Kochi, March 22 (IANS) A huge sparkling 'diamond' made of 10,000 discarded blood slides strung together by stainless steel wire and neatly stacked in a brick-like manner has been the cynosure of all eyes at the Kochi Muziris Biennale being held here.
The creator, Prashant Pandey, has termed the installation "Artha", a Sanskrit word that refers both to the pursuit of material wealth and the quest for meaning. A diamond is a universal symbol of wealth, power and vanity.
Explaining the theme of his work, Pandey said 'Artha' recalls and recounts the countless sacrifices made during successive colonisations and the quest for land, domination, wealth and power.
It hints at the way in which colonialism intertwined religion with economics.
It also raises questions about the price of progress and the relationship between worldly possessions and the purpose of life.
"As I hail from a family of marble sculptors in Jaipur, I used to play with waste marble chips after the sculptures were chiselled. This is how my fascination for discarded materials was born," said the 30-year-old Pandey.
"My desire has always been to work on the changing ideologies of human emotions. I feel it is my responsibility as an artist to look at byproducts of human activity and to regenerate that waste in order to create something new," he said.
The artist collected discarded blood slides from unknown people, mostly from Rajasthan, and includes some of his own slides too.
"My interest lies in working with memories and reminiscences of the past. I wanted to use this to represent the history of this beautiful site which is why I used waste blood slides. Blood signifies both life and death, glory and sacrifices in the history of Kochi. 'Artha' is an effort at recollecting all memories together in one form," he said.
Jitish Kallat, curator of the Kochi Muziris Biennale, said that in stark contrast to his family tradition of chipping away at stone to create statues of gods and goddesses, Pandey works with that which is discarded and often ostensibly "impure".
Prophet Muhammad Row: Curfew imposed in Ranchi after the violence, SSP injured in stone-pelting
Prophet Muhammad Row: A fierce protest took place in Ranchi on Friday in protest against the remarks made by the suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma on Prophet Muhammad. During this, vehicles were set
All flights from New Delhi to Kabul were canceled, Afghanistan closed its airspace
Amid the ongoing turmoil in Afghanistan, national carrier Air India's flight to Kabul has been rescheduled after it was reported that Afghan airspace has been closed, due to which flights from India
Devraj Patel: Death of Chhattisgarh's famous YouTuber Devraj Patel with 'Dil Se Bura Lagta Hai Bhai', died in a road accident
Chhattisgarh's famous comedy YouTuber Devraj Patel has died in a road accident. According to information, Devraj Patel has died in a road accident near Labhandi Chowk in Raipur.
Natasa Stankovic put a break on divorce rumors, shared a special photo, and said she is still a 'Pandya'!
For quite some time now, Natasa Stankovic and Hardik Pandya have been in the headlines for the news of their divorce. However, neither of them has issued an official statement on this yet, but
Justice Sanjeev Khanna will be the 51st CJI: Chief Justice Chandrachud recommended the name; has tenure of only 6 months, and will retire on May 13
Justice Sanjiv Khanna will be the 51st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. CJI DY Chandrachud has recommended his name to the government. CJI Chandrachud will retire on November 10, 2024.
Petrol Diesel Price: Petrol-Diesel prices have not changed even today, know how much are the prices in your city
Oil companies have released the prices of petrol and diesel for today. Today companies have not made any change in oil prices. Recently, the government announced to reduce the prices of petrol and
Corona vaccination plan ready; Co-WIN app will tell when, how and who will get the vaccine
The central government has announced a plan for corona vaccination. The Co-WIN app has been developed to tell when, who and where to get the vaccine. It will be used in vaccination. The government
UP News: Power companies will have to improve performance, Regulatory Commission said – burden cannot be put on consumers
In the meeting of the State Advisory Committee of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission on Monday, the Commission said that the burden of the inefficiency of the power companies cannot be passed
DM-SP applied Tilak in a temple that was closed for 46 years, Sambhal city Qazi gave a statement- Muslims are being defamed…
After the lock of the temple which was closed for the last 46 years in the Muslim-dominated area of Khaggu Sarai the city was opened on Sunday, apart from BJP leaders, the District Magistrate
Pune's Poonawala bets 3300 crore rupees on Oxford's Corona vaccine, Indian company Serum has vaccinated half of the world's children
Geoffrey Gitelman. Indian businessman Adar Poonawala has made big bets on the creation of the Coronavirus vaccine. Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer in Pune, is going to
