Making good art sans canvas and paint

Who says you need a canvas and paint to make good art? At a workshop on Sunday, French graffiti artist and light painter Marko93 will be teaching Bengalureans how to paint in space using light.

A dark room, a camera and a simple source of light like your phone’s flashlight are all you need. As part of the ongoing ‘Art Bengaluru’ festival at UB City, Marko93 will teach you to manipulate light and create images in the air.

“The beauty of light painting is that it is not restricted to a two-dimensional canvas. The air is your canvas,” said Marko93, describing the hybrid art form. Arabic calligraphy is his signature style, which he uses to create abstract light paintings. The technique of long exposure is used to capture the path of light as you move it around in the pattern you want. Marko93 is known the world over for his elaborate light-painting performances, which use music, laser light and projections.

  “Graffiti is spur-of-the-moment. It is an impulsive, colourful and energetic form,” Marko93 said, talking about street art, his other area of expertise. He has toured India in the past, leaving a trail of his signature graffiti in every city he visited. Marko Clement likes to be known as Marko93 — 93 being the zip code of his hometown Saint Denis, north of Paris. “I want people to know where I am from,” he explained.

As is obvious from his graffiti, Marko93 is fascittnated by animals, especially felines. Most of his paintings are of tigers, panthers and jaguars. “I love the way their eyes flash in the dark. It makes them look supernatural.” He recreated this phenomenon in the painting of a tiger he made at the Rangoli Metro Art Center, during his visit to Bengaluru in November 2015. “I used reflective tape, the kind you stick on vehicles, to make the eyes of the animals. When you take a picture by turning on the flash on your phone, the eyes look like they are glowing.”

On the graffiti scene in India, Marko93 said, “I don’t see a lot of street art here. I hope that it will grow in the coming years as sources of inspiration in this country are plenty.” Advising young artists, he said, “You should be observant. Learn by watching other artists and take inspiration from everything around you.”