JOIN USAfter remixed songs, it is remixed words that are the talk of the town.
Verena Gerlach, the German graphic and book designer, has shown her love for words by taking words from signboards in the City and creating a new phrase.
Her work was showcased at the exhibition, ‘Chamki Remix’ at Rangoli Metro Art Center recently.
“The whole idea is to give the new word a different meaning and fresh look. The phrase is stitched on raw silk with golden outlines,” she said. “I first take photographs based on what appeals to me in terms of beauty and outlines. I then look at it as a riddle by assessing which of these words is most appropriate for the new word. Oxford Lakshmi is one of the combinations. ‘Oxford’ stands for education and ‘Lakshmi’, which is symbolic of wealth, is a common sign in India. So I thought that this combination would be interesting. ‘Royal Works’ is another combination I chose because the word ‘works’ was painted in one of the photographs. I wanted to add it to the new word,” she added.
Verena visited the silk city Ramanagaram and came in contact with Minchu Accessories, a group which runs the embroidery business. Girls from there helped in the production and had a stall where they sold hand-made jewellery. There were also photographs in a corner which documented different stages of silk production.“The production time was three weeks. Most of these signs are in Kannada. Sometimes, the translations are next to the signs and sometimes, I translated it myself and had other people check if it was fine,” said Verena.
“I have never worked on gold before for the outline and it was fun working on new colours. It was quite difficult to get materials but we searched in and around Avenue Road. I first wanted to print everything and wanted my project to be digital. But I went for embroidery because the look was appealing. I love sign painting in India. I also love the nature of Bangalore and the fact that everyone can speak so many different languages,” she added.