Gigi Scaria talks to Divya Kaushik about his desertscapes shot at Rann of Kutch and Jaisalmer. They describe ‘impermanence and shifting patterns of the land’
linear patterns, wide spaces, structures and buildings have been some common elements in Gigi Scaria’s works. But his latest series that will be displayed at Palette Art Gallery boasts of desert landscapes where buildings can hardly be spotted. After a gap of almost five years, Scaria is putting up his solo show here. Titled Dust, the exhibition is a visual departure from animated architecture and modified cityscape of Scaria’s previous works. Most of the photographs have been shot at Rann of Kutch and the Thar Desert, located on India’s border with Pakistan. He travelled across these regions to come up with shots that are tough to be recognise as something Indian. “It is a landscape that is unusual and familiar, evoking associations with many other desert regions, including those in Australia. I describe the places as ‘non-identifiable localities’ and ‘spaces of non-existence’, places in which we might be present by means of our imagination, memory and perception,” says Scaria, who was one of the five artists to represent India at 54th Venice Biennale in the exhibition Everyone agrees: It’s about to explode.
A close look at Scaria’s body of work reveals his fascination for cityscapes and architecture. He says that apart from the fact that he moved from a small village to a city and was totally enamoured by the architectural spaces that define society, he was interested in capturing the modern urban scenario. “My works are not just visually appealing they come with a philosophical and social message. Ground realities of the cultural, religious and ethnic identities of my immediate surroundings have been my major focus. As a result reflections on social issues integrated into my work. Apart from photographs I do sculptures and make videos as well. One of the video titled Wounded was a reaction to the communal riots and genocide that took place in Gujarat in 2002. The nine minute-long video shows a man nursing his deeply wounded leg. Through out the act of washing the wound, putting the medicine and bandaging it, one can hear the sound of violence in the background. After bandaging he turns around and touches the tuner of a radio which is behind him. While he tries to tune the machine the viewer discovers that the sounds of crying and howling were coming from the radio itself. He keeps changing the stations until he finds a song. When song starts playing he falls asleep. This video attempts to address violence as a charged emotion floating in the air like all other emotional elements. May be one has the ability to change one’s own mental tuning from destructive waves to a positive one. The film hopes to indicate the fact that no remedy can cure the deeply etched mental scars of riot victims unless they make an effort to be alert of the blind force of violence that they are a part of,” explains Scaria.
The artist went to be a part of residency in Melbourne and wanted to come up with something that brings out the common elements between the two countries. “At first I thought I will do something in Australia but later decided that I should work on a new body of work that would reflect my response to Australia’s vast landscapes. I wanted to present something from my own country to describe how landscapes can connect people. When you will look at the pictures you will not identify which part of the world it is,” says the artist.
On the title Dust, he adds, “There are two reasons for it. First, I have captured the desert and when you think of desert you think of dust and sand dunes. Another message I want to convey through the exhibition is that no matter which part of the globe you belong to, everyone ultimately will be a part of dust.”
Scaria says that one city he wants to capture in his way is Jerusalem. “Everything about the place, the architecture, history, people, is so interesting. There is some mystery about it and so many stories are buried under the stones. I want to know more about them,” he ends.