I in Togetherness- The Exhibition

If you remember the 52 week long I in Togetherness Series then here is a good news of the series getting exhibited in New Delhi.

Those who have no idea about the series then let me give an introduction.

EVENT PAGE FOR THE SHOW- CLICK AND LET US KNOW THAT YOU ARE COMING

In 2016, Mee and Jey decided to document their life as individuals and partners every week. The idea was to see what kind of changes we go through living with a partner. Changes in terms of behavior, attitude and vision. Why we behave in a certain way and how do we react in certain situations.

Because Mee and Jey knew each other for 17 years so they had a fair idea of what they are as a couple but still when we started documenting, it became a cathartic process of talking about our insecurities, joys, problems and behaviors. We realized the facts that many of our attitudes were coming from our childhood. We talked, made an artistic impression and shared them on Social Media every week.

The slate is the artistic representation of the ‘I’ in the series and makeup/props define the Togetherness in a very crude way. We learned and evolved through the process and interacted with the audience.

Lot of people on social media suggested us to come with a book, show etc. We thought about it and planned a show this year.

This show is not only for couples but for anyone who wants to go on a journey of self-discovery, asking and trying to see what has prompted their present behavior. For any couple/partners/friends, it explains the intricacies but do not prescribe solutions because we believe that each individual is unique and there can’t be any standard operating procedure for any couple to survive.

What will be there in the Show?

There will be selected 16 photographs from the series and text of what we had written together. so you will be seeing high resolution artistically shot pictures of the series.

Is it then a photography Show?

No it is not. The Performative act of 52 weeks is represented by Photographs and those will be on display.

How did you shoot the Photos?

During the series in 2016-17, we shot the photos of each other. But for a show the quality was not great so we contacted Rajesh kumar singh who is himself an established artistic photographer and he agreed to work with us and reshot the whole series. The result is for you to see.

What would be new in the Show as you are known for engaging audience?

Here is the twist in the show. Audience will be involved if willing. They can pick props and get a photo like the way we had done the series. for example you like the the photo with the issue of Violence. We will do the little make up give you the props and click a photo of you/ with your partner. It will not be a digital photo but a POLAROID PRINT. so you can feel the picture immediately.

Will there be any charge for the photo?

If people want to pay they can pay whatever amount they want to give.

Is there any CURATORIAL NOTE? We hear that art exhibits have this curatorial things?

Yes there is a curatorial note by Ritesh R who is an established art curator. We have been working with Ritesh since 2013 bouncing ideas and getting inputs. He is now teaching in LPU, Punjab but before that he has worked in established galleries, curated independent shows and worked as an artists. He is still very active in terms of curation and art making other than teaching.

if you want to read the the curatorial note then here it is.

                                                    I IN TOGETHERNESS 

Body is the primal source for celebration and expression in the visual arts. It has always played an important role in art making. Using artists body itself became a trend of art making in the 20th century. The result of the 20th century search of the artists for an exceptional new material was Body.

It is more or less accepted that Performance Art cannot do without the human body.The developments in performance art research has been motivated by the study of gesture, posture and , the sound of silence, and progressed into different areas of body investigation. This is the platform for a string of theoretical works in constant evolution and transformation. On the other hand, in many live performances, the essence is not what is said or shown, but how and what is being communicated through the body as membrane of spirit, voice, sound, said or written words, and video images are adopted only as vehicle for a poetic expression. 

The series “I in Togetherness”, a 52 Week long Performative act that happened on social networks with an intense involvement of the audiences (virtual) by artist Mee Jey and her partner Jey Sushil. The whole series was an act of self-evolvement  and self-realization with a keen focus on their personalities as an individual, and as couple. 

The current exhibition is an extension of that Performative act on a different platform with more focus on a direct and physical interaction with the people; exhibiting selected photographs with text from the same series, the exhibition will explore the role of an artist as a tool to understand and explore different socio-political as well as personal issues. 

Mee and Jey as a couple are trying to experiment with different modes of artistic representation with their deep involvement in relational or community based art project since a long time now. They prefer totally non-conventional and more communicative methods of artistic practices where process becomes more important than the end product itself. This project-cum-exhibition also explores the same thing “thinking-making-involving-evolving and enjoying the process”, without taking any rigid theoretical positioning as creative practitioner.  

  • Ritesh R

July 2018, Punjab, India

 

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