Choosing Fabric

Fabric Crisis (Paper seemed easier)

Cheap cotton handkerchiefs – wrinkly, not

absorbant enough

Shreyasi Kar “Queen of Cyanotype” suggested 100 %

cotton since it is – lighter, easier to handle, and doesn’t

absorb too much chemical.

Tip : Always wash new fabric in warm water to rid it of

starch and other chemical impurities.

KORA COTTON

Preparing the Fabric

9X12 ft fabric

Wash in warm water

Dry, iron

Coat with sol n in dark room

Clip with binder clips to tarpaulin and roll

Wrap in black plastic

#Pros

More ideal for good image

Cheaper

#Cons

Heavy

Hard to manage

Absorbs more chemicals

73

74

Project Profile

We sit in the neralu* cast by a tree upon a

blanket, feasting on the puliyogre packed

in our lunch box while listening to the

birds chirp from atop the mighty branches. Light and

shadows intricately mark our bodies establishing an

immediate relationship with these natural umbrellas.

Is it possible to record this moment?

The act of taking a photograph in itself is an act

of preservation, wherein cyanotype is a kind of

photographic printing that allows for a more tactile and

intimate imprint to be developed. Since the process is

activated by exposure to UV light it is also referred to

as sun prints.

So join us for a picnic in the park, through which we

seek to capture -using our physical forms- and tangibly

preserve, the memory of the communal experience of

neralu.

*Shade (In Kannada)

75

Event

- Load vehicle with all materials and water cans

- Cover fabric rolls with more cloth (just to be safe)

- Unload items @ park (gazebo)

- Pour water into pools

Long wait for participants

- Briefing – Volunteers and Participants

- Picnic Props : Participants can choose any item from

mat to place on the fabric.

- Unfurling (With assistance)

- Exposure – 10 minutes

- Race to water pool

- Wash - @ metro toilet

- Hang to dry @ park

- Reload water into cans for disposal

REPEAT

76

Failure

1st fabric – Failed attempt – Owing to improper

guidelines given by me. No contact between cloth

and object therefore there were no white spaces.

77

78

Team Work

Post failure of 1st fabric everyone got really

pumped about it. “Let’s do this people”, they

said. They organized themselves into groups.

(Volunteers and Participants). Everything was more

planned and organized.

Team Work

Power to the People!

2nd fabric – SUCCESS – Selfie Perfect- thanks to

Public Initiative

I learnt that it is always best to have backup.

79

Family : My crew-support system

You can always count on family. The labour intensive process

demanded more sets of hands.

80

Memory

The cyanotype picnic for me was a physical act of

memory making. When I think of my process

of making it, what immediately comes to my

mind is color. Light and Dark. I coated the fabric in

a tiny dark room; where all I could see were my hands

and their shadows. I can remember the brownish

coating on the fabric. My estimation of the size of

the fabric was relative to the room I inhabited. “It is a

LARGE piece of fabric”, “ We will be taking a GIANT

photograph” I kept saying. Only when I brought the

cloth to the park did I actually realize how small it really

was. Or perhaps it was really big, who knows.

Me previous visits to the park, brought to vision its

endlessness however on the day of the picnic, my eyes

were focused on the ground. I intended for the picnic

to be about watching the sky and the trees, but instead

I watched their shadows interact with the bodies on the

fabric. I was viewing ‘The Park’ through a 9X12 ft piece

of fabric. All I can remember is the blue.

#corporeal_memory

81

82

83

Cyanotype Picnic (Print II)

9X12 ft

2

The Compendium

The Compendium of Common Flora Vol V

Co Artists: Aparna Hegde & Karthika

Sakthivel

New Mythologies around trees

In the spirit of Neralu.

Revisiting Revisit 2016

This project started out of self interest to a brief

given during Revisit 2016. We found ourselves getting

really invested in it. We absolutely enjoyed donning the

personas we created to generate the content.

Neralu provided us with a platform to take that project

forward and make it public.

Review & Edit

When it comes to public spaces, text becomes

problematic. Language dictates the

inclusiveness or exclusiveness of the piece.

Considering the fact that this book is largely a play

on the English language it doesn’t translate well. The

stories read terribly in kannada, the puns don’t work.

We decided against translation for it comprises the

literary components of the piece.

Mean A** - Recurring adjective in narrative

Avoiding use of profanity in public space, replace with

another adjective that evokes similar feel.

Roley Poley? Absitively Posolutely?

Bombat? (Kannada word)

Sakkath! (Kannada word)

Mean a**

Review phrases used and make it more local and

relevant

Ye Olde Time

Mixtape

84

Book Launch

Challenge

Book Launch – No author panel, author

anonymous – preserves charm

Planning an event – Could perhaps be an event

from the book

Tea Party – Final event in the book

However

Constraint – Avoid the usage of paper, try using

alternate media

Opportunity – Let’s not view this as a

constraint, rather find a creative way to work around it

Original Plan – Hardcover Book

But printing even a few copies still goes against the

brief.

Plan needs to change

How can we widen audience range without mass

printing?

Digital!

85

Digital Form

a) PDF

- Downloadable, can be shared

- QR Code – No one really scans this to be honest…

How many people even have a QR Code scanner?

- Will they have space on phone?

- Interactive PDF – Not so great in terms of effect

b) APP

- Why would I download this? I don’t even have space

on my phone for whatever apps I do need

- Operating system problems

c) WEBSITE

Website

– Can be accessed from anywhere

– throws open audience

A page that mimics the layout of

picture charts for children.

Grid that works like instagram and

image gallery

Chris Ware

Hectic packed busy layout like Chris

Ware’s work.

86

Navigation & Layout

How will they access it? How do we promote it?

Host on Art in Transit website with

Sujata’s help due to short timeline we chose to work

with a website building platform called weebly. We

deconstructed the book into webpages.

ABOUT | REVIEWS | GLOSSARY | ABOUT THE AUTHOR | FEED US BACK

87

Project Profile

Disclaimer

All characters appearing in this work are purely

fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or

dead is purely <confidential>

An ajji’s* memorabilia consists of a variety of

ingredients; a miniscule pinch of facts, a bubbling pint

of her childhood ventures and sacksful of her wonky

imagination. This concoction then proceeds to gather

new meanings and associations over time brewing

story-scapes that had once taken root in her mind’s eye,

passing from generation to generation.

The Compendium thus brings to you, spruced up

illustrated narratives that stem from the collective

imagination of the authors built upon their ajjis’ potent

reserves of botanical folklore. So rediscover the flora

of Bengaluru through suspicious superstitions, frumpy

facts and scandalmongering stories.

* Ajji is what you call your grandmother and her old

lady friends and other old ladies who are not her

friends.

88

89

Access

How to make people interact with a website?

Blow it up – enable interaction then and there

Set Up :

Homely, Grandma’s Chairs, Projection of Website,

Mouse on side table to browse (wifi), Revisiting Card

takeaways

90

Can Chair Rental

1 chair : will seem too removed and lonely,

people may not approach it

2 chairs: more cozy, in case they bring somebody

Event

The Humour was surprisingly well received. We

were concerned that not many will get the kind

of humour presented in the book. However

people seemed to be tsking it well. They left amused,

laughing.

The interactive exhibit also facilitated conversations. I

met a few members from a group called Fingercharts –

A bunch of peoplw who meet at the Edward Statue

every weekend from 3-6. Hearing impaired members

teach and learn sign language. They showed interest in

the Festival of Stories and were open to us sitting in on

their sessions, learning the language. This could inform

the mode in which we tell stories.

91

Weighing Machine

>> Story Vending Machine

Being on site, reminded me of the brightly lit weighing

machines that one used to find at the railway stations

that for a meager sum of one rupee would print one’s

weight as well as a prediction.

I wondered where they went, and if I could convert

them into story telling contraptions.

Longterm

Storytelling Device/Contraption

Obsolete Machine

The machines designed by the British, were plain.

During Indira Gandhi’s tenure, in order to promote

Indian made goods, the local companies redesigned

the model and made it their own; the bright lights,

the works. They added the magic. These went on to

fascinating the nation, exuding happiness and positivity.

Pudgy children were made to feel good about their

bodies “Eat to your heart’s content” it would say.

However, in the year 2013 most of these automatons

were withdrawn from their sites owing to insufficient

revenue generation, What if these machines

now buried in bottomless go-downs could resurface,

assuming different roles? What if these nostalgia

inducing machines could communicate with one

another? What if these machines could engage people

by vending stories instead?

“If there was anything that

could take the sting out of being

told that you were medically

obese, it was a machine that was

practically a pyschadelic fury of

happiness”

(Why I will miss the local weighing machine when it’s

phased out’, Apoorva Dutt

Firstpost – July 05 2013)

225 Kg Machine (Ironically Overweight)

92

93

Track & Order

“Please madam, those are

outdated, buy my product,

it is digital, it is more

accurate”

Track down Machine

@Brigade Road

Outside Nilgiris

Eastern Scales – Company is shut

Who owns this?

Visit 1 : Come again later

Visit 2: Come again later

Visit 3: ‘These are 0utdated’ – gives number

Mr. Ratan (Dada) – “ There are only 6- 7 machines in

Bangalore”

Godown in Calcutta

15-20 days – Rs.25,000

Balaji Antiques – No stock

In attempt to trace them down online, I registered with

Indiamart. A large amount of calls I received were

from people selling the new digital machines

Shikhar Enterprises, Delhi

Rs. 75,000 Per piece

Dada’s quote

Cheaper

But

No Invoice

No Bill

No Guarantee

Border Tax – ‘Not for Sale’

Adobe is willing to support/fund- Girls and Code

– Storyscape – Stories of people and places and

experience

94

Opportunities

OPPORTUNITIES for Interaction

Audio

Visual

Text - Physical print (Multilingual)

Physical appearance (Paint etc.)

Exploiting these possibilities in order to

build a novel storyvending contraption.

Could perhaps set up communication with San

Francisco

Railway Station Visits

Cantonment : Station Master –“No, they have been

removed, try city railway station”

City Railway Station : Station Manager -“ They were

taken back by the suppliers a few years ago, we don’t

know where they took them”

Revive or Reimagine it?

Do I want to recollect the unused objects from the

godowns and give them new life by repurposing them

or do I want to reconstruct it from memory, attempting

to recreate experience?

Eg. Storyvending Machine

France (SNCF)

-Categorised by 3-5 minute reads

-Diversion from Digital screen

-Providing platform, visibility and recognition

unpublished aspiring authors

95

96

Project Profile

Once upon a time,

in lands with passageways,

there lined up magic boxes,

with much to say

They weren’t mere toys

for they predicted great joy,

no matter too weighty,

no matter too light

But one fine day

their lights went out,

their plugs were pulled

They were sent away

.

.

.

Operate, resuscitate,

celebrate, let’s play,

for it’s evergreen stories

are here to stay

97

Potential Sites

Approval Meeting

Anticipating Arrival of Machine

-Do they work as singular pieces?

-Do we sprinkle them across stations?

Pitch

Realworld Experience

Always Address as Mr. or Ms.

Acknowledge power, position and knowledge.

It was my first time pitching an idea to an external

person. It was a terrifying experience, but I understood

the hardwork that goes behind seeking approval.

98

“Artists

are mad

people”

Well, they aren’t entirely wrong…

99

Seminar 1

I

wanted my seminar to be a theatrical experience. I

decided to have it in picnic format, spreading my

cyanotype in the park, using it as a base to display

my work.

100

Struggle= Learning?

101

102

Part 3

Proposal 106

Charting 123

Pitch 143

103

Logline

The Out of Station project plays out as a series

of public interventions that work towards

constructing an urban monument. By adopting

a rigorous process of making I seek to generate a

gallery of remodeled artifacts, imparting them with a

fresh voice and renewed purpose. Each exhibit then

serves its time outside the gallery, situating itself in

areas of transit, rewriting and retelling timeworn

stories in novel ways.

OUT OF STATION

(Title; 2017)

104

...

Exciting stories are in store

for you in the near future

Poster Campaign – built upon curiosity

105

MATERIAL/RESOURCES

CONTEXT

Proposal

Areas of transit mark change. They mark the end

of one journey and the beginning of another. The

transient nature of these spaces is what makes them

interesting multilayered landscapes. In dynamic

environments such as these there lies great potential

to regenerate stories both old and new in a multimodal

manner.

By making use of entities that embody this very change

and tapping into Man’s innate need to preserve I wish

to work towards building an urban monument that

stands by Parkyn’s earlier statement.

Through the Out of Station project I would like to look

at other such objects that are no longer considered

‘relevant’ and bring them back, but with a makeover

that re-contextualizes and repurposes them. The

intention is to convert these timeless objects into

storytelling contraptions. The nature of these stories

would predominantly emerge from my mediated and

unmediated interaction with the public.

I hope to revise the prescribed functionality of existing

artifacts, unearthing a gallery that acts as a transit space

for these objects, as they move from one place to

another, assimilating and accumulating fresh meanings

and associations. This challenges the conventional

roles of museums and galleries as removed spaces that

exclusively exhibit that which paradoxically seeks and

demands inclusion.

As a public artist it is only natural to consider site and

the public as a rich and brimming resource. Cubbon

Park being a primary site for the Art in Transit project

lies within a fertile radius, populated by monuments,

museums, fountains, parks and galleries etc. With it

comes a corpus of resources, references and stories

waiting to be unfurled. Through continuous dialogue

with the public and the spaces they inhabit I aim to

amass a potent reserve of tales.

This project also demands the usage of objects that are

now termed as ‘aged’ as well as systems and networks

that have been deemed ‘outdated’. Public art practice

is highly reliant on what one would normally disregard

as ‘pragmatics’, thus making it a big challenge to gain

access to these ‘unavailable’ objects.

APPROACH/PROCESS

I plan to undertake this project with a different

approach than I have been used to so far. During the

immersion period I was introduced to the idea of

learning through a regular and rigorous practice of

making. With respect to art in public spaces I believe

the act of actually ‘making’ is of utmost importance.

How else can one know the impact of an artwork

without putting it out there and gathering response? By

adopting this non-linear rather radial approach I hope

to garner skills that enable me to develop this project

in a more wholesome manner.

It is my need to contribute to the creation of interactive

pieces that move “away from flatness and into real

space” (Eric Dyer- Copenhagen Cycles) that drives

me to experiment with materiality and interactivity,

and urges me to explore the extent to which it can be

expanded. For instance Nicolas Schoffer’s introduction

of cybernetics into sculpture makes it possible to

obtain a “continually renewed spectacle from works of

art”. This idea is also something that I wish to explore

through my own practice.

1

Habasque, Guy, and Mona Tobin. 1957. “Notes on a

New Trend: Multidimensional Animated Works.” Yale

French Studies, no. 19/20: 35-44.

106

RESEARCH

Devising concepts for a location requires a fair share

of spatial experience and ethnographic understanding.

This can be achieved by arranging for field trips,

spending time on site, inhaling the atmosphere and

sniffing out nuances that incite thought.

CYSP 1 (1956)

Nicolas Schoffer

Building upon my primary research (through firsthand

experiences and dialogue with the public/concerned

parties) and secondary research (through reading

relevant books, journals and articles, visiting museums,

libraries and centers of culture) is impertinent to

my project and will inherently inform my newfound

process of making.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How can one take that which is ‘outmoded’ and

‘obsolete’ and give it alternate meaning and purpose?

Do objects necessarily have to be functional to

be regarded significant? How does one determine

‘functionality’?

How does one construct an urban monument?

What is a museum/gallery if not a space for

mummification?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Getting a handle on how to engage people through

inclusiveness and interactivity is a crucial step towards

effective communication. As an artist I hope to cultivate

this by developing an immersive and committed

approach towards building a relationship with the

people through the deconstruction and reconstruction

of artifacts, assimilating a wealth of stories in the

process.

Copenhagen Cycles

Eric Dyer

107

108

Artifacts of Interest

Chosen based on relevance to proximal

landmarks (GPO, BSNL, VITM) and inherent

nature of space i.e. an area of transit.

Objects such as these occupy a space for far longer

than we possibly could. This gives them character and

over time we find that they become the space. One

could consider them to be urban land markers.

In a new space such as the metro station I believe it

is important to ease people into an experience. Use

something they know to explore something they don’t.

Using familiarity to chart unfamiliar waters.

109

Post Box

During my exchange semester I picked

up certain habits from my newfound

international friends. They were still very

much in touch with the written form and sent

postcards to their loved ones, regularly. Also there was

no shortage of such postcards in public spaces. It was

foreign to me, I don’t ever recall sending a postcard,

or even a letter for that matter. Upon returning to

India, I received these postcards from my friends in

other countries. There was something about this form

that was so personal. The joy of receiving mail is really

something.

I was thinking of using this existing system of

networks to leverage a certain practice that is now

growing obsolete.

Indian Post promotes personalization. Their MyStamp

feature allows you to even personalize your own

stamps. However can anything get more personal than

handwriting? Sadly, hand written letters have become

a thing of the past. In this digital age can we revive

that charm, making use of the existing networks and

systems?

110

'My Stamp'

The minute I learned that I can get my face

printed on a postage stamp I knew I needed to

do it. How wonderful would that be? I stopped

by the philatelic bureau at the GPO only to find myself

amidst ardent stamp collectors who were having

intellectual conversations I couldn’t comprehend. It

was a whole different world out there. I got them to

print my face on a stamp sheet, tacky flowers and all.

What if we could get Art in Transit stamps printed for

the festival and distribute them to the visitors, giving

them an opportunity to post directly from the metro

station?

111

Yellow Pages

The equivalent of googling ourselves in the past would be to find

our names in the telephone directory. What else can one do with

this dictionary of numbers?

112

Phone Booth

The number of yellow phone booths began

dwindling with the growth of mobile phone

usage in the country. Most of these intimate

cubicles, abandoned, now house defunct payphones.

However the structure of the booths is such that most

owners have found ways in which to repurpose them.

They have now been turned into tea stalls, magazine

stands and broadband hubs.

Can stepping into these booths transport you?

113

Telegraph

I

had my eyes set on the old telegraph building

adjoining the metro station ever since I set foot

on site. Seeing as I was working with obsolete

technology I also took interest in the telegraph system.

In 2013 (It appears to be a year of change) India

withdrew its 163-year-old telegraph service owing to

insufficient revenue generation and advent of cheaper

and faster messaging services. People flocked to the

office on the day of closure to send their last telegram

ever, a memento of sorts. It was said that the last

114

115

Morse code tape machine,

Porthcurno Telegraph Museum

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thedcms/6732021361

-.- .- - - .- / -.- .- -.. .- / -.- .- - - .-

Sonification

Not knowing what a telegram or a telegraph even

looked like I did quick image searches. I found a

particular kind of telegraph that made use of what is

known as the perforated tape mechanism. The sheer

form of it reminded me of the music box (another

obsolete mechanism), that works using punched tape

inputs.

It got me wondering what it would be like if I could

sonically or rather musically interpret these messages.

What would happen if I could musically decode and

broadcast these personal encrypted messages across

the station?

Papertape Music Box

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/listen-to-themystical-music-box-version-of-haddaways-what-islove

116

Telegraph Office

telegraph ever sent must be preserved as a museum

piece.

I

visited the BSNL office situated behind the

Cubbon Park Metro Station in hopes of learning

more about these tapes and if I could get my hands

on some archives. It was where I met Mr. Kanikadas,

who introduced me to Mr. Krishnamurthy and Mr.

Thomas and spoke enthusiastically of the days past.

“Katta Kada

Katta Kada”

,the ‘telegraphists’ sing, eyes bright as they reminisce

about their early working days. Now before a desktop

computer they sit, the typing of the keyboard cutting

though the silence.

They embody the sound like they would - music; their

heads bobbing from side to side, a finger in the air.

9 months, they spent learning the language of dots

and dashes- the language of these machines- that then

birthed a wave of musically attuned harbingers.

The pieces fell into place. The musical element was

undeniably dominant, and yes it was almost like a

broadcast of secrets. And this communication so

happened to have taken place along railway lines.

While there definitely was an oral history component

to this, the punched tapes I was looking for had been

deemed outdated for far too long, and there were no

archives of any sort that I could refer to.

“They used to be like walkie talkies,” they explain.

A personal message sent across these lines could

essentially be heard by everyone. These messengers in

their lifetime had heard everything.

“The lines were laid alongside the railways” It was

the straightest path. Seems as though transport and

communication took off side by side.

They talk about the machines they held on to, “They

are meant for the museum” they say. It’s been three

years; the machine still locked in their iron closet, is

presented before me with gusto.

These men, eager to talk about their memories

117

Qurio City

In hopes of finding a telegraph machine of the

punching kind I visited a quaint little antique shop

off Commercial Street. Mr. Ramachandra’s tiny

store was up to its brim with timeless objects. He didn’t

have what I was looking for but he had a stash of blank

‘Telegram Greetings’.

118

Telegram Collection

Lucky for me I had members of my family who

had held on to the telegrams they received back

in their day. They were kind enough to mail

them over to me so I could take a look at them.

119

?

?

Artistic Enquiry?

“End of an Era”- I find myself reading; online

articles seem to churn out this headline like copy

machines. I note a cycle of birth and rebirth, an

acceptance of the lifespan of things.

“Those and all are outdated madam” – a phrase I heard

way too many times during my enquiries.

If these machines, belonging to a world different from

our own, bring with them- stories, perhaps we could

yet again make room for them in ours.

?

What stories do my machines

tell?

Vending Machine : GIVE and TAKE

What do they exchange?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

?

?

I wondered if I should ask people what they wanted

to hear from the machine but that seemed counter

productive since they themselves stood on the machine

asking a question.

This is where I got STUCK !

It appeared as though I was missing Artistic Enquiry.

It bothered me.

What was artistic enquiry anyway?

?

120

Observation

@

Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological

Museum

I

was fortunate enough to meet with Mr. Madan

Gopal, a curator at The Visvesvaraya Industrial

and Technological Museum. The museum houses

an old weighing machine and since I couldn’t really get

my hands on one yet, I decided to see if I could get

permission to sit by it and observe. I sat watching the

machine and how people interacted with it.

People who stood far away were drawn to it by its light.

Some removed their shoes almost reverentially before

stepping on it. Others didn’t know what it was. It was

a day well spent, however I was still uncertain about

my next step.

Circus

Considering how my weighing machine possesses

a certain charm that is almost carnival like, the

colors, lights, the works, I decided to make a

trip to the Rambo Circus, performing in Yelahanka. I

must say I wasn’t disappointed with the visuals. It may

not have influenced my project but it was certainly an

event worth experiencing.

121

122

Charting

I

decided to make use of a tool I picked up in

Semester 7 to work my way out of this creative

block. I took to charting and mapping my every

thought. I sought to exhaust all those exciting ideas

that were holding me back through this process.

123

124

125

Chart #1

Chart #2

126

127

Chart #3

128

129

Examples

Molson Canadian

Beer Fridge

Opens only on voiceinput of 15 different languages

http://ihistorie.blogspot.in/2009/11/voice-ograph-plate-innspilling-kiosk.html

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/google-andmolson-teamed-up-to-create-a-voice-activated-beerfridge-that-understands-40-lanugages/

Voice - o - graph

Vintage Machine

Records for 60 secs, prints phonograph

Can be posted

https://www.r3dd.it/u/fnaxq/new/

130

Characterization

World Building

Three points stood out from my charting

process, I spoke of them with much more

passion than I did, the others; these happened

to be associated with characterization.

1)Tantalizing, Seductive, Alluring creature

2) POV of Machine – Heavy creature that has

been around in one place for a very long time,

sitting and writes memoirs

*

3) Sensitive

Based on these points of references, I began to create

a world for my collection of artifacts.

However my initial short tweet-like pieces didn’t

resonate. They took on a sad tone and were rather

contradictory to what I envisioned the machine to

sound like.

I needed to turn the tables. I needed to find out what it

knows, that I don’t know about.

If I were to categorize these disjointed tweet like

thoughts they would mostly fall under :-

MIGRATION. MOVEMENT. HOME.

UNDERGROUND. LOCATIVE. BODY.

NATURE. MOMENT. PLACE

@wikipedia

I

went on to read about how one should go about

constructing worlds and writing happy stories, to

get me through this dilemma.

Fictional Universe : Worldbuilding

– History, Geography, Ecology

– Creation of Maps, a backstory, people

Paracosm

Real world physics – Magic

Creating Immersion – ‘Enchantment’

Storyville : Happy, Not Sappy

By Richard Thomas

-Dark into the light

-Lose the dark crutches

-Emotional truths

-Avoid the melodramatic

-Don’t win every battle

-Things still need to happen

-Happiness is subjective

Designing Worlds

Top down approach:

Determine Broad Characteristics such as inhabitants,

technology level, major geographic features, climate

and history.

In increasing detail.

Bottom-up approach:

Small part needed for my purpose

Location Details – Local Geography, culture, social

structure, government, politics, commerce and history.

Relationships

Inferred world : Drop hints about world.

131

I ultimately closed my eyes and meditated, ever so

gradually forms materialized in my mind. I could see

a moment repeating itself over and over again. I sat

down to write what I saw, and after a few edits, this is

what it looked like.

The nth Wave

It was a Sundae. The mass could sense a tug, ever so

gentle. It must be the Moon they thought, playing

her silly games, jealous of the Sun’s all but one-day

custody of the populace. Dismissing the pull, they lay

all day, basking in his warmth; their cold metal bodies

slowly turning bright pucker red. Amma was always

against indulging them this way. “ But they need to

experience the Worlds” Appa would explain. Amma,

still blinded by Appa’s ever-radiant charm, learnt to

turn a dark phase to such days.

132

As twilight approached, the tickled red moody lot of

them grew anxious. It was the part of their date they

looked forward to the most- story time. Appa’s light

grew dimmer. The pull from before grew stronger.

“Now don’t go telling your Amma, remember, this

is our little secret” he says, popping open the little

hatches to the glass case- the one that enclosed ‘The

Book’. ‘The Book’ was considered special and was

hardly ever opened; however it curiously grew chunkier

as the seasons went by. Now hovering closer to the

horizon, the golden yellow glow of ‘The Book’ danced

against Appa’s steadily retreating rays, as he read from

its packed pages.

Everything he read sounded almost like a chorus. It

resonated within them, like music, like touch. The tug

turned into a tingle. It tingled them weightless, bubbled

up their skins. Ruby orbs sparked awake within their

iron cage bodies; hatched bulbs escaped like flares into

the night; the skies were lit by their electric numbers.

Guiding Narrative

This time the Cherry Bugs had managed to brew up

the perfect storm, put on the most spectacular display.

Like moths to a flame, the ogling group advanced,

entranced by this rubicund constellation that painted

with light, seduced by their pulse, their aliveness.

Tethered by the long black roots they followed wide

eyed, enamored by the alluring creatures that had

emerged from within them. They were led high and low,

near and far. Blip. Blop. Blip. Blop. As it grew colder

they gazed into their filamentous hearts, warming up to

the possibility of other Worlds, beyond the hills.

The Brown Paper Mountain was where they got inked.

Amma’s “They aren’t old enough for a tattoo!” was

drowned by the drone like fluttering of a zillion bugs.

Like a volcano, the mount spewed the tickets, assigning

places to the faces, now black dots with binary lives.

For it was time- the great Cherry Bug migration.

The gravity of the situation was yet to set in.

But Appa was finally taking them -

‘Out of Station’.

.

.

Back in the dark void:

“They grow up so fast” Amma whispered, afraid that

she might awaken them, afraid that she might just stir

the next wave; of rows and columns, of glass cases, of

sleeping mechanisms, of many faces.

‘The Book’ was now one volume thicker.

A decrypted leave letter read “Don’t worry Amma, we

promise we will call!”

133

http://www.themoodringshop.com

Linger a Little Longer

Jay Watson

Material Inspiration

Writing this threw open a variety of materials

that I could possibly use to evoke moments

such as this.

The ‘moody’ sensitive machines got me thinking about

the mood rings we used to wear as children- that were

made to seem as though they change color according

to our mood. This particular phenomena occurs upon

change in body temperature.

THERMOCHROMIC PIGMENTS: are available

in the market that can be mixed with paint. They

turn colorless when exposed to a certain temperature

revealing the layer beneath. I wondered what it

would be like if I could coat the machine with such

a pigment. Would it demand to be touched? Would it

respond by leaving an imprint that is memorable in its

impermanence?

MAGNETS: If I were to take up the attractive and

alluring quality of the machine, I could use magnets

and exploit their attractive and repulsive properties, the

metallic bodies of these machines, acting as canvases.

134

TRANSMISSION. TRANSPORT.

CARRYING. COMMUNICATION.

CARRYING. COMMUNICATION.

CONVEYANCE. HAULING.

CONVEYANCE. HAULING.

SENDING. TRANSFERENCE.

SENDING. TRANSFERENCE.

TRANSMITTAL. TRANSPOSAL.

TRANSMITTAL. TRANSPOSAL.

BROADCAST. CONDUCTION.

BROADCAST. CONDUCTION.

RADIOCAST. SIMULCAST.

RADIOCAST. SIMULCAST.

TELECAST. T DISPATCH. MESSAGE.

TELECAST. DISPATCH. MESSAGE.

AIR AIR TIME.

TIME. ANNOUNCEMENT.

ANNOUNCEMENT.

NEWSCAST.

NEWSCAST. PERFORMANCE.

PERFORMANCE.

PUBLICATION. PUBLICATION. SHOW.

SHOW.

CIRCULATION?

CIRCULATION? CURRENCY.

CURRENCY.

CONNECTION. CONNECTION. CONVERSATION.

CONVERSATION.

CORRESPONDENCE.

DISCLOSING. INTERCHANGE.

INTERCOMMUNICATION. LINK. LINK.

RECEPTION. TRANSLATION.

CONTAMINATION. INFESTATION.

135

‘Bricolage’

Make & Break

Using this guiding narrative I was expected to

make and break the machine. While writing I

already found myself shedding preconceived

notions of the machine. I no longer saw the machine

in my head, but visuals of a different kind.

Moving Image

Since I was alerted that my field of expertise was

missing, in order to better understand the visuals

and extend them to a palette I used video as a

medium. I visualized the machine in parts, laying

emphasis on the visceral.

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137

‘The Practice of Everyday Life’- Michel de Certeau

further strengthened this idea.

Users – commonly assumed to be passive

“Everyday life invents itself by poaching in countless

ways on the property of others”

“And I forget the chance introduced by circumstances,

calm or haste, sun or cold, dawn or dusk, the taste of

strawberries or abandonment, the half understood

message, the front page of newspapers, the voice on

the telephone, the most anodyne conversation, the

most anonymous man or woman,

everything that speaks, makes

noise, passes by, touches us

lightly, meets us head on.”

Jacques Sojcher, La Démarche poétique (Paris: UGE

10/18, 1976), 145.

Hotspotting

After a classroom discussion about corporeal memory, I

started thinking about how we perceive and experience

space. How do my interventions embody this?

I feel like the level of engagement we have with a space

more or less determines how we perceive it. Objects

that have occupied a space for far longer than we have

undeniably have a character that enables them, to over

time, become the space. One could consider them to

be urban land markers.

Like the game where people yell, “You are getting

hotter” as you get closer to the hidden treasure, like

we find Ronald McDonald’s footprints in a public

space, leading to the nearest McDonald’s, there are

ways in which objects can variedly interact and engage

with people in accordance to distance and time. I am

attempting to construct my interventions keeping this

form of zoning in mind, enabling them to sense and be

sensed in this multilevel manner, acting like a hotspot

of sorts.

138

Proximity

Zoning

Hotspot

Landmark

139

140

141

142

Larger Project

From my conscious and unconscious curation

emerged a larger contextual framework –

something that could manifest into a bigger

project. It seemed to have great potential for coinhabitation

of various disciplines.

I was given an opportunity to help create a fundraising

pitch for my proposed idea. My facilitator Amitabh

Kumar and I worked on it together, creating a script

and voicing it. It was intended for the Minister of

Tourism as well as the Govt. of Karnataka. It was

my first experience pitching my idea to such high

authorities and was extremely exciting. I learnt how

pitching/selling your idea is just as important as

conceiving and realising it, especially when it comes to

working in public spaces while seeking funding.

143

144

Site - Telegraph Office (Heritage Site)

Adjacent to Cubbon Park Metro Station

Pitch

The pitch went something like this.

A

Museum of Communication and Transit.

The Museum is being imagined in the Old

Telegraph building adjoining the Cubbon Park

Metro Station.

It is meant to be a recollection of obsolete artifacts,

refurbished and reactivated by new and innovative

technology, rendering them interactive, thus bringing

out the timeless relationship between transit and

communication technologies.

With the GPO, BSNL in our proximity, and the

old telegraph office as our neighbour, we seek to

reimagine this very relationship by creating a series

of interventions that urge communicative travel,

making the tech city’s relationship to technology more

consistent.

How does the new Bangalore that approaches ‘5G’ism

speak to the secret world of telegraphic dots and

dashes? What happens when these relics from the past

enter our futuristic temples of technology?

145

In this Museum, obsolete weighing scales and STD

public phones act as Story Telling Devices.

The telegraph machine sings songs of the mysterious

dots and dashes.

The audience can find themselves in the yellow pages,

Or read the Letters exchanged through time,

technology and transit.

The Museum also includes a space for communal

gathering and recreation, which involves shared seating

and refreshment units, and public murals and comics

that seek to connect the old Telegraph Office with

the New Cubbon Park Metro Station. (Working with

Shayla, Saksham and Madhav)

Other means of accessing the Museum would include

>Student Education and Study tours

>Guided walks

>Oral history and Research

>Events, Talks and Workshops

Waiting Game

'Fortunately'

More than a month after ordering the machine

from Shikhar Enterprises I was still left

waiting. The procedure to order it was a long

and arduous one, and the waiting game was just as bad.

It became increasingly hard for me to trust others to

complete tasks on time. Then there was the whole door

delivery problem.

The fortune cards however arrived unexpectedly.

The phone call from college got me thinking

the machine had arrived. When Amitabh called

me saying “Karthika, I am holding it in my hand. This

can’t be the machine.” I grew worried. Where was the

machine? Better yet, what was in the package?

Turns out it was a box that held the keys to the machine

and 500 cards, with pre printed predictions on them.

I decided I’d play the memory game with them and

figure out what to do, they were too beautiful to be

cast away.

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147

148

Metro Support

Arrival of Machine

Tracking the machine’s shipment ID, I found

that it had reached Bangalore a while ago but

hadn’t moved since. After registering several

complaints and yelling on the phone at the shipping

company for their inefficiency, I seemed to have

struck a chord. I breathed down their necks until they

delivered it.

The 310 Kg machine needed manpower to be moved.

I hired a mini tempo and a few men to help me move

it to the metro station. Due to its rather unexpected

and late (5:00 p.m) arrival I hadn’t had time to intimate

anyone at the station about it. Eventhough my project

had been approved there were safety concerns about

taking the machine into the station with a thorough

security check. I had unfortunately left the keys to the

machine at home.

With the help of Yash we spoke to the station

authorities, who were willing to help us take the

machine downstairs but only after we opened it up. We

demummified it then and there, commuters couldn’t

hide their excitement. It was a beautiful machine.

My family saved the day by bringing the keys to the

station. Shortly after we gained clearance. Around

10:30 p.m, once the station closed, with the help of my

family and 15 metro security guards we moved it to the

platform. With much pomp and ceremony the machine

was carried to its site.It was a collective struggle. I feel

indebted to the metro staff for their hardwork and

dedication.

Corporate Invasion

During the IPL season we witnessed the

overnight invasion of the metro station by

inflated white balloon people. The whole

station screamed ‘Vivo’. Perhaps it was marketing done

right, because suddenly everyone was more interested

in their promotional material.

I was competing with a mobile giant. My machine

stood beside a blue air filled installation. People began

taking selfies with it, barely glancing in my direction. In

moments of frustration I would consider unplugging

the monster but ultimately all I could do was demand

attention. I would turn on the machine lights, open

it up and sit before it on a chair, drawing as much

attention to myself as possible.

Weightlifters

149

Live Studio

Seminar 2

Ever since my first site visit I was taken by the

glass control room cubicle on the platform. To

me it was a perfect display case. It was almost

like a museum exhibit It had the right balance of

inclusivity as well as exclusivity.

Considering the way I work, on multiple ideas bubbling

at the same time, the idea of building a live lab/studio

came up. If I were to set up lab right in the heart of

the platform, I would be in a sense creating a hotspot

wherein I become the intervention. Like “a witch, with

her cauldron” it would border on performance art,

which is something I have been invariably touching

upon for quite some time now.

I converted all my charts into transparencies and lined

the cubicle with them. People could now read all that I

have been working on and have their own discussions

about the same.

While I met several interested folks I also came across

some mean girls who openly tore down my attempts. It

was good exposure.

My seminar took place within the glass cubicle

I chose for myself. It was a performance

in itself. I had completely occupied the

space, plastered it with my sketches and charts. I set

up my objects and my screens. I handed out material

to the panel. The intimate setting of the space against

the glass walls, the trains passing by on either side,

screamed inhabitation.

Feedback :

What about obsoletion speaks to me?

What is the larger practice within which I seem to be

working? What is the larger set of meanings associated

with this? It is important to know these things so that

I can understand better, my own practice. I need to

situate myself within a range of practitioners who have

a similar practice.

I thought about this.

New Tech – Holds value in function & promise for

the future

However

Old Tech - Possesses a certain value that is

unquantifiable.

150

Demummification

Curation

I

had planned for a phased demummification of the

weighing machine. I wanted it to unveil itself to the

public in stages.

Phase 1 :

Within a glass case “You can see, but can’t touch”

Phase 2 :

Slowly moves out of the case, Visible structural

changes

Phase 3 :

Finally open to interactivity

Followed by pollination : Repeating the process with

other objects as well.

Our second festival was curated by Sandeep

Ashwath, through the poetic framework set

by Mamata Sagar and 3 other Kannada poets.

As they recited their poems and we grasped the loose

translations, we noticed how their form of engagement

with the underground metro station was a lot different

from our own. They hadn’t spent as much time as we

had and there was something intensely personal in their

work, and they were almost reluctant to translate, for

the true meanings will be lost in translation. They had

made a decision to behold their words as space itself.

Their intention was to communicate, but differently.

My association with poetry has been something similar.

I write with passion, not with the chief intention to

communicate, but my artistic practice seems to be

struggling with this. What is my function? Who am I

making this for?

One thing’s for certain, it is important to uphold the

integrity of meanings within ones own practice. The

awareness of the field of meanings within which one

functions is instrumental in sharpening ones craft.

Deal with the struggle – Learn from other artists

who function similarly

151

Scrapyard

@ NGEF

I

had learnt from my trip to Quriocity – the antique

shop- of an old railway scrapyard in Byapanahalli.

I decided to make a trip to the place, to check if

they owned any payphones that I could purchase, and

perhaps find some other useful objects. The NGEF is

a factory that was shut down over 13 years ago. They

opened its doors to the public, to rid it of all the ‘junk’

they had.

I walked down the abandoned path, the large shed

beckoning me to enter. I entered the godown, like

Aladdin entered the Cave of Wonders. I was speechless.

This deserted dump was a treasure trove. I couldn’t

make out where it began and where it ended. There

were gadgets and gizmos aplenty, all neatly categorized

and organized in units. The dust had unforgivingly

settled upon them, but I could feel them calling to be

revealed. I spent a really long time browsing through

the stuff, wide eyed, I searched every nook and cranny.

It didn’t matter that they didn’t have payphones. They

seemed to have just about everything else. I even met

ancient Srishti students. Of course, only we end up in

these kinds of places. All of a sudden a strip of blue

pointed itself out. I walked over to pick it up and voila!

There, neglected on the fringe of a factory shed lay that

which I had given up looking for. The punched tapes.

The ones that were termed ‘outdated’. The ones even

the telegraph office didn’t have. I almost didn’t believe

my luck when I stumbled upon a huge box filled with

boxes, each containing 2-3 rolls of this very tape! I had

struck gold.

152

Timeless Treasures

Payphone

Ultimately I found the payphones in Shivajinagar.

Almost every shop seemed to have them, yet I

didn’t see anyone using them. One such shop

had two. He was more than willing to sell one of them

to me. He opened the yellow casing with a key and

showed me the insides of the calling device.

What if we hooked up a VR headset instead of the

receiver and pressing each number could literally

transport us to different locations?

153

Tinkering Process

I

conducted a basic autopsy of the machine with the

help of Sai Mulpuru, to get it up and running and

to also understand the working of the machine. My

understanding of mechanics is limited to 12th grade

physics. I had excelled at it in school but had lost touch

since. However it was a fascinating experience. I spent

several hours before this machine, staring at the insides,

people watched me as I was watching it.

After a day with my nose in the machine, the workings

of the cogwheels within the machine birthed some

ideas in my head.

http://best-article-directory.info/399945-

mutoscope.htm

154

Mutoscope

+

Projector

I

have always been interested in early contraptions

that dealt with moving image. Be it scopes, tropes

or magic lanterns, I’ve always been fascinated by

their magic.

One such scope I recently discovered was the

‘Mutoscope’, a vintage peep show box that functions

like a flipbook, except in radial form. They lined

arcades and streets playing really short films for coins.

The resemblance of the Indian weighing machines to

the mutoscope is uncanny. Their external forms are

quite identical. Could I combine these two objects

somehow?

A

mutoscope was meant for a single viewer, and

the act of looking through an eyepiece, almost

immediately isolates the viewer from the

surrounding. However that isn’t what I want to do. I

seek to include a larger audience. I would need to open

the experience out. Considering the fact that the top

section of the machine had glass on three sides, I saw

a possibility to project the frames out of the machine.

It could quite possibly work like a slide projector.

http://bomdesignfurniture.com/vintage/kodakcarousel-s-vintage-retro-slide-projector/

http://pratie.blogspot.in/2005/03/mylittle-mutoscope.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-slideprojector.htm

Understanding the optics behind creating such images

was where I struggled. I wasn’t building something that

had been tried and tested, I had added a twist, and I

had no idea how to achieve it on my own.

I spoke to a couple of faculty members and resorted to

figuring it out myself.

Building the mutoscope took a toll on me. I couldn’t

figure out the mechanism although I’d heard from

multiple people that it was possible.

Once I admitted to myself that it was impossible to get

it to work in time for the festival I resorted to my first

backup. I went looking for the carousel slide projector

I had seen at Qurio City, only to find out that he had

sold it. Mr. Sharath Chandra a facukty at Srishti offered

to lend me his projector however it turned out to be

of a different kind. I decided to open that up later to

understand the workings. For now I needed to think of

something else.

155

Keeping with my first phase of demummification, I

moved the machine into my glass cubicle, with help

from the guards. Using the glass as a surface for

projection.

How could I project on glass?

Holographic rear projection film – really expensive

Since I was working with a short distance, a small lens

and a light source that wasn’t so powerful, my projected

image was of small dimensions.

Just a sheet of gateway on the glass should double as a

screen. The image was quite crisp too.

Content

Content is King??

Laying emphasis on the communal act of watching

something together, I hoped to use the space for

screening short films that people could watch while

they waited for the train. These reels could be changed

regularly, have their own posters as well as show times.

But what would the content be?

Option : Open call for content?

Storyweaver –Pratham Books expressed interested in

my story telling contraption idea and are willing to

provide content.

Multilingual

Open source content (copyleft)

Audio books : ‘Missed Call do, Kahaani Suno’

156

https://www.cph.org/p-2780-Fall-1-View-Master-

Reel-Set-Growing-in-Christ-Sunday-School.aspx

My second backup was to think of other

moving picture mechanisms. The

viewmaster reels from my childhood could

be used to project static image. What would happen if

I motorized it?

I did a couple of calculations and found that all I could

accomodate on one reel would be Boomerang Videos.

Viewmaster Reel

As a mechanism it worked, however the whole thing

was a blur. My motor was spinning too fast. I hadn’t

taken into consideration the radius of the circle. The

circumference of the circle was spinning that much

faster to keep up with the centre. For a clear image I

need a slower motor. Time for content backup.

157

#1

Boomerang 2s stills

16 fps

158

#2

Boomerang 2s stills

16 fps

159

Postcards

Postcard Printing

Images on postcards are for the most part place

based. What better way than to treat the metro

station as an urban monument with multiple

landmarks within it, i.e the artworks by Art in Transit.

How could I attach value and interest to this old form?

How do I attract people into using it? How could I

provide an immersive experience for both the sender

as well as the receiver?

Anaglyph

That’s when I thought of having 3D (Anaglyphic)

postcards. The retro style 3D glasses that have

grown obsolete due to advent of digital 3D,

were easy to procure, and the process of generating

anaglyph images using photoshop was pretty easy to

grasp. My 3D images worked brilliantly on screen.

I also designed 3D posters that had attached 3D glasses

for viewing. Demanding a different level of interaction

with the poster.

*most of the 3D glasses were stolen overnight

As if I hadn’t learnt it already I did my test prints

at home, with my inkjet printer, when I should

have tried printing it with a digital one at the

printers. Anaglyphs depend largely on the accuracy of

the colors red and cyan. Images that work perfectly on

screen suffer in print. Naturally the RGB is converted to

CMYK during print, rendering them ineffective in the

process. Since inkjet printers process color differently

my home prints worked perfectly. I was under the false

impression that I can print last minute.

The night before the festival, I learnt that my digital

prints don’t work in 3D. They also produced a number

of ghost images. I went into panic mode, wondering

what I would put up the day after.

My backup plan was to get normal non-3D prints. But

something about that was unappealing. Would people

even buy it? Was it a marketable product with value?

I read up about printing anaglyphs and noted a few

fixes:-

• Reduce the Parallax

• Brighten the mid-tones

• Print on high gloss paper

• Preferably with an inkjet printer

The next morning, after getting perfect prints on my

inkjet printer using glossy photo paper I set out to

find a larger print house that had inkjet machines. I

wasn’t going to give up that easy. Several failed prints

later I met a gentleman Mr. Syed who instructed his

employees to use a special Korean Gloss Paper and do

a hard gloss lamination to achieve a similar effect. I sat

there with my fingers crossed and bam it worked!

160

!

Creative Urgency

Despite feeling like a character in The Series

of Unfortunate Events, for some reason I

never gave up. I kept at it. I took whatever

was thrown at me. It was surprising how persistent

I was being. Blame it on creative urgency. Festival

was coming up and I had to do whatever it takes to

put something out there. I had conjured up multiple

backup plans and somehow things worked themselves

out, the only downside being that I had wormed into

half of Saturday doing damage control.

161

Festival

I

believe the festivals are excellent opportunities to

test out theories in realtime. It is a rich platform

for interaction and provides critical insights based

on nature of response. .

Shop

This festival we decided to do something

different. Prathmi Mehta as part of her project

created a homely set at the station. Nandita,

Antra, Madhav and I set up shop there. Collectively we

sold zines, comix, posters and postcards.

Poster Design

Madhav Nair

162

163

The Kit

My postcard kit cost Rs.30 ( Postcard + 3D

glasses + Stamps + Stickers + Envelope) and

it gave people an opportunity to share 3D

postcards of their selection with their loved ones, right

from the station, making use of the newly sanctioned

(for testing) postbox from the GPO.

Post It !

In order to sanction a postbox for use at the cubbon

park metro station I had to get through to the

GPO authorities. The common concern expressed

was whether the box would be in use when my event is

over. Would it be a sustainable practice?

Meeting at Post office. Letter for postbox.

Meet Ms. Gayatri at Postal Operations, CPMG, near

Atria Hotel.

Meet Mr. Thimoji Rao – Admin Branch, GPO

Write a letter addressed to the Chief Post Master, Dr.

Shivaram @ GPO regarding the postbox.

With much persuasion on the day of the festival, I

filled out the necessary paperwork and brought the

small mouthed box to the station.

164

The 3D posters and postcards were what drew people

to my stall. I don’t think they would have been as

inclined to purchasing it if it weren’t for the glasses

It was something different and several people stopped

by to post it to their loved ones, some even posted it

to themselves. Many of them wanted to send them

internationally as well.

The activity was well received; it felt as though someone

or the other was always at the writing station, many of

whom had never even sent a letter before. They were

there for the experience, inquisitive about the stamps

and the procedure.

Collection

The collections were great, and when the

mailmen arrived the next day to collect the mail,

there were a substantial number of envelopes

in the box. Even they expressed interest in the event.

I had scrapped my object counter installation on the

postbox last minute, however it could be a possibility

for the future.

165

166

Postcards

167

Tune In!

As for the machine, the day before the festival,

things somehow came together. Eventhough

my wheel wasn’t working the way I wanted it

to. I had decided on projecting something that required

less clarity. Something that would work even with high

speed rotations.

168

Colors.

I thought about the act of color calibration on old TV

sets. The SMPTE color bars that preceded the actual

content. I decided to replicate that. I wanted to color

test the machine, almost like a prequel to the content

that was to come.

169

170

171

Poster

Tuning Out

I

recognized that the idea of using the weighing

machine as a projector had several drawbacks

and limitations. Confining the machine within a

glass cubicle would only inhibit its interactive nature.

Acknowledging that this was a failed experiment is

key to moving on a figuring out whatI really intend

to do with it. Moreover the demummification process

needed to be taken to the next phase.

Holographic Display

If the machine can’t project outward, could it house

the projection within itself? Could the viewing

glass portion be a screen in itself? What if I made

a holographic display?

This happens to be the future of advertisement and

other smart products. It has an IOT potential as well. It

is essentially a transparent LED display case. However

the readymade products are extremely expensive.

Making one is rather easy, all one needs to do is remove

the backlight and casing from a monitor and fire it up.

I had seen such displaysat at museums and the effect is

unbelievable. As a DMA student who likes working with

materials this could be my playground; an interesting

interplay between 3D objects and Holographic 2D

projections.

172

I found a gentleman at SP Road who was willing to

extract the screen. It was interesting watching other

customer’s reactions to my deconstruction of working

electronic items, however I must say I piqued their

interest.

Testing the transparent screen

173

It was suggested that I clean up all the transparent

charts that lined my studio, by converting them to

digital infographics and print them on vinyl at such

a scale that people could read it even from a distance.

However after trying it I realised the “studio” feeling

was being lost, it started to look a lot more ‘planned’

and that didn’t sit with my initial idea for the space. So

I decided to scrap that.

174

Seminar 3

Iwas extremely excited about my 3rd Seminar. I

even scrubbed the glass of the cubicle clean. I

dsiplayed all that I had worked on, and prepared

a presentation that was clearly running beyond the

time limit. However I was so happy that morning to be

finally finishing my last Seminar.

175

176

Remember how you feel right now,

and don’t let anyone or anything

ever make you feel that way again.

177

Feedback

Post Seminar Stress

Some things that stood out :-

> DISCOURSE

> SITUATE YOURSELF

> NARROW INTERGALACTIC FRAME OF

REFERENCE

> REFLECT!

> LEARNINGS

> CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGES NOT

PRACTICAL ONES

> PRESENT ONLY WHAT’S IMPORTANT

Disappointment and depression hit me hard. I

felt as though my spirit was squished like a

bug.

Things did not go as I had expected.

Perhaps I expect too much of myself.

Perhaps I take things too seriously.

Perhaps I can’t always take criticism.

Perhaps I really didn’t give my presentation enough thought.

Maybe I messed up.

Or maybe I’m making this a bigger deal than it really is.

Several thoughts went through my mind. I wasn’t

sure why I felt the way I felt. Maybe I felt like I didn’t

get a chance to defend myself; I had after all thought

about all the points that were brought up. I just

hadn’t mentioned it in my presentation. Perhaps I had

withheld it for it didn’t seem worth mentioning.

I always believed I was good at presentations, maybe

that was why this was a huge blow to my confidence.

I hadn’t given them what they wanted. Perhaps this is

what growing out of an academic institution into an

independant artist feels like.

178

Recovery

Recovering took way longer than I thought I

would. It was important for me to acknowledge

what had happened, how I had felt and how I

was going to approach the rest of the time I had and

what parts of the feedback I’d like to hold on to.

.

.

.

.

AFTER A MONTH or so I was back. Recognising

my loss of creative confidence, I read several self

help books to get it back up. It was refreshing. During

the course of the semester I had seen myself grow

weary of the project, months in, even the sight of the

metro station didnt sit well with me, I felt saturated with

the project. The break allowed me to clear my mind of

things, put things behind me and move forward, taking

only the criticism I saw fit. I wish I had felt this way

all along - charged and ready to take on the next leg

of the project. I came up with a game plan, set myself

deadlines and schedules and went with it.

Creative Confidence

179

180

Part 4

Phone Booth 184

Music Box 190

Magic Mirror 194

181

182

Execution

This leg of my project would involve intensive

making, in order to bring to fruition and exhibit

the potential and capabilities of these devices

at becoming novel storytelling contraptions.

Working slow. Working steady.

183

Procuring Booth

God Sent

Trut me when I say I’ve looked almost

everywhere for phone booths. “They were

abandoned in 2013, how hard could procuring

one possibly be?”, I thought. I was wrong. I wonder

where they were taken.

The one yellow booth that I did find was everything

I hoped for, however the owner refused to part with

the unused decaying booth . Perhaps he had some

memories he didn’t want to let go of.

Guess I had just wasted a visit.

Several days later while I was walking around

Chickpete in vain hoping to spot a booth

somewhere when a vision in red appeared before

me. I rubbed my eyes and gravitated towards it. Inside

I found a note that read “ FOR SALE” . Wow! Did

God hoist it down on a rope for me or something?

While I was negotiating the price the man says “Madam

FOUR people have already come and enquired about

it” I’m thinking to myself “You probably just saw me

coming over here 4 times, no way would anyone else be

looking for a telephone booth. Right?”

It was special booth, it already had electrical fittings,

was a bright red and had a sliding door! It was a catch!

184

Teleporting

As usual the hardest part was shipping it and

moving it underground. I don’t know what I

would do without these lovely people. Metro

staff have got to be the nicest people you will ever

meet. “When will your weighin machine get ready, I

have lost weight waiting for it” a guard twlls me. I so

need that. Why have I become so complacent? Is it

because I have too much time on my hands?

Conviction

After tossing the teleportation idea around in

my head for so long, I finally grew to believe

in it. VR Booths have been used around the

world by companies promoting tourism. I’ve got this

whole Superman / Dr. Who thing going on with my

booth. Making existing links

185

1

TELEGRAPH

OFFICE+ BSNL

2

GPO

3

VITM

4

CUBBON PARK

186

With the help of Sai I was able to capture

in 360, four prime locations that flank

the Cubbon Park Metro Station. Getting

Permission to shoot wasn’t as difficult because people

were already accustomed to seeing me in the area.

VR Shoot

It is favourable to speak in the local language wherever

possible. You can gain brownie points.

187

Hardware

I

was a bit rusty when it comes to working with the

arduino but I managed to hook up all the required

elements. However I wasn’t able to get the keypad

to work properly, perhaps there is an issue with the

code.... The bluetooth is being recognized alright..

188

STD – Station Teleportation Device

Software

In attempt to build a VR App that plays selected

videos depending on the bluetooth signal it

receives from the arduino, I purchased two codes

on the Unity Asset Store in hopes that we can crack it.

However things didn’t go as planned. I found myself a

freelancer to develop the app on fiverr.com

189

SMS - Sonic Message Scroll

Music Box

Eureka!

Sitting with Mr. David, I realised my initial idea of

passing the tape over a metal drum music box was

ridiculous. The metal points would only drag and

rip the tape up.

What do I do?

We cannot replicate the Paper Tape Movement Box

mechanism without knowing what’s inside.

If I order a box from Hong Kong it will take nearly a

month to get here - Time I am willing to spend, risk I

am willing to take. I have no other choice.

God bless India Post! Thanks to them the

package arrived ahead of schedule and as

soon as I got my hands on it I decided to mess

around with the parts.

I observed that although the dimension of the tapes

differed, the size of the punches more or less aligned.

I wondered what would happen if I ran my tape

throught the machine.

I built an adapter for the tape, measuring and aligning

the holes properly. I glued it in place and ran it through.

I didn’t expect anything to happen but then

Digitizing

VOILA!

During a visit to S.P road I met a gentleman

who was quie interested in my project. Mr.

Ajit enquired about my brief and was taken

by it. He willingly offered to help me with the project.

He suggested a brilliant alternative to building a purely

mechanical device. He wanted to build a punched

tape reader with a bunch of LDRs (Light Dependant

Resistors) to read the punches and send signals to the

controller which will then produce the sounds.

Digitising this by incorporating electronic elements

would mean I have greater control over the nature of

sound, throwing open several other possibilities for

interaction.

Meanwhile I continued waiting for the box I had

ordered, tracking it every step of the way.

IT WORKED!

IT WORKED!

IT WORKED!

I think I cried a bit. I had been waiting for something

like this to happen during this project and it finally did.

It was defintely a Eureka moment for me, and it did

sound wonderful for something that followed none of

the rules of music.

190

Installation

Since telegraph lines were laid along railway lines,

and travelled long distances I have decided to fit

this on a wall parallel to the tracks. It would be a

14 ft long installation and will have listening points at

intervals, “The walls have ears”.

I have to fit the box with a motor and place the tape on

a loop, somewhat like a cassette player.

The external casing would be of acrylic, to promote

unbreakable visibility from all sides.

http://www.archiproducts.com

191

The Tube

Travel anfd Communication technologies are more

connected than I thought they were. Earlier I had

restricted the obsolete artifacts to the obvious - a

limited number, however I have come to understand

that this curation can envelope far more artifacts.

A tv for instance communicates as well and ‘transports’,

and CRTs such as these are found in areas of transit,

be it for announcement purposes or as CCTV displays.

The London Metro is called “The Tube” I defintely see

a strong connect here.

Teaser Tube

Allow yourself to be sucked in by the tube.

With a pair of anaglyphic 3D glasses one can ‘pop in’

and watch the upcoming Museum, announce its arrival

on the tube.

192

Old School

I

decided to shoot the entire film promoting the

museum on an old videocam that recorded on old

high8 tapes. (Keeping with the whole obsoletion

thing. Why am I so obsessed?) I wanted the teaser

totake the form of an an old tv commercial, advertising

a destination.

I extracted the analog data and edited it digitally, turning

it into anaglyphic footage converting it into anaglyph,

bringing back the fashionable retro 3D glasses.

A mistake I made while editing resulted in the

switching of the red and the cyan channels. So instead

of having footage that popped out I had a segment that

popped in. This appealed to me better. It might appear

as though the tube (TV) is a portal/tunnel/tube, that

gives you a glimpse, a teaser of what is to come.

Having grown used to the technology of today, there is

a certain novelty to old school tech. We aren’t used to

seeing it anymore, that’s what makes it special. That’s

what makes it stand out and catch ones attention.

I believe it is a good way to market the larger idea of

the Museum.

193

“ M i r r o r

Mirror on

the Wall”

Magic Mirror

Although I decided to go ahead with converting

the top of the weighing machine into a

holographic display case I really questioned

my intention. What was the point? How did my entire

process lead up to this? Why isn’t it coming together

conceptually like my telegraphic tapes did? Perhaps

these questions and the associated disappointments

were what led to my sudden withdrawal from the

project entirely.

While glossing over my prior ideas, I noticed a sketch I

had made of a mirror of fortune.

The weighing machine was associated with both

physical appearance as well as fortune, almost as

though how much you weigh actually determines your

fate. Your FATE aWEIGHTS! ( I should really stop

with the puns)

“Mirror Mirror on the wall”

Incidently, Magic Mirrors, or smart mirrors are now

a thing. They are essentially lcd screens behind two

way mirrors, that are hooked up to sensors and micro

controllers that are programmed to enhance your daily

experiences. You ask them questions. It predicts the

weather and it also compliments your appearance.

This is definitely a lead for me to work with.

194

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-

Magic-Mirror/

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/magicmirror/

195

Announcing Presence

What do you do when you have to be in two

places at the same time? Palace Grounds

and the Metro Station. I have to admit I

actually considered setting up a hologram of myself,

that would talk when it sensed someone coming near.

Or perhaps a cardboard cutout?

If I were to keep to my overarching theme, these

typical scrolling red LED announcement boards ought

to do the trick. What better way to catch someone’s

eyes than to light it up?

OUT OF STATION>>FIND ME @ THE

CUBBON PARK METRO STATION

(P.S It’s safer to make bills for electronic items even if it means

spending more)

196

197

198

Epilogue

Future Plans 203

Learning Outcomes 205

199

200

201

WIP

202

*Work in Progress

Future Plans

I

intend to see the creation of the Museum of

Communication and Transit to completion. I will

need to work with Art in Transit for the rest of

the year in collaboration with other departments in

order to accomplish this. This would also require

communication with the Minister of Tourism currently

in tenure. A large amount of funds need to be raised

as well, I even went throught the process of cominng

up with a ballpark budget for the museum and its

functioning.

I wish to take some time off site to read up about

museum practices and understand what I am working

with fully before I carry on with this mammoth vision.

Some artifacts need to be worked on for a bit longer so

that they meet their full potential.

Hopefully by 2018 Bangalore will have itself a new

museum.

203

204

Learning Outcomes

Working with Art in Transit this semester has

been an enlightening experience. Having

worked only within an academic institution

I’ve never really known what it is like to work in a

public space, in collaboration with government bodies.

Seeking approval from higher authorities at every stage

of the process and working on fundraising pitches

gave me a taste of the real world experience. I have

come to understand that working in public spaces

initiates immediate response. The work is constantly

evolving and updating in dialogue with the public.

Reflecting :

I have also come to realise that I am dwindling in the

grey areas or rather at the intersection of Art and

Design. The question “Who am I making this for?”

is something that pops in my mind quite often. I still

haven’t been able to answer this. Are my works a form

of self expression? What is it that I am trying to do

or say? What’s with my fascination for obsolete items?

Perhaps answering these questions for myself could

really enlighten me and elucidate my natural processes.

At the end of the day however CREATIVE

CONFIDENCE is the key.

205

206

THESIS PROJECT 2017

OUT OF STATION

A series of public space interventions

STUDENT:

PROJECT:

SPONSOR:

PROGRAM:

AWARD:

Karthika Sakthivel

Art in Transit

Herman Miller

Undergraduate Professional Programme

Digital Media Art (DMA)

Final Examination Panel COMMENTS:

Examiner 1 (name and signature):



Date:

Academic Dean:

207

Out of Station : Documentation Book

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