A Roomful of Old Ladies Clattering their Fingernails

Truly one of the more humbling experiences i've been through. Much of my impressions of Singaporean stereotypes were shattered here.

I'll need some time to fill thought to this space. A lot of notes and pictures to go through.. much reflection and recollection needed.

Susie Wong, a multi-tasker extraordinaire (though she would comment otherwise ;) ), who loves her teh si kosong, wrote this article (Page 1, 2, 3, 4) for the 'd+a' magazine.

An interview through post.fm (no longer exists online)

Featured in www.recyclart.org


Traces of this project by;
- Bridgette See
- Chenlaoshi
- Anmari's QR8 project

- Squashedspud's photostream pic

2004-05

More traces of 'A Roomful of Old Ladies Clattering their Fingernails'

Yes, I've been googling my name to see where it hits =)
For my lack of intense documentation for this project, i have been sourcing for pics that other people might have put up on the net.
This is one hit.
('Laoshi' means 'teacher' from what little words i know of Mandarin... so i presume the person who took this pic was a teacher)
Am so happy she had blogged it up. =)

http://chenlaoshi.blogspot.com/2005/03/blog-post.html
2004-05

Traces of 'A Roomful of Old Ladies Clattering their Fingernails'

This was a blog entry by Bridgette See, a person whose kindness i can never forget.

PENCIL MARKS: 0055hrs, Feb 17, 2005

We saw him today, sitting in a glass display window along an underground walkway leading to an arts centre. No, to be accurate, sitting half in and half out of the display window. He looked like a technician employed to set up some lights for an advertiser. He was crouched over a small makeshift table, focused on a small object in his hands. J and I walked up to take a closer look. But first, our eyes were drawn to a gorgeous hanging display on his left.

It was a huge cluster of hanging pencils! Wooden pencils that had been sharpened and skinned with a paper cutter. The bodies of the pencils were exaggeratedly short, while the lead insides so long. They made up a pencil chandelier, hanging skinny and sharp.

So what was M doing? We peered and he looked up. 'Hi' 'Hi' 'Hi' we said in unison. He was sharpening pencils with an old school pencil sharpener, the type that has a handle you turn and make shavings that are all small and wiry. I asked him why he didn't use a newer type of sharpener. He pointed to a whole box of shavings. He's planning to scatter them (like sawdust) all over the floor of the window display. My first question was 'How many pencils are you going to use?" He shot back "Are you from Greenpeace?" J and I laughed. That was the furthest from my mind although I am a bit of a greenie. But after i assured him I wasn't about to tie myself outside his window display to protest against his raping of entire forests, he loosened up and began to talk.

This artist at work was M: he was born in India, raised in Dubai and has been in our city studying art for 5 years.

Apparently he had been commissioned by some guys to create an installation piece here after those guys saw his work at his arts school graduation show. So he's using about 2000 (!) pencils to create an art work, harnessing all parts of the pencils, from lead, to shavings to create installation art. Then he showed us another box of pencil shavings. These are the type you get when you use a new moden pencil sharpener. They have curvy edges and all, quite unlike the small wiry types. It was amazing the patterns he could create using a small beat-up sharpener. Some of the insides were star-shaped, some flower-shaped and even one that was square-shaped! All he did was apply different pressure at different points. WOW!

























He had some more weird contraptions using little pencil nubs and all. I was so enthralled by his work. Suddenly I remembered that I had a pencil sharpener on me! (okok, dun ask me why i have one on me in the first place!) . I whipped it out enthusiastically and shoved it into his hands. 'Try this' i said. 'You'll love it'

M looked at the purple sharperner hesitantly. It's not everyday someone walks by and gives you a pencil sharpener, and a pretty slick one too! He put in a fresh pencil and began sharpening it, carefully and slowly - unsure of this new instrument. 'Shrccch' the first turn sounded so crisp he was startled. He paused and stared at my sharpener with new found respect. 'Wow, it's so sharp, the blade..." he continued again. 'Ah... it's almost orgasmic for me to hear that sharp crisp sound!' M exclaimed. I was delighted! Really, how many people can you cheer up in a day this way? This time, M unscrewed the sharpener, peered intensely at its inside, and said 'wow, it's even made of plastic. I can't believe...'

We laughed. I'm glad i've found another soul who is still full of wonder for life's little surprises. Many of my friends have lost that naivety. Instead, they often look at me in puzzlement when I squeal in delight over simple matters like being able to Skype or if i spot a funny cloud in the sky.

So J and I sat there chatting with M for almost 15 minutes, finding out the fate of different pencils. This chap's going to be around for another week. So J's going down on his off day on Friday to help him shave some pencils and snap some pictures of this cool dude. The brief encounter with M brought back fond memories of how me and my friends had helped out a bunch of installation artists at 5th Passage - an alternative art space in a shopping mall in the east of the city. This was 10 years ago but I can still remember the excitment as each installation piece evolved; the sheer thrill of seeing genius and creativity boiling over; the irresistible vibes in the air. It was a pity the alternative arts space closed down because it was way ahead of its time.

Thank you M for delighting my evening. i'll see you next week when I bring lunch for you and J. And my dear purple sharpener, I am so proud of YOU!

The Lost Tea Leaves Series

An experiment playing with the possibilities of reusing throw-away tea leaves and powder as a collaborative effort between Infinitea and Mithun Jayaram.

(Why is it called the LOST tea leaves series?)

If in Bangalore, we invite you and your family & friends to relax with a pot of tea and great food under this loungy feel situated at 2, Shah Sultan Complex, Cunningham Road.



- Christine Rillo who works for Adagio Teas wrote this very inspiring article.
- Catherine V. Bainbridge wrote this for her blog.

- Kanika Singh, who works for Buzz in Town, Bangalore, had written this on the Lost Tea Leaves Series.

Many thanks to Gaurav, Deeksha and the many pillars who hold up this very special place.

2008-09


Documenting the Lost Tea Leaves Series







Photo documents.












Video documents. (coming soon)












Videos for Infinitea. (coming soon)

Observing the 'Lost Tea Leaves Series'

Why ‘lost’ you may be wondering…

Few years back, at the Alliance Française, I was trying to explain (rather retardedly in French) to one of the French teachers there, the project i had been working on, the past couple of months. (I had been collecting the refuse tea from a tea restaurant called Infinitea in Bangalore, to make works that could be later exhibited in his establishment). In his trying to understand what I had said to him, he related it to something that was very familiar to him, ‘Pain Perdu ’. Literally translated as ‘Lost Bread ’, which is what we know to be as French Toast.

He further went on to explain that the bread that was made a long while back in France, lasted for just for a day before it became hard, crunchy and stale (lost). He described how that for the people to get over this, what they’d do is make it soft by dipping it in a mixture of eggs and milk to fry it into golden brown chunks (slices in American and English cultures).

The more I tried researching about it, the more I realised that each country has their own method of preparation and they all call it by different names. Even the history of ‘French Toast’ may not necessarily belong to the French.

Nevertheless, just the idea of something ready to be thrown away (the abject quality) and it being given second breath to be something different, was what captured me. That people had found a way to waste less bread by preparing it differently.

Talking to my dad about it reminded him of an Arabic desert item he loves called ‘Um Ali’.

My mind kept revolving around the idea that the bread was once ‘lost’ and now reborn. The usage of language to imply history through the word ‘Perdu’ (lost), was an idea I found too appealing to let go of.

The more I thought about it, the more I could relate to what I was doing with the tea leaves. They too, every evening get chucked away in large garbage bags where they will find their way into lorries, the next morning, that lift them away. Instead, the 'Teamen' (as they are called) collected them for me, where i took the leaves and powder back home to dry and stored them to see what would happen over time (eventually to glue them into forms and frame them for display).

But it just wasn’t a simple matter of collecting, drying, storing, pasting and displaying.

Observing its daily decay and experimenting were where the fun laid for me.

14th March 2009 edited (12th March 2011)

The Feeling Bubble of Forgetting

An installation/performance experiment,
using post-it notes and erasers,
observing the idea of revealing the art-making process,
in a public space not designated for the arts.

(How the idea took root)




- Masala Chai: A visual arts blog groomed by Pavitra Mohan had covered the work.
(Photographic credit of pencil works to John Heng)
- BS Manu Rao, of the Bangalore Mirror, covered the work in the ETC section.

Mega thanks to everyone at Gloria Jeans Coffees and CityMax for their trust and support. To all the friends i have made through this experience, i am indebted to you.

2009

Documenting the Feeling Bubble of Forgetting






Photo documenting the process.











Video documenting the process. (incomplete)












Undressing the work.












Nikhil Narendra's "No Salary" music video. (coming soon)

CitySignals @ Jaaga

"CitySignals is a Docu-Performance project in which visual and sound artists explore public and private spaces in the city. The artists react to the space and its people, weaving their audio and visual samples into their performance in real-time.

The idea of creating a common space for artists, technologists and the public got CitySignals interested in Jaaga - an urban art-architecture experiment. We decided to intervene in this space as it was being built.

This film highlights the issues that artists face in the fast growing city of Bangalore and how such mobile spaces can solve some of the problems faced by urban India."

CITYSIGNALS

"Initiated by Archana Prasad and Neurotesque, and joined by My Left-handed Cousin and Nikhil Narendra.

It is an open platform where movement artists, visual artist,
vocalists, musicians and the audience can interact in real time with
the performers and the performance.


The project has a core documentary crew - Saurabh, Apurva and Mithun who follow the work-process and interventions closely."

Pricking "The Feeling Bubble of Forgetting" (Pre-experiment)

"Over a month back, a friend and I had a discussion on memory, this elusive material that we faced problems recalling on many occasions. As a response to this discussion… or rather as footnotes to our conversation, I decided to sculpt and post a letter to this person utilizing ‘post-it’ paper and correction tape.













In the process of sculpting this letter (using a pen knife), I had made double incisions on the pad, where there had meant to be one solid cut instead. This led to an interesting mistake whose texture I instantly noted as potential to create/ manipulate a space with.

At the time, I had been frequenting Gloria Jean’s Coffees over at 100ft road, Indranagar and was made happy by the staff there who had made me feel welcome.

Unsure of a final outcome, I prepared an informal proposal that I approached GJC with.

The next couple of days were spent speaking to different managers and their superiors, till one day, I had given space to the thought that maybe this wasn’t to happen within their premise.

Just when I was about to start thinking of other places that might fancy the idea, I had received a call which caught me by surprise; Not only were they were very enthusiastic about the project but what was incredibly encouraging about this call was the amount of support the people of GJC were willing to provide.

All I could tell them for certain were the materials that I had planned on using and the space I had my eyes on. What interested me were the elements that I had chosen for my head to play with.

A medium for remembering (post-its) and one for erasing (erasers/ correction tape).

I had, at the time, also been reading ‘Food of the Gods’ by Terrence Mckenna… and this part of the text caught my attention, which I could relate to this experiment and weave into my thoughts;

“ …Tea cleared the way for the popularity of coffee. Their stimulant properties made caffeine in coffee and its close cousin theobromine in tea the ideal drugs for the Industrial Revolution: they provided an energy lift, enabling people to keep working at repetitious tasks that demanded concentration...”

One of my interests in art, lie in the use of everyday materials. That we can look at objects as myriad-purposed materials, rather than as items driven by a singular purpose. Having had the opportunities to have done something like this in Singapore, I am curious to observe public responses (in Bangalore) to projects such as this done in spaces not usually reserved for the arts.

With the visual richness that the window space of GJC provides, I’m looking forward to where the process leads… and sharing it with the people around.

Do drop on by."

This was written about 2 months back