The flaneurs are in Kochi!

The on-going comic art show by Unni, Gokul and Appuppen -Flaneur in Kochi -gives you a different view of the city
Imagine experiencing a city through a series of black and white drawings. The on-going art show -Flaneur in Kochi -gives you a different view of the city, through the eyes of three artists -Gokul Gopalkrishnan, Unni and Appuppen. They call themselves Flaneurs, which means someone who walks the city in order to experience it.Their premise is that there is a difference between what a city projects itself as and how an actual viewer experiences it and the artists have presented the city as they saw it.
Thus there are works by Appuppen, making fun of film posters with writings like ­ Flaneur Oru Cheriya Meenalla -and 22FlaneurKottayam while other works of his have spoofed the Biennale as well as the gold craze of Malayalis. “That is the best part of comics, you can make fun of everything," observes Appuppen.
Unni's video installation takes you on a tour through Fort Kochi through a series of black and white drawings.`The Marine Drive' series presented by Gokul depicts a lone man sitting at the Marine Drive. “At the Marine Drive, which is supposed to be the hub of all the glitz and glamour Kochi sells, I saw this lone man who looked all worried. Life around him went on as usual, but this series show his perspective of the city,“ says Gokul. So how did such an idea come about? “We knew each other but got together a few years back when a gallery in Bangalore was looking for a comic art show. The theme they suggested, City, suited us as we are all flaneurs here. Also, comics and cities are interlinked; most comics depict urban experiences,“ says Gokul. The trio presented their first show with their works depicting Bangalore.“The major challenge was to create the same experience of flipping through a book in a gallery, where you are used to seeing only framed, hanged works," he says.
The Bangalore show was a hit, which led them to host a second show in Kochi, and be more city-specific this time.
All of them had some connections with Kochi so it was the obvious choice. “We added new visuals for Kochi.Some of the art of Bangalore was retained; as a person who has just come to the city will have other city stories in him," says Appuppen.
They are planning to host their next show in Mumbai.So do they study a city in detail before holding an exhibition? “Not at all, if you do such detailed research you make a PhD project, not comic art, which has to get through to everyone. It is natural for me to walk around and be a flaneur,“ says Appuppen, who has `walked' through more than 15 cities in India so far.
So how come comic art is still something new and unexplored in Kerala, despite the state being known for its cartoonists and sharp sense of humour? “Yes, we don't have an audience for it now but we had, earlier. G Aravindan is known for making the first comic in Malayalam in 1969. Till 1975, the cartoon strip Cheriya Lokavum Valiya Manushyarum was running, which was much ahead of its time. After that, there was no follow up to the movement started off by Aravindan," says Appuppen. “Maybe we just need to put things out there. Most exhibitions in our state feature only political caricatures, no story telling. The concept of comics for adults is very much in vogue in the West and even in Japan, but somehow it hasn't taken off in India where we still have only works similar to the Amar Chithrakatha, where there is no tension between the image and the text. What you see is what you get. Perhaps we need time to grow," says Gokul.