What purpose does art serve? That’s an oft-asked question. And even for someone who has stood in silent prayer before the work of a great master, that question can be difficult to ignore when juxtaposed against the fact that the huge price tag attached to it may feed a starving family for several years. But when you experience a work of art created by Haribaabu Natesan, you certainly won’t be raising any questions about its purpose. Created entirely with what people discard — scrap, electronic waste and suchlike — Hari’s work is
as environmentally conscious as it is awe-inspiring.
His latest effort, a VW Beetle constructed entirely out of scrap (some 800 spark plugs and cold drink crowns, 200 bottle caps, 60 motherboards, keyboards etc) is being displayed at the ongoing Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) in Mumbai. The junk was collected in various cleanup drives organised by automobile giant Volkswagen, which commissioned the work to Hari as part of its “Think Blue” campaign. “The Think Blue campaign is all about energy and fuel efficiency, and that’s what the Think Blue Beetle is all about,” says Hari.
“When you recycle, a lot of fuel is utilised in transporting the material from the junkyard to the scrap dealer to the factory. Then energy is expended in breaking down the material and refashioning it into a new object. The energy that goes into recycling this material is saved because of my art.”
Hari uses an interesting metaphor to describe the nature of his art: That of the concept of mukti or salvation. “Mukti means that you are freed of the possibility of reincarnation. What I do is give the material mukti. Whatever material I use, it remains art forever; it is not recycled again,” Hari says.
Hari describes the process by which he creates one of his pieces: Scrap or junk is sourced from friends, relatives — or even off the roadside when something catches the artist’s fancy. Then it is all carefully dismantled in his workspace. This stage often throws up surprises as Hari discovers materials hidden within the scrap that has infinite possibilities (for instance, a flat computer screen and a discarded fax machine yielded glass that Hari could use for the Think Blue Beetle). Then comes the segregation of all the material according to shape or form.
This segregation is crucial, as Hari says he sees things as shapes. “I see all objects as forms,” he explains. “So my mind is always open to thinking I can create this out of this form. So, in the Think Blue Beetle, you’ll see that I have used old speakers for the headlights, a mouse for the indicator light. For the wheel caps, we sourced old gramophone records…the function (of the discarded object) isn’t important, I work according to the form.”
Before being showcased at the KGAF, Hari’s Beetle was seen at Delhi’s recently held Auto Expo too, and will next be displayed at a museum in Germany. For Hari, who had to struggle to get galleries to notice his work, life has come full circle.
“The galleries didn’t understand my art, for them it was a new medium,” says Hari, recounting the journey he undertook after plunging into creating art out of scrap, full time, in 2008 (the National Institute of Design Ahmedabad product quit a highly lucrative job as the graphic
design head of a firm to do so).
“I approached many galleries, but always got a 50-50 sort of feedback. The galleries that did express interest were booked for several years. Jehangir Art Gallery, I found, was booked till 2013. Any new artist has to go through this process. But things changed when I got the Bajaj Capital Art House Art Fellowship Award (2010). That was a break for me because my art became visible.”
Hari, who tries to live a green lifestyle as much as possible, has previously said that he sees “life in stillness, a beginning in every end”. It’s the philosophy that underlies all his work, Hari says: “Discarding any material as junk is a form of death. People generally see death as an end, but I see it as a beginning. I bring dead materials to life. I try to create meaning out of what is thrown away, for people to see that there is meaning in these things even after their perceived death.”