L’art pour l’art — this widely propagated French slogan from the early 19th century separates the embryo of conceptual art from its didactic, moral, ethical, social and utilitarian aspects. This phrase, which translates as the English phrase “art for art’s sake”, simply substantiates the fact that an aesthetic specimen is complete in itself. Based on this premise, the British Council Library (BCL) in Kolkata and the city’s cultural hub, The Harrington Street Arts Centre recently collaborated to organise an engaging discussion on the Dimensions in British Contemporary Art from year 1990-2010, at the spacious art gallery of the heritage Harrington Mansion. Eminent art historian and leading cultural consultant Katherine Rose was invited to share her insights on the subject. And the engaging discussion that ensued revealed the fine tastes of the culture capital’s art connoisseurs.
Shedding light on her broad spectrum of work that revolves around museum displays, curating artefacts and educating relevant target audiences, Katherine said, “The 1990s marked the decade that threw open the floodgates of a globalised village. Ever since then, both the painter’s easel and the sculptor’s chisel have undergone a visible transition. This was the period that saw traditional mediums like canvas creations, paintings, sculptures, photographs as well as installations being married to revolutionary crossover themes.” The historian feels that the change in the art scenario has come about at a steady pace and one needs to wait and watch to comprehend its various manifestations.
“Artists nowadays grope for an out-of-the-box arena and exotic tools to prop up their profound pit of imagination. They resort to diverse techniques and use new-age ideas to employ into their repertoire to illustrate their depth of artistic vision,” she observes.
Katherine feels that sharp creative bent of mind of a truly dexterous craftsman can certainly fire the imagination with an impressive repertoire of bizarre items. The esoteric fare can be conjured out of absolute nothingness. From minuscule safety pins to gigantic elephants, the object d’ art can be overwhelmingly varied and outlandish too. A roomful of fruits, a basket of oranges, mirror reflections — on both convex as well as concave glass surfaces — can instantly stupefy your alert senses.
Speaking of veteran Indian artist Anish Kapoor, Katherine said, “Kapoor’s array of artwork shows a shift in the paradigm. He has been so closely involved with the changing symptoms in the domain of art and aesthetics, that he persistently persevered to iron out the creases between former and futuristic art.”
When asked about the abilities of a grotesque piece of museum art or gallery specimen in aiding the understanding of research students, Katherine said, “Art is imperishable and artistic procreations conform to a never-say-die adage. What one needs to remember is that the art equipment can be used as a means to help impart lessons within a classroom too. The apparatuses can be used for conducting scientific experiments in subjects like Physics, Chemistry and space-oriented studies. Also, artistic designs and symbols can be helpful in History and Geography too.”
She further explained the need of training a special batch of teachers, who will be able to teach students the art of exploring a given material and look for its inherent properties and possibilities to transform it into a third kind. In this way, the connecting links can be forged between a bulk of matter and mechanics to metamorphose into a finished product that could enthrall one’s imagination.
“Children love to indulge themselves in practical applications, wherein they can play and study in tandem. They must learn to enjoy and enjoy while learning. That is the basic idea,” Katherine put in a nutshell. Looks like the historian is doing her utmost to turn her words into action.
“I came to Delhi to fulfil this objective and with the way things are progressing, I can say that we are speeding towards our goal. We are already in talks with several schools regarding tie-ups to formulate a series of programmes on educating children about the infotainment of museums and art galleries. And the good news is that premier institutions like the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Arts and the Devi Art Foundation have already pledged to cooperate,” she said.