Kehkashan

This is going to be one of those incoherent posts filled with thoughts, thoughts, thoughts. Because, every now and then, you need one of those right? lol.  It’s like a blog version of a mind-map.

This brainstorming has technically been going on for WEEKS. I wrote an email to Jonathan asking for clarification on some aspects, but we were on term break so I’m guessing everyone was on holiday. So I had to keep going, keep planning, since the final show is drawing nearer. So I ended up brainstorming all over my sketchbooks. Yup. All those beautiful pages are now filled with doodles and scribbles. I’ll share those in a sketchbook overview blog soon.

Anyway, the point is… I have been thinking about how to present a consolidated body of work, especially when I live abroad and shipping anything back and forth will be a HUGE hassle, and a HUGE expense. But at the same time, entirely digital work doesn’t really define me. So, what does define me and my work throughout this MA?

• Iridescent Alloys : the experimentation I have been doing on these has led to so much discovery, so much meaning, intertwined with my culture, heritage and experiences. Ideally, I would love to present all of Iridescent Alloys I’ve made, but failing that at least one complete one. The catch is, I can’t present these digitally… all the nuances are in the texture! However, if I do manage to bring at least one, I can create an augmented reality layer on it!
• The events I have been hosting in Karachi; they culminated to a (sort of) endpoint in December. It was incredible. I plan to continue with The Untold Edition, long after this MA is over. I recall in the tutorials Jonathan emphasized repeatedly that I shouldn’t leave this aspect of my work behind for the final show, that I should somehow weave it in. So this point of his has been rolling around my mind, and I really want to present my events. But how? to host such an event lots of time, money and know-how of the place (london) would be needed. To bring video footage, how could I possibly make that interesting or experiential?
• Which brings me to my final point: interaction. My entire project proposal I have wondered what truly constitutes art, especially in the era of digimodernism. Is audience interaction crucial? And what I have realized is, though audience interaction isn’t what defines art necessarily, it does enhance it. So I want to involve my audience in some way. But the issue is, if I’m not even there for the opening of the show… how would I orchestrate such interaction? If I can’t take too much tangible work, then I can’t opt for something VR related or smartphone related because I can’t just leave tech like that behind and return to Jeddah.
• So… questions questions questions.

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, after multiple brainstorming sessions on paper, here are my thoughts so far:

• Jonathan helped me realize that the root of the art I was creating was generosity. The Untold Edition events also revolved around this concept. So can I somehow kill two birds with one stone by tying this idea into my final show, and answering one of my questions at the same time? What if I go with the initial idea I penned down in my project proposal and create an iridescent alloy out of pieces. And invite people to take pieces away from my painting if they feel like it.
• I would love to create a hashtag and have people share their decision on instagram
• This painting can have an augmented reality layer over it? Or maybe not… lets see..
• As for presenting my Untold Edition work… I wanted to drape chiffon fabric and project a video montage on it. I want people to be able to move around this work and change it as they appear behind it or before it…

Now… to execute this idea. I’m actually headed to the art store right now for a few supplies, but also.. I want to wait for my final tutorial before I completely get into it… what if the tutorial changes plans. Don’t want to have wasted a ton of work… Lets see.