KFG | tomrchambers

KITES FOR GANDHI

Chambers put together this video when he was conducting a new media art workshop at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India (July, 2006). Kites are significant in India to rejoice in the spirit of the day and as a part of the Makar Sankranti Festival (change of season), and Mahatma Gandhi spent a portion of his life at the Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad. Chambers created this movie as an offering and out of respect for this philosopher and leader of the people. It was exhibited as a part of NMA@NID held at the National Institute of Design, July, 2006.

The NMA@NID exhibition at the National Institute of Design was a culmination of a three-week, Digital/New Media Art workshop that Chambers taught for New Media Design graduate students. The no-constraints workshop encouraged self-expression through computer technology within a Fine Arts context.

According to Chambers, art created via New Media should follow traditional conventions in the sense of appreciation for existing foundations and their various Art Movements. He tried to instill this within the workshop process, and an overview of the exhibition sees an emotional component and search for truth that permeate the Fine Arts.

Photographs of the exhibition follow:

Most of the work on exhibit is time-based or art in motion with some interactivity (Connective Art) and static representation via print. Prabhu's projection of apprehension through Inamdar's take on internal conflict show a surprising maturity of the works on display, particularly since this is the first time for this group of students to pursue self-expression this way.

Chambers feels that they (the students) have avoided "gimmicks" and "trends" that seem to dominate the attempt of making art in a New Media sense. He considers much of New Media that claims to be art to be nothing more than "blogging", a maze of aptitude exercises and over-intellectualization with little to no concern for aesthetics and the emotional state.

NID New Media Design graduate students: Devyani Arya, Shweta Grampurohit, Basangouda Inamdar, Pallavi Kulkarni, Lakshmi Kumar, Ruchira Parihar, Ruta Potnis, Arul Prabhu, Gayatri Sathe, Abhishek Shrivastava and Eva.

To read the students' descriptive text about their respective art works, click on download to obtain the pdf file.

A video of the NMA@NID exhibition was a part of the "Screening" event at CeC/CaC 2007, 2nd Carnival of e-Creativity & Change-agents Conclave, February 9-10-11, 2007, New Delhi, India.

This view shows Ruchira Parihar's "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" foreground right, Gayatri Sathe's "Veiled" center and Abhishek Shrivastava's "A city next to me" (projection) far left. The prints ("Impressions - G") to the right near the windows are by Gayatri Sathe.

This view shows Devyani Arya's "The Unsung Heroes" (ode to the software developer) far left, Pallavi Kulkarni's "Plastic: India's boon or scourge" foreground center, Eva's "Kaleidoscope" far center [beyond post], Shweta Grampurohit's "Black or White" foreground right and Basangouda Inamdar's "Yin-Yang and Ping Pong" far right. The prints (Untitled series) to the left near the windows are by Lakshmi Kumar.

This closer view shows Devyani Arya's "The Unsung Heroes" [ode to the software developer] left, Tom R. Chambers' (workshop instructor) "Kites for Gandhi" center and Eva's "Kaleidoscope" far right. The print mosaic and print to the right are by Eva.

Three NID students are seen viewing the time-based art works. They are wearing headphones to be able to relate the visuals to their respective audio for an immersive experience. Ruta Potnis' prints are seen far left near the windows, and Abhishek Shrivastava's "A city next to me" (projection) is seen far center.