TEDIndia 2009
Alwar Balasubramaniam: Art of substance and absence
Filmed:
Readability: 3
479,790 views
Alwar Balasubramaniam's sculpture plays with time, shape, shadow, perspective: four tricky sensations that can reveal -- or conceal -- what's really out there. At TEDIndia, the artist shows slides of his extraordinary installations.
Alwar Balasubramaniam - Artist
Sculptor, painter and printmaker Alwar Balasubramaniam makes work that crosses the boundary between art, perception and life. Full bio
Sculptor, painter and printmaker Alwar Balasubramaniam makes work that crosses the boundary between art, perception and life. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
The moment I say "school,"
0
1000
2000
00:18
so many memories come back to me.
1
3000
3000
00:22
It's like after every exam, when I walk out,
2
7000
3000
00:25
the teacher would say, "Hey, come.
3
10000
2000
00:27
How did you do?"
4
12000
2000
00:29
I would say with a great smile, "I will definitely pass."
5
14000
2000
00:31
And I didn't understand why,
6
16000
2000
00:33
in one hand they say, "Speak the truth,"
7
18000
2000
00:35
in the other hand, when you say the truth, they hated you.
8
20000
2000
00:37
So it went on like that,
9
22000
2000
00:39
and I didn't know where else to find myself.
10
24000
3000
00:42
So I remember those nights
11
27000
2000
00:44
I used to go to sleep
12
29000
2000
00:46
with asking help from [the] Unknown
13
31000
3000
00:49
because, for some reason,
14
34000
2000
00:51
I couldn't believe what my father and mother
15
36000
2000
00:53
hanged in the Puja room as a god,
16
38000
3000
00:56
because my friend's family
17
41000
2000
00:58
had something else as a god.
18
43000
2000
01:00
So I thought, "I guess I'll pray to [the] Unknown
19
45000
2000
01:02
and ask help,"
20
47000
3000
01:05
and started getting help from everywhere,
21
50000
2000
01:07
each and every corner of my life at that time.
22
52000
3000
01:11
My brothers started giving me a few tips about drawing and painting.
23
56000
3000
01:14
Then, when I was in eighth standard
24
59000
3000
01:17
around 13 years old,
25
62000
3000
01:20
I started working in a part-time job
26
65000
2000
01:22
in one of the signboard artists called Putu.
27
67000
3000
01:28
And then school also started supporting me.
28
73000
2000
01:30
"Oh, he's bad at studies,
29
75000
2000
01:32
but let him send to the drawing competitions."
30
77000
3000
01:35
So it was good to survive with that little tool
31
80000
3000
01:38
that I found to find my own place in school.
32
83000
3000
01:42
And one of those competitions,
33
87000
2000
01:44
I just won a small, little transistor Philips radio.
34
89000
3000
01:47
And I didn't have the patience to wait
35
92000
2000
01:49
until I reached home.
36
94000
2000
01:51
So I just switched on in the train, loudly.
37
96000
2000
01:53
If you travel in Indian trains,
38
98000
2000
01:55
you can see people listening to radio
39
100000
2000
01:57
and, you know, even from their mobiles.
40
102000
2000
01:59
So at that time -- and I was 13 --
41
104000
2000
02:01
and I was listening to just radio,
42
106000
3000
02:04
and someone happened to sit next to me,
43
109000
2000
02:06
like these three people are sitting here.
44
111000
2000
02:08
You know, like just adjacent to me.
45
113000
2000
02:10
He just started asking, "Where did you buy the radio? How much is it?"
46
115000
3000
02:13
I said, "It's a prize from [an] art competition."
47
118000
3000
02:16
And he said, "Oh, I teach at a college of arts.
48
121000
3000
02:19
I think
49
124000
2000
02:21
you should study in a school of art.
50
126000
2000
02:23
You just quit school and come there."
51
128000
2000
02:25
So, why I'm telling you this,
52
130000
2000
02:27
you know, maybe, you know,
53
132000
2000
02:29
whoever is sitting next to you can change your whole life -- it's possible.
54
134000
3000
02:32
It is that we need we need to be open and fine-tuned.
55
137000
3000
02:36
So that's what made me enter
56
141000
3000
02:39
[the] college of arts after three attempts
57
144000
3000
02:42
and just continue to inquire
58
147000
3000
02:45
what I really want to do with art work, or art
59
150000
3000
02:48
and finally I'm here in front of you.
60
153000
2000
02:50
When I look back, you know,
61
155000
2000
02:52
on what happened between that time
62
157000
2000
02:54
and now here --
63
159000
3000
02:57
the last 10/15 years --
64
162000
2000
02:59
I can see that most of the works
65
164000
2000
03:01
revolve around three subjects,
66
166000
3000
03:04
but it was not intentional.
67
169000
2000
03:06
And I just start out with a trace because I was thinking,
68
171000
2000
03:08
"What really makes us?" -- you know,
69
173000
2000
03:10
it's actually [the] past, what makes a person.
70
175000
3000
03:14
So I was thinking,
71
179000
2000
03:16
but when you look at the past,
72
181000
2000
03:18
the way to understand the past
73
183000
2000
03:20
is only by the traces available,
74
185000
2000
03:22
because we cannot go back [to] the past.
75
187000
2000
03:24
It can be ruins, or it can be music,
76
189000
2000
03:26
or it can be painting or drawing or writing, whatever it is.
77
191000
3000
03:29
But it is just a kind of trace of that time.
78
194000
3000
03:34
And that fascinated me,
79
199000
2000
03:36
to explore that territory.
80
201000
3000
03:40
So I was working on the line,
81
205000
3000
03:43
but instead of working about traces,
82
208000
4000
03:47
I started capturing traces.
83
212000
3000
03:50
So here are some of the works I would like to show you.
84
215000
3000
03:53
So this is called "Self In Progress."
85
218000
3000
03:56
It's just a trace of being in this body.
86
221000
3000
03:59
So here, what happened then,
87
224000
2000
04:01
you know -- what I really enjoyed the most
88
226000
2000
04:03
is that this sculpture
89
228000
2000
04:05
is nothing but a trace of myself.
90
230000
3000
04:09
It's almost like a 3D photograph.
91
234000
2000
04:11
So there is an element of performance,
92
236000
2000
04:13
and there is an element of sculpture,
93
238000
2000
04:15
and there is an element of feeling one's self, so close to one's self.
94
240000
3000
04:18
So it's almost like fossils for the future.
95
243000
3000
04:21
And then moved slowly
96
246000
2000
04:23
to explore the other possibilities of capturing traces.
97
248000
3000
04:29
So this is what I was talking about, while molding,
98
254000
3000
04:32
it's such a great experience,
99
257000
2000
04:34
because we have freedom of like walking,
100
259000
2000
04:36
or moving my hand or, moving around in the space,
101
261000
3000
04:39
but the moment this becomes solid,
102
264000
3000
04:42
when you cannot move even an inch,
103
267000
3000
04:45
because this is plaster of Paris, so the moment you pour it it's like liquid;
104
270000
3000
04:48
but after 20 minutes, it's almost like a hard stone.
105
273000
3000
04:52
So this is capturing the trace of a thumbprint
106
277000
4000
04:56
because, knowingly or unknowingly,
107
281000
2000
04:58
whatever we do, you know, we leave our traces here.
108
283000
3000
05:01
So I just thought, "I'm going to capture
109
286000
3000
05:04
thumbprint, footprint,
110
289000
2000
05:06
or whatever traces we leave as humans."
111
291000
3000
05:09
This is the trace of fire,
112
294000
3000
05:12
this is the trace of sun.
113
297000
3000
05:15
Because when I was capturing traces, you know,
114
300000
2000
05:17
this thought comes to me always:
115
302000
3000
05:20
is it, only when the object touches the thing and it leaves the trace,
116
305000
3000
05:23
or is there other ways to capture it?"
117
308000
2000
05:25
So this work is nothing but like --
118
310000
2000
05:27
because of the focal length of the lens,
119
312000
2000
05:29
it just shows what is on the other side.
120
314000
3000
05:33
So I just put the paper on the focal length,
121
318000
2000
05:35
which was an etching print,
122
320000
2000
05:37
then I got the portrait of [the] sun from sunlight.
123
322000
3000
05:41
This is called "Dawn to Dawn."
124
326000
2000
05:43
What I did here, I just put like 10 feet [of] paper
125
328000
3000
05:46
then put a coconut rope,
126
331000
2000
05:48
and just burnt it.
127
333000
2000
05:50
So it took about 24 hours to get this line.
128
335000
2000
05:52
So wherever the fire is eating the paper,
129
337000
2000
05:54
that's what becomes the work --
130
339000
2000
05:56
detail.
131
341000
2000
06:02
Even though we have traces
132
347000
2000
06:04
when we try to understand them,
133
349000
3000
06:08
the perception and context
134
353000
2000
06:10
play a major role to understand it.
135
355000
2000
06:12
So do we really understand what it is,
136
357000
3000
06:15
or are we trying to get
137
360000
2000
06:17
what we think it is?
138
362000
2000
06:19
Then move towards questioning the perception
139
364000
2000
06:21
because, even though there are traces,
140
366000
2000
06:23
when you try to understand them, you know you play a major role.
141
368000
3000
06:26
So like let's say even a simple act.
142
371000
2000
06:28
How many of you saw a cow crossing in India
143
373000
3000
06:31
while you were coming from Bangalore to Mysore?
144
376000
2000
06:33
Can you just raise the hand?
145
378000
3000
06:36
If you just ask an opinion
146
381000
2000
06:38
of how, everyone can interpret it.
147
383000
3000
06:41
Like, let's say, if a schoolteacher says,
148
386000
2000
06:43
she'll simply say, "To get to the other side."
149
388000
2000
06:45
Why the cow was crossing the road, you know.
150
390000
3000
06:48
The answer can be so different if Potter said it.
151
393000
3000
06:51
He would say, "For the greater good."
152
396000
3000
06:54
Martin Luther King would say,
153
399000
2000
06:56
"I imagine a world where all cows will be free
154
401000
3000
06:59
to cross the road,
155
404000
2000
07:01
without having their motives called into question."
156
406000
3000
07:04
(Laughter)
157
409000
2000
07:06
Imagine Moses comes now, and he sees
158
411000
2000
07:08
the same cow walking around the street.
159
413000
2000
07:10
He would definitely say,
160
415000
2000
07:12
"God came down from heaven,
161
417000
3000
07:15
and he said unto the cow,
162
420000
3000
07:18
'Thou shalt cross the road.'
163
423000
3000
07:21
And cow crossed the road,
164
426000
2000
07:23
and there was much rejoicing as a holy cow."
165
428000
3000
07:26
(Laughter)
166
431000
2000
07:28
Freud would say,
167
433000
2000
07:30
"The fact that you're at all concerned
168
435000
2000
07:32
reveals your underlying sexual insecurity."
169
437000
3000
07:35
(Laughter)
170
440000
2000
07:37
If we ask Einstein,
171
442000
2000
07:39
he would say, "Whether the cow crossed the road,
172
444000
3000
07:42
or the road moved underneath the cow,
173
447000
2000
07:44
depends on your frame of reference."
174
449000
2000
07:46
(Laughter)
175
451000
2000
07:48
Or Buddha --
176
453000
2000
07:50
if he saw the same cow, he would say,
177
455000
2000
07:52
"Asking this question denies your own nature [as a] cow."
178
457000
3000
07:55
(Laughter)
179
460000
3000
07:58
So, what we see
180
463000
3000
08:01
is just what we think often,
181
466000
3000
08:04
and most of the time, we don't see what it is.
182
469000
3000
08:07
It just all depends on one's perception.
183
472000
3000
08:10
And context, what is really context?
184
475000
3000
08:13
You know, I could just show you this little piece of paper.
185
478000
3000
08:16
Because I always think meaning doesn't really exist.
186
481000
3000
08:21
The meaning of what we create in this world doesn't exist.
187
486000
2000
08:23
It's just created by the mind.
188
488000
3000
08:26
If you look at this piece of paper,
189
491000
3000
08:29
this is the breadth
190
494000
2000
08:31
and this is called length.
191
496000
2000
08:33
This is how we've been taught in school.
192
498000
3000
08:37
But if you tear it in the middle --
193
502000
3000
08:40
now, I didn't touch this breadth,
194
505000
2000
08:42
but still, the meaning of this changes.
195
507000
2000
08:44
So what we conceive as a meaning
196
509000
2000
08:46
is always not there;
197
511000
2000
08:48
it's on the other side,
198
513000
2000
08:50
even when we say dark, light,
199
515000
2000
08:52
good, bad, tall, short --
200
517000
2000
08:54
all meaning it doesn't exist in reality.
201
519000
3000
08:57
It's just that being a human,
202
522000
2000
08:59
the way we train to perceive the reality
203
524000
3000
09:02
creates this meaning.
204
527000
2000
09:04
So this work from this period
205
529000
2000
09:06
is mostly like --
206
531000
2000
09:08
you know, this is a work called "Light Makes Dark."
207
533000
2000
09:10
It's just captured through from the lamp.
208
535000
3000
09:13
So the lamp is not just giving a light, it's also giving a darkness.
209
538000
3000
09:16
So this is a work of art, which is just trying to explore that.
210
541000
3000
09:20
This is called "Limit Out."
211
545000
2000
09:22
This shows how limited our eye or hearing sense or touch --
212
547000
3000
09:25
do we really see?
213
550000
2000
09:27
This is an exact negative.
214
552000
2000
09:29
It's about six inches deep in the wall,
215
554000
2000
09:31
but it just appears like it's coming out of the wall.
216
556000
3000
09:37
You know the wall is almost like --
217
562000
2000
09:39
this is the first skin, and this is the second,
218
564000
2000
09:41
and there's a third, and each creates a meaning.
219
566000
2000
09:43
And we're just pulling the wall off the gallery.
220
568000
3000
09:46
Again, "Inward Out."
221
571000
2000
09:48
It's a full-figure cast from myself.
222
573000
2000
09:50
It's about eight inches deep.
223
575000
3000
09:56
When I was doing that, I always wondered since I've worked with creators --
224
581000
3000
09:59
and now you know, I've moved to questioning the perception --
225
584000
3000
10:02
whenever I see the bird flying in the sky,
226
587000
3000
10:05
it just makes me feel like:
227
590000
3000
10:08
is there anything behind, are there any traces up there,
228
593000
3000
10:11
which as a human, we don't see them?
229
596000
3000
10:14
Is there any way to capture the thought
230
599000
3000
10:17
into visual art?
231
602000
3000
10:20
I couldn't find it.
232
605000
2000
10:23
But a solution arrived
233
608000
3000
10:26
after being quiet and not working for about six, seven months,
234
611000
3000
10:29
in the restroom,
235
614000
2000
10:31
when I was changing the air freshener
236
616000
3000
10:34
that goes from solid substance to vapor.
237
619000
2000
10:36
It's called Odonil.
238
621000
2000
10:38
This is the work I made out of that material.
239
623000
3000
10:42
The process to get to make the sculpture was interesting,
240
627000
2000
10:44
because I wrote to Balsara,
241
629000
2000
10:46
who produces that air freshener called Odonil,
242
631000
2000
10:48
saying, "Dear Sir, I am an artist. This is my catalogue.
243
633000
2000
10:50
Will you help me to make this sculpture?"
244
635000
2000
10:52
They never wrote back to me.
245
637000
2000
10:54
Then I thought, "I will go to the Small Scale Industries
246
639000
3000
10:57
Facilitating Unit and ask help."
247
642000
2000
10:59
So I told them, "I'd like to start an air freshener company."
248
644000
3000
11:03
They said, "Of course.
249
648000
2000
11:05
This is the fee for the project report,
250
650000
2000
11:07
and we will give you all the details," and they gave.
251
652000
2000
11:09
Finally, I went back to them and said,
252
654000
3000
11:12
"It's not for starting the company, it's just to make my own work.
253
657000
3000
11:15
Please come for the show."
254
660000
2000
11:17
And they did.
255
662000
2000
11:19
And this work is in the Devi Art Foundation in Delhi.
256
664000
3000
11:22
In India, nobody really talks about works of art;
257
667000
3000
11:25
they always talk about the appreciation of art.
258
670000
3000
11:28
You buy this for 3,000 rupees,
259
673000
2000
11:30
it'll become 30,000 in two months.
260
675000
2000
11:32
This is the craft that was going on,
261
677000
2000
11:34
but there are a few collectors
262
679000
2000
11:36
who also collect art which can depreciate.
263
681000
2000
11:38
And this was collected by Anapum --
264
683000
2000
11:40
which is like, finally in the end, he will not have anything,
265
685000
2000
11:42
because it will evaporate.
266
687000
2000
11:46
So this is after a few weeks,
267
691000
3000
11:49
this is after a few months.
268
694000
2000
11:51
It's just all about questioning the preconceptions.
269
696000
3000
11:54
So if someone says, "Oh, I see the portrait,"
270
699000
3000
11:57
it may not be the portrait after a few months.
271
702000
2000
11:59
And if they say it's solid,
272
704000
2000
12:01
it will not be solid, it will evaporate.
273
706000
3000
12:04
And if they say they don't get it,
274
709000
2000
12:06
that's also not true,
275
711000
2000
12:08
because it's in the air.
276
713000
2000
12:10
It's in the same gallery or in the same museum.
277
715000
2000
12:12
So they inhaled it,
278
717000
2000
12:14
but they are not aware of it.
279
719000
3000
12:17
While I was doing that work,
280
722000
2000
12:19
my mom and my dad,
281
724000
2000
12:21
they were looking at it and they said,
282
726000
2000
12:23
"Why do you deal with negative subjects all the time?"
283
728000
3000
12:26
And I was like, "What do you mean?"
284
731000
2000
12:28
"Light makes dark and now evaporating self.
285
733000
3000
12:31
Don't you think it remained something about death," they said.
286
736000
3000
12:34
"Of course not. For me," I'm thinking,
287
739000
2000
12:36
"this is tucked in some small solid,
288
741000
2000
12:38
but the moment it evaporates,
289
743000
2000
12:40
it's merged with the whole."
290
745000
2000
12:42
But she said, "No. Still, I don't like it.
291
747000
2000
12:44
Can you make something from nothing
292
749000
2000
12:46
as a sculptor?"
293
751000
2000
12:48
I said, "No, mom. It can't be.
294
753000
2000
12:50
Because we can create
295
755000
3000
12:53
a sculpture
296
758000
2000
12:55
by gathering dust together,
297
760000
2000
12:57
or we can break the sculpture and get the dust,
298
762000
3000
13:00
but there is nowhere that we can bring dust into the universe."
299
765000
3000
13:03
So, I did this work for her.
300
768000
3000
13:06
It's called "Emerging Angel."
301
771000
2000
13:08
This is the first day --
302
773000
2000
13:10
it just gives the appearance
303
775000
2000
13:12
that one is becoming the other.
304
777000
2000
13:14
So, the same sculpture
305
779000
2000
13:16
after a few days.
306
781000
2000
13:20
This is after 15/20 days.
307
785000
3000
13:23
Through that small little slit
308
788000
2000
13:25
between the glass box and the wood,
309
790000
2000
13:27
the air goes underneath the sculpture and creates the other one.
310
792000
3000
13:30
This gave me a greater faith.
311
795000
2000
13:32
That evaporating sculpture gave me a greater faith
312
797000
3000
13:35
that maybe there is many more possibilities
313
800000
2000
13:37
to capture [the] invisible.
314
802000
2000
13:39
So what you see now
315
804000
2000
13:41
is called "Shadow Foreshadow."
316
806000
3000
13:44
And what I'd like to tell you
317
809000
2000
13:46
is we don't see shadow, and we don't see light too;
318
811000
3000
13:49
we see the source of the light.
319
814000
2000
13:51
We see where it's bouncing, but we don't see [them] as they exist.
320
816000
3000
13:54
You know, that's why the night sky, we see the sky as dark,
321
819000
3000
13:57
but it's filled with light all the time.
322
822000
2000
13:59
When it's bounced on the moon, we see it.
323
824000
2000
14:01
The same thing in the darkroom.
324
826000
2000
14:03
The little dust particle will again, reflect the light,
325
828000
3000
14:06
and we realize the existence of light.
326
831000
2000
14:08
So we don't see dark, we don't see light,
327
833000
3000
14:11
we don't see gravity, we don't see electricity.
328
836000
3000
14:14
So, I just started doing this work
329
839000
3000
14:17
to inquire further
330
842000
3000
14:20
about how to sculpt
331
845000
2000
14:22
the space between this object and there.
332
847000
3000
14:25
Because, as a visual artist, if I'm seeing this and I'm seeing that --
333
850000
3000
14:28
but how to sculpt this, you know?
334
853000
3000
14:31
If we sculpt this, this has two reference points.
335
856000
3000
14:34
The skin of this is also representing this.
336
859000
3000
14:37
And skin at the other end also represents the floor.
337
862000
3000
14:40
I did this as an experiment
338
865000
3000
14:43
of casting the shadow.
339
868000
2000
14:45
So this is a corrugated box and its shadow.
340
870000
3000
14:48
Then the second one --
341
873000
2000
14:50
the moment you bring any invisible into the visible world
342
875000
3000
14:53
it will have all the characteristics of the visible existence.
343
878000
3000
14:56
So that produced a shadow.
344
881000
2000
14:58
Then I thought, okay, let me sculpt that.
345
883000
2000
15:00
Then, again, that becomes an object.
346
885000
2000
15:02
Again, throwing light, then the third one.
347
887000
3000
15:05
So what you see is nothing but shadow
348
890000
2000
15:07
of a shadow of a shadow.
349
892000
2000
15:09
And then again, at that point, there is no shadow.
350
894000
3000
15:12
I thought, "Oh, good. Work is finished."
351
897000
3000
15:16
You can see the detail.
352
901000
2000
15:22
This is called "Gravity."
353
907000
2000
15:29
It's called "Breath." It's just two holes on the gallery wall.
354
914000
3000
15:32
It's a false wall, which contains
355
917000
2000
15:34
like 110 cubic feet.
356
919000
2000
15:36
So that hole actually
357
921000
2000
15:38
makes the air come out and go in.
358
923000
3000
15:41
So where it's happening, we can see,
359
926000
2000
15:43
but what is happening will remain invisible only.
360
928000
2000
15:45
This is from the show called "Invisible," at Talwar Gallery.
361
930000
3000
15:48
This is called "Kaayam."
362
933000
2000
15:50
Detail.
363
935000
2000
15:55
And what I'd like to tell you,
364
940000
3000
15:58
our senses are so limited --
365
943000
2000
16:00
we cannot hear everything, we cannot see everything.
366
945000
2000
16:02
We don't feel, "I am touching the air,"
367
947000
2000
16:04
but if the breeze is a little more faster, then I can feel it.
368
949000
3000
16:08
So all of our construction of reality
369
953000
3000
16:11
is through these limited senses.
370
956000
2000
16:13
So my recourse was like,
371
958000
2000
16:15
is there any way to use all this
372
960000
2000
16:17
as just a symbol or a sign?
373
962000
3000
16:21
And to really get to the point,
374
966000
2000
16:23
we should move beyond, you know,
375
968000
2000
16:25
go to the other side of the wall, like in logic,
376
970000
2000
16:27
like are invisible.
377
972000
2000
16:29
Because when we see someone walks, we see the footprint.
378
974000
2000
16:31
But if we're just cutting that footprint from the whole thing and trying to analyze it,
379
976000
3000
16:34
you will miss the point
380
979000
2000
16:36
because the actual journey happens between those footprints,
381
981000
3000
16:39
and the footprints are nothing but passing time.
382
984000
2000
16:41
Thank you.
383
986000
2000
16:43
(Applause)
384
988000
2000
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alwar Balasubramaniam - ArtistSculptor, painter and printmaker Alwar Balasubramaniam makes work that crosses the boundary between art, perception and life.
Why you should listen
Alwar Balasubramaniam's work aches to express the overlooked, the invisible, the inexpressible. Quiet white sculptural forms, hung on a wall, unlock philosophical questions as one watches the light pass over them. What is their form, and what is their shadow? What are those mysterious white hands reaching for, around the corner and through the wall?
Trained in painting and printmaking, Balasubramaniam has been experimenting with a range of materials (fiberglass, wax, gold) to create sculptural works that bring forth his ideas and his search process. His work is often very tactile, very physical, but it symbolizes an exploration of big questions: what defines the self? what confines us? how do light and shadow shape our view of the world?
Alwar Balasubramaniam | Speaker | TED.com