The DUOTECH show rumbles around fortnightly to lay down a barrage of funky electronics for your sonic satisfaction. Programmed by Tor Petersen and Leigh Jardine and streamed through www.freakin.org worldwide. If you fancy a listen, as always, it's available to download at http://www.duotech.org/page3.htm. eclectic electrics with duotech fortnightly wednesdays from 20:00 UK time streaming on www.freakin.org
on saturday I went along to the Raqs Media Collective exhibition called "There has Been a Change of Plan" at Gallery Nature Morte in Delhi, India. I'm currently working here on a project. I've been following Raqs' work and Sarai for quite a few years but this is the first time I've seen their work in person. it was a retrospective of work from 2002-2006. Raqs MC have exhibited/collaborated with many international exhibitions and festivals/biennales (including recently the sydney biennale I believe?) but this was the first solo exhibition in Delhi, even though they were formed in 1992 & have been exhibiting since then also.
the collective also work on various research projects and release an annual reader (Sarai Reader) - this can be viewed on their website as well as in book form (though I've only seen them here in print form so was lucky to pick them up locally!) the readers have a different topic each year which academics and researchers write submissions for to discuss and document various issues. they also run a research fellows project where students write on topics such as urban development, village life in India, media, technology, social and health issues etc.
anway, I took some photos and made a slideshow video if you would like to take a look. (some of the pics are a little blurry I'm afraid, but they give you an idea)
another video of the India Habitat Centre here in Delhi which is a convention centre / collection of buildings where there are many galleries & conference rooms/workshops on Indian art and habitats / urban & rural development & life projects/info is at http://blip.tv/file/62578
we've seen a few of the touristy spots in Delhi and I've taken heaps of photos, way too many to see at my flickr site so I've started making little slideshow videos. this is part 1 of the day we went to see the Baha'ai Lotus Temple and Humayan's Tomb.
the lotus temple looks very similar to the Sydney Opera House except the wings curve inwards like a lotus flower rather than outwards like the opera house. you have to take your shoes off and walk up a long path to reach it. there's thousands of visitors each day - it's one of the busiest places on Earth apparently. you can't take video or photos inside the temple. the acoustics in the room are amazing though! I've taken some audio recordings which I'll post one day. such beautiful echoes. people whisper and whistle and the sounds carry throughout the space wafting up to the upper rafters. the architectural design of the support beams inside is amazing also. plus it's really clean and much cooler than outside so is a great way to get away from the craziness and loudness of the rest of Delhi.
Humayan's Tomb is another tourist attraction. it is the tomb of one of the leaders and his wives. it was built about 100 years prior to the Taj Mahal so they call it a practice building for the Taj. though how they knew that 100 years later a king would be so successful and want to show his wealth & power by building a huge monument to his dead wife I'm not sure, but it's a nice story the tourists (like us) are told! perhaps I need to read a history / architecture book to find the full story. it's pretty much in rubble now. it's amazing how little the heritage is looked after here compared to other places. apparently up until about 30 years ago, people lived in the village compound still so it wasn't taken care of as it should have been until more recent years. I suppose a large space like this with protected walls was a good address to have at the time..
traditionally the children fly kites leading up to independance day (15/08) but I've been seeing them in Delhi since April. nice to watch in the afternoons if you're out and about. the kids get up on the roof of their apartment block and fly small hanky sized kites whilst dodging the power lines. I haven't been able to get a good shot but this one will remind me of them in the meantime.
when I first arrived at work here in Delhi the building we are working in was still pretty much a building site. ruubble everywhere. toilets not working except for one communal toilet in the other older building about 10 minutes walk away. workmen everywhere. people staring at us all the time. later we moved to a new hotel and the room I was given is next to another building site - this time a new corporate building next to the hotel. similar to the work site, the workpeople live onsite. I took some photos of the lazy sunday afternoon in saket whilst looking out the window at the building site, so here's the video / slideshow. the music is 'mad world' (from donny darko movie) - I thought it matched the mood I was in whilst watching out the window ...
drive from Delhi to Agra, July 16, 2006. these huts and other mud walled huts are scattered along the road on farmlands on the road to Agra. I'm not sure if they're houses/shelters, grain storage or animal houses??
it really is clean and white. my cameras had trouble taking photos as the sky was almost the same colour. the optical illusions are interesting - the width of the columns.
Chattapur Mandir (Temple), Delhi, 13/07/2006 - we had a blessing ceremony in front of Ganesh. we couldn't take photos inside the buildings but this is a postcard. the statues are finely carved, some seem to be made of silver or copper (not sure). we washed our hands, were given flowers as offerings to the statues, then poured water onto a centrepiece which had water flowing onto it, had spices and food (rice) offerings given to the centrepiece, then the red paste put on our forheads. we were given half coconuts and flowers.
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Urban Stories: A Collection of Graphic Essays on Mumbai Posting 6 Please view updates,pics and works in progress at http://mumbai-urbanstories.blogspot.com/
THE project is taking shape.. and so far, learnt a lot about the city, good and bad. Most of the last week or so, its been either the rain or the riots in Mumbai, so just been stuck at home. With regards to graphic design, its been satisfying to actually have the time to work and experiment.. To try and break cliches, playing with colours and forms.
Currently, each graphic essay is a stand alone piece.. covering a range of topics from sexuality to urban identities to architecture.. (stil workin on them..)What needs to be done is linking them up, making them part of a cohesive whole with text and classification (temporal aspect). That should take shape once all the pieces are ready.. Looking at about 18-20 pieces right now, some are very detailed, some not so detailed.. with the post modern view especially evident in the text/ typo on each piece.. I see the final presentation also as something that one can experiment with..work creatively with..
Though for a project like this, reseach has been very specific to each piece..nevertheless have learnt a lot about the city..mainly photography and print media reserach have been key.
Hope to upload finished pieces in the near future..and get feedback to further refine each graphic essay.
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everyone was making these a couple of weeks ago so I did too! drupal makes a nice image I think.. check out the websitesasgraphs flickr tag for other people's site images
I didn't make it to vloggercon06, but caught a couple of the saturday sessions online. second life was pretty quiet - they must have got the video working after I left
