BANGALORE: In 2004, when the world was becoming increasingly digital, artist Aparna Rao went the other way. She set up PorsAndRao, a studio in north Bangalore that specialises in interactive art and attempts to give physical objects life through technology. Unlike modern-day technologists, she does not play with just plain vanilla software but deals with complex concepts in mechanics and electronics. “I don't love technology. It makes our life such hell.
But it is necessary to achieve the performance our work requires,“ said 36 year-old Rao, who spends two-three years on a project, along with her collaborator Soren Pors, a Danish sculptor.
Rao met Pors at an airport in Italy , when she turned up to help him deal with his lost luggage. The duo has been working together since their research scholarship in Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Italy in 2002 and have produced 12 works of art. The works ensure that objects move poetically while invoking humor, irony , even a sense a protective feeling towards the inanimate creatures.
Take for instance a sound sensitive installation of little wooden dolls called pygmies. When the room in which they are installed becomes quiet, 509 black silhouettes of tiny creatures timidly make their way out.
Although each pygmy responds on its own, all are affected by sound. A small sound sends the creatures scurrying for cover, while a loud noise will have them hiding.
Although the work is intricately linked with technology , Rao goes out of her way to hide this aspect. The gallery goers only see strange pygmies and not panels fitted with sensors and microcontrollers.
“In the way we are using the medium, there is no established process. You keep burning your fingers and learning a little bit more every time,” said Rao, who has no formal background in engineering and falls back on her strong math and problem-solving skills to give shape to ideas.
The organisation is mostly driven by grants, and unlike other companies has no revenue model in place. Galleryske in Bangalore is currently in charge of showcasing their work.
“We don't respond to market demands. There is no business or financial logic to this; that not why we do it,” said Rao. Worldwide, her kind of art is doing well. The contemporary art index, an area she works in, was up 10.5% in 2013, according to Mei Moses World All Art Index.
Vadhera Art Gallery, one of the first galleries to hold a solo exhibition for Rao’s art said although interactive art, which includes audio, and video installation, is rapidly gaining popularity in India, they get much more visibility outside of India.
“There are far more galleries and spaces like museums where such art can be showcased,” said Roshini Vadehra, director of the New Delhi-based art gallery, which showcases Modern & Contemporary Indian Art.
Meanwhile, the duo, who prefer to not call themselves artists, continue to work on a series of projects.“We are driven by notions of very concrete objects and experiences that we somehow feel strongly connected to,” said Pors. “Of course, if we in the process somehow can contribute the language of art, then that is great too.”
But it is necessary to achieve the performance our work requires,“ said 36 year-old Rao, who spends two-three years on a project, along with her collaborator Soren Pors, a Danish sculptor.
Rao met Pors at an airport in Italy , when she turned up to help him deal with his lost luggage. The duo has been working together since their research scholarship in Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Italy in 2002 and have produced 12 works of art. The works ensure that objects move poetically while invoking humor, irony , even a sense a protective feeling towards the inanimate creatures.
Take for instance a sound sensitive installation of little wooden dolls called pygmies. When the room in which they are installed becomes quiet, 509 black silhouettes of tiny creatures timidly make their way out.
Although each pygmy responds on its own, all are affected by sound. A small sound sends the creatures scurrying for cover, while a loud noise will have them hiding.
Although the work is intricately linked with technology , Rao goes out of her way to hide this aspect. The gallery goers only see strange pygmies and not panels fitted with sensors and microcontrollers.
“In the way we are using the medium, there is no established process. You keep burning your fingers and learning a little bit more every time,” said Rao, who has no formal background in engineering and falls back on her strong math and problem-solving skills to give shape to ideas.
The organisation is mostly driven by grants, and unlike other companies has no revenue model in place. Galleryske in Bangalore is currently in charge of showcasing their work.
“We don't respond to market demands. There is no business or financial logic to this; that not why we do it,” said Rao. Worldwide, her kind of art is doing well. The contemporary art index, an area she works in, was up 10.5% in 2013, according to Mei Moses World All Art Index.
Vadhera Art Gallery, one of the first galleries to hold a solo exhibition for Rao’s art said although interactive art, which includes audio, and video installation, is rapidly gaining popularity in India, they get much more visibility outside of India.
“There are far more galleries and spaces like museums where such art can be showcased,” said Roshini Vadehra, director of the New Delhi-based art gallery, which showcases Modern & Contemporary Indian Art.
Meanwhile, the duo, who prefer to not call themselves artists, continue to work on a series of projects.“We are driven by notions of very concrete objects and experiences that we somehow feel strongly connected to,” said Pors. “Of course, if we in the process somehow can contribute the language of art, then that is great too.”
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