JOIN USA unique exhibition called Junk 2 Inbox was held in Delhi where sculptures made out of industrial scrap, garment accessories, wood and other discarded scrap were unveiled much to the visitors’ delight. The exhibition highlighted the creative power of the artists and the result turned out to be extremely thought-provoking.
A country like India which is witnessing a growth in the number of industrial units as a result of growing consumerism, is also generating a lot of waste and scrap.
All this waste has now played a muse for artists who have come up with the idea of re-using waste material to create something beautiful which can also address social concerns.
With this idea in mind, NIV Art Centre took an initiative to invite artists to work on projects to convert junk into object d arts.
The objective was two fold - to providea a platform for artists to make use of their creative abilities, put in every effort to explore possibilities, and come out with works that talk about social concern and awareness about reuse, sustainability of materials and be viable comments on issues of consumerism, materialism, and unplanned development. The idea was also to provide a platform for nurturing budding talents in the field of art.
The participating artists included Tridib Dutta from Assam, Debashish Das from Kolkata and Rajesh Kumar Ranjan from Bihar who displayed their works at the Centre.
Tridib, one of the artists, explained the concept behind one of his installations titled ‘Intele Inside.’ My installation symbolises the human mind which works like a computer nowadays. Like a computer even the human mind is operated by society. We don’t have original thoughts of our own and are ruled by society.”
Another work of his titled ‘Garden of Senses’ has been dedicated to the environment. “This piece of art,” the artist explains has is a five-pillared structure depicting air, water, fire, earth and sky and in the centre is a female mannequin symbolising fertility. So, it defines that these five elements make the universe fertile.”
Debashish Das has created animals using junk material. “I made a horse using wooden mould which are used for making shoes. A horse depicts power and will. The other one is a peacock made with an exhaust fan and a motor. We all know that animals are in danger due to encroachments in their habitats. So, I chose our national bird to highlight this issue.”
The work created by three artists will on a permanent displayed at prominent spaces in the city and IGNOU campus is one of them. All artists have proved their mettle and showcased some beautiful art work with limited resources that they were given.