The grubby maroon armchair, with an intricate floral pattern, standing apart from the otherwise contemporary furniture in the living room of my familial house, somehow manages to hold the same authority as the lady who occupied it, did in the house.
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Levirate marriage is a type of customary marriage that takes place in Haryana and Punjab, in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother’s widow, and the widow is obliged to marry her deceased husband’s brother.
The reason why I chose this topic was because of the personal connect with this kind of customary marriage that had taken place within my family. My Great Grandfather was forced to marry his elder brother’s widow, after whom he entered into marriage with my Great Grandmother. This was something that had been bothering me for a while as I had learnt about this recently and had found this to be an illogical practice. The objective of my research was to understand the psychological and sociological impact of this levirate marriage. The scope of the research was to investigate further into levirate marriage in context of my family to get an understanding of the sociological and psychological impact that this has on the people directly and indirectly involved in this union. Also I looked at the effect it has on relationships and how it trickles down across the generations. Remarriage of widows in Punjab-Haryana customarily has been a levirate one, in which the widow is accepted as wife by one of the younger brothers of the deceased husband; failing him the husband’s elder brother; failing him, his agnatic first cousin. In these levirate alliances, the Dewar was in many instances a lot younger than the widow. Incase he chose not to enter into this kind of alliance, the widow would spit in his presence, remove one of his shoes, and the others in the town would refer to him as ‘the one without a shoe’. It is called Latta Odhna” in the Jats of Haryana, Latta being the Haryanvi word for cloth women used to cover their heads and faces, and Odhna translating as “covering/wearing”. This is also called “Chadar Dhakna” in other parts, Chadar being Hindi for Latta, and Dhakna being Hindi for Odhna. (Levirate Marriage) There were several reasons for the prevalence of this tradition. Firstly it was a way of ensuring the well being of the widows and to provide them with security of sorts. Secondly, this kind of union also took place to provide an heir for the deceased. Thirdly and most importantly, this was done so that land or property owned by the deceased husband would continue to stay in his family. The popularity of widow remarriage in its levirate form among the landowning classes emanated out of the desire to retain landed property within the family. After the Hindu Succession At of 1956, widows were the legal owners of her deceased husband’s property. This made widows ‘hot property’ and promoted widow remarriage to acquire more land. However this actually promoted levirate marriage so that the in laws were able to retain this property. Later, it was not land alone, which promoted levirate marriage, but many other forms of inheritance, including insurance, pension and compensation claims. This was mainly due to the special allowances that the widows of war victims were given to enable them to raise the heirs of the victim. However, these allowances were terminated if the widow remarried any person outside of the victim’s family. (Chowdhery, 2004) Levirate marriages also practiced all over the world in various forms. In Judaism, Levirate marriage is the obligation of a surviving brother to marry the widow of his brother if he died without having sired children (Deut.25: 5-6). The corollary is that the widow must marry a brother-in-law rather than anyone outside the family. The oldest of the surviving brothers had the first obligation to perform this commandment, which also allowed him to inherit all of his dead brother’s property. (Jewish Encyclopedia) Levirate marriages were widespread among Central Asian nomads. Chinese historian Sima Qian (145-87 BCE) described the practices of the in his magnum opus, Records of the Grand Historian. He attested that after a man’s death, one of his relatives, usually a brother, marries his widow. The levirate custom survived in the society of Northeastern Caucasus Huns until the 7th century CE. The Armenian historian Movses Kalankatuatsi states that the Savirs, one of Hunnish tribes in the area, were usually monogamous, but sometimes a married man would take his brother’s widow as a polygamous wife. As women had a high social status, the widow had a choice whether to remarry or not. Her new husband might be a brother or a son (by another woman) of her first husband, so she could end up marrying her brother-in-law or stepson; the difference in age did not matter. In Somalia, levirate marriage is practiced, and provisions are made under Somali customary law or Xeer with regard to bride price. Among the Mambila of northern Cameroon, in regard to inheritance of wives, both levirates are practiced throughout the tribe.Among the Maragoli of western Kenya, likewise in the Luo case widows become mostly remarried to the deceased husband’s brother. In the highlands of Kenya, it is Nandi custom for a widow to be “taken over” by a brother of her deceased husband. According to customary law, it is tantamount to adultery for a widow to be sexually involved with a man other than a close agnate of her late husband. (Levirate Marriage) In English history, Levirate marriage practices have been followed for dynastic reasons, to preserve marriage alliances and to protect the social status of royal spouses and fiancées. Upon the death of Arthur, Prince of Wales, his widow Catherine of Aragon was married to his younger brother, the future Henry VIII. Upon the death of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, his fiancée Mary of Teck married his younger brother, the future George V. (Levirate Marriage) Even though, levirate marriage was done essentially for the well being of the widows, they seldom took it positively. Most of the documentation for levirate marriages was done in the context of the deplorable conditions of the widows as well as the laws in the Indian Constitution that did not consider this as polygamy. Therefore, the context of my research was the not only the widows involved in this alliance but the other people involved in this. To understand the psychological and sociological impact of levirate marriage, I conducted in depth interviews with my grandparents, over the phone to get a first hand insight of the situation. Also, I recorded the narratives that my mother had to offer based on her discussions with my great grandmother, as she was closest to my mother. For supporting this context of my family, and to get more vivid data, I also spoke to Mr. Narinder Sharma who was involved in a levirate marriage, as he had to marry his deceased brother’s wife. Also, I spoke to Mr. Ashok Sharma who had recently witnessed a levirate marriage about 3 years ago, proving that this tradition still continues. The reason why I chose my grandparents was that they were the closest source I had to my great Grandparents who had experienced this levirate marriage and would be able to give me first hand information. Also, my mother was one of the closest confederates for my great grandmother, due to which her account needed to be considered too. I feel that I was able to establish a sense of comfort with my family members that I interviewed due to the personal relationship I shared with them. For Mr. Narinder Sharma, I had to take some time to develop a good rapport with him as he initially held his thoughts to himself. Mr. Ashok Sharma, however openly shared his account a levirate marriage that had taken place in his village as well as his views on this king of a custom. Throughout these interviews, I put in a lot of thought while talking to people regarding this highly sensitive topic, which would have affected them on several levels. In the case of my family members, I needed to be even more sensitive as I did not want my research to affect my relationship with my family. However, I ensured that I did not compromise on the quality of information derived from these interviews. The first interview was a narrative from my mother who was closely related to my great grandmother. In her later years, my great grandmother spoke mostly to her and confided in her, sharing her deepest feelings and thoughts. Therefore, it was important to keep what she had to say as even though she was not directly involved in this marriage. My great grandfather studied in St. Stephen’s College in the Delhi University. A native of a small village in Karnal, he was from a well to do, but traditional Jat family of Haryana. Once his elder brother passed away, he was asked to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister in law, who was 5 years older than him. He also had to adopt the children of his elder brother. This was essentially done in order to safeguard the vast property that his family owned, a major chunk of which was owned by her and her children. Also, they wanted to keep in mind the well being of the widow as well as her children. This was a duty that his family felt that he had to perform, being the only other son in the family. Due to this, his plans of completing his higher studies in order to take his civil services examinations were negated. He rebelled to a certain extent, but eventually had to succumb to the pressure. (Manchanda, 2013) As a grandchild, my mother felt rather strange, as she was unable to understand the system of his grandfather having two wives. As a possessive grandchild, she despised the idea of her grandmother touching the feet of another woman as a custom. Despite the rather strange relationship that my great grandmother was in, with her husband’s first wife, she showed immense respect towards her during various family functions. (Manchanda, 2013) On interviewing my grandfather, who was the closest source to the marriage, I was told that she even brought her kids up. After my great grandfather entered into marriage with my great grandmother, they lived separately in a relatively small house in Gurgaon, whereas his first wife stayed in the village. Their marriage was met with great disapproval, even though this practice was not considered as bigamy. Being the first child of her parents, my great grandmother was very loved by her family. She was given a fair amount of attention and care. She was educated and taught English and Math before she got married. However, this marriage was met with great disapproval from her family as my great grandfather was already involved in a levirate marriage and held the post of a Tehsildar, which made him a very influential man. However, my great grandfather only entered into this marriage after taking his first wife’s consent. (Singh C. P., 2013) My great grandfather’s wedding with my great grandmother after much delay took place in the traditional Hindu style. On the side of my great grandfather’s family, no one entirely accepted my great grandmother as a part of the family. His first wife was always considered as his only wife. All the land and property was passed down to her children as they were considered the only heirs to the property. This sort of caused the relationship to get tenser through the generations. However, my great grandfather gave up all his rights on his land and property to move away from his family into Gurgaon where he stayed in a house built solely out of his income. His first wife’s children later joined him due to better education prospects and were raised along with his own child. He chose never to stay with his wife as this custom was performed against his wishes, which was unfair to her. (Singh C. P., 2013) Little is known about the way the levirate marriage was conducted. Being an oral tradition, the levirate marriage rituals generally differed from place to place. Mr. Narinder, who was involved in a levirate marriage, had a very simple ceremony mainly in front of the village Panchayat. (Sharma N. , 2013) His brother’s widow was made to wear a “latta” which was connected to his shawl with a bunch of bangles. They then took the “pheras” in front of the Panchayat, after which she was made to wear the bangles and she was pronounced as his wife. The levirate marriage witnessed by Mr. Ashok Sharma (Sharma A. , 2013)in his village in district Aligarh, UP was about 4 years ago. In his village, this tradition is known as ‘baithana’ and is done more for the benefit of the widow rather than the property. Also, in his village incase the Dewar is already married, this ritual does not take place. However, a levirate is practiced amongst all the classes in his village. The widow and her children eventually adjust to the levirate marriage, as widows prefer to be in such a union than be without the support of a husband. The widow, after the marriage is treated with the same amount of respect in the family as she did while she was married earlier. Within a few weeks, the widow of the deceased was handed over to Dewar within a couple of weeks after her husband’s demise. In the levirate marriage he witnessed, the Dewar, with the head of his family visited the widow’s mother’s house, where the widow was staying after her husband’s demise. Then, in a temple close to her mother’s house, she was pronounced to be under his care in front of the temple priest and a few family members. In this case, the Dewar was not married and willingly accepted his sister in law as his wife, unlike in the case of my grandfather who was forced into this union. Also, he chose not to get married after this levirate marriage was done. For the ceremony, the widow was asked to change out of her white robes after the completion of the ceremony. The positives of having a low-key levirate marriage ritual is that the widow does not need to go through the agony of another marriage ceremony, after barely overcoming the loss of her husband. Also, it does not draw too much attention to the ceremony, thereby allowing the acceptance of this union within society. In the case of my family, however, the children were unable to get accustomed to this arrangement. When my grandfather was born, there was a sense of jealousy within those children who were about 15 years old and nearing attaining majority, mainly due to a sense of uncertainty in respect with their inheritance. As his child, my grandfather was very attached with his father and received the maximum attention and care. His children from his first wife were unable to share such a bond with him as they did with their father because by the time this levirate marriage took place; they were mostly over the age of 10. Therefore, he only supported those children only financially. The emotional support was either provided to them by their own mother or by my great grandmother, except the first wife was unable to reciprocate that. (Singh C. P., 2013) My great grandfather passed away at the age of 50 after which, my grandfather completed all the last rites and my great grandmother was involved in all the procedures, whereas his first wife stayed in the village and did not attend his funeral. In respect to other family occasions too she usually sent one of her children as representatives, as in the case of my grandfather’s wedding and other such functions. (Singh C. P., 2013) As a husband, my great grandfather found it rather difficult to strike a balance between both his wives as well as the children from both his wives. He was unable to share the same kind of love that he shared with my great grandmother with his first wife, however he tries to maintain a sense of equality between both. My great grandmother too, tried maintaining a cordial and respectful relationship with his first wife. There were times when she gave his first wife the gifts that she received from her in laws. (Singh C. P., 2013) (Singh C. P., 2013)In the case of the property, however, there was no struggle between the siblings as my grandfather gave up the right to all his ancestral property, which his siblings graciously accepted. Thus, this levirate marriage did reach its ultimate goal of the property staying within the family. However, the distribution of property was not entirely even and was restricted to only a certain side of the family. The relationships that existed between the two wives were somewhat tensed on a deeper level, however on the surface of it, it seemed like a respectful and cordial relationship. The tension on a deeper level was perhaps due to the fact that they were in a way sharing their husband and also due to the fact that the property would ultimately be divided amongst their children. The male in this relationship had to perform the tedious task to juggle between his two wives and was never able to share the kind of relationship that he shared with his customary wife as he did with the wife of his choice. There was an immense sense of repulsion against his first wife from my mother’s side. The relationship was too complicated for a child to understand. This managed to penetrate into her conscious to the extent that she still feels a sense of dislike towards her, even though she is old enough to understand that the levirate marriage took place as part of custom and the first wife was at no fault. Thus it can be said that the levirate marriage had a deep-rooted negative psychological impact across the generations. However in the sociological context this tradition worked out in a way that people got accustomed to it eventually. Researching on this topic, allowed me to delve deeper into this rather intriguing form of customary marriage. Even though a levirate marriage is looked down upon, it does have certain benefits and cannot be negated as a bad practice. Mr. Ashok Sharma feels that in his village at least, this custom is a good practice as this ensures the safekeeping of the widow and also gives a way for the widow to provide for herself and her children. (Sharma A. , 2013) Researching within my family allowed me to understand my roots better and researching on Mr. Narinder Sharma gave me a better understanding of this practice as a whole. I was able to look at two different levirate marriages and was able to find the similarities and differences between the two to conclude that this tradition has both positives and negatives to it rather than just the negatives I found based on my initial research. As a researcher, I learnt how to distance myself at certain points as and when required from the subject matter that was very personal to me. On a personal level I learnt how to maintain a personal connection with a scenario that had a psychological as well as a sociological impact on my family, while researching this as a researcher. Works CitedManchanda, P. C. (2013, September 11). Levirate marriage. (M. Manchanda, Interviewer) Singh, C. P. (2013, September 11). Levirate Marriage. (M. Manchanda, Interviewer) Singh, P. (2013, September 11). Levirate Marriage. (M. Manchanda, Interviewer) Sharma, A. (2013, October 20). Levirate Marriage. (M. Manchanda, Interviewer) Sharma, N. (2013, October 20). Levirate Marriage. (M. Manchanda, Interviewer) Chowdhery, P. (2004). Recasting Women. Delhi: Permanent Black. Levirate Marriage. (n.d.). Retrieved August 30, 2013, from Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levirate_marriage Day 1: Speculations
On the first day, we first discussed our purpose of taking the course. The reason why I took this course was to paint on a large canvas as well as to understand and evaluate colour. Also, murals as public art were something I found to be an interesting form of public art with various techniques involved which I was looking to learn. In the course of a chalk talk where we were looking to address the question of what making art in Bangalore means to us, there were several questions that came up. One question was whether an image is just a mark on the wall or whether it should be looking to address a cause. Can our skill of visual narration be used to communicate or spread awareness regarding pressing issues? Is that what our skill always needs to be used for or can it just be a personal narrative? Would I be comfortable sharing that personal narrative with the public? Would it be appropriate to the audience? My final piece, was came under the umbrella of ‘A Public Mess’ which looked at how people are not willing to take responsibility for their garbage, which did look into spreading awareness regarding the issue of garbage. However, it was not just to spread awareness, but was also a representation of my personal journey and the thoughts that the walk evoked. Certain things needed to be filtered in the process in order to make it accessible as well as acceptable for the audience. We did not want to enrage the audience but just make them a little more conscious of what they do. The other question was that of ownership. Whether we actually own the piece or whether the entire community owns it. During the course of this process, I realized that there is a certain point where one needs to detach oneself from their work especially while working in a public space and hand down the work to the public. Beyond a certain point the work cannot be monitored. Also what happens to the work beyond the final product is rather interesting and is something that I would like to analyse and explore. Another question that came in my mind was how do we make value. How can we ensure that our thought or work can be worthy enough to be on a wall or in a public space addressing a large audience? Also how can we address the different kinds of audiences considering that the audience could be ranging from a child to an artist, who may be speaking a different language or may have multiple interpretations of the piece? During the course of my walk, I realized the fact that it is very hard to deem an object as useless. Ultimately, everything holds some sort of value to someone. In terms of value of our work, it was not just the aesthetics that created the work to be worthy of being in a public space, but also the underlying message that it was trying to communicate. In terms of addressing a vast variety of audiences, different people had different interpretations of the character of the garbage man. Most people understood it to be a superhero rather than a scavenger, but the main message of responsibility for garbage was still communicated. Also, this helped build up a lot of conversations regarding garbage with the people, which helped us communicate our idea verbally as well. I also wondered what it would be like to only work in Black and White and how would that audience respond to it. This question could not be addressed in its entirety; however, I understood the value of a stark black and white image and the power or command it can hold in a composition. The other thought that came into my mind was what separates you from the Audience? Can the audience be the artist in some way? Can they be inspiring a work? Or can they be making the work? Do they need to be facilitated or can they work freely and independently? What if there is no line between the audience and us? In the process of making the second piece, which was an interactive mural I looked at these questions to realize that the importance of a framework or a structure for the audience to paint on the wall. Also, as facilitators, we were also looking to censor certain kind of things that were to be made on the wall. For both the pieces, people were the inspiration as we were looking to approach and understand the not in my backyard syndrome that people unconsciously display. Before starting the mural I was wondering whether street art is some form of encroachment? Are we getting into a space and making its inhabitants uncomfortable with our work? Will they be displeased with us trying to make way for our ideas in their space? Despite having permission to paint on the wall, I was still rather confused regarding the whole idea of encroachment. There were several people who were willingly accepting our mural as social service or a social reform practice, however, several others, were rather condescending of our work. A fair amount of people only wanted something aesthetically pleasing rather than anything else. They were also a little cynical of us using spray paint for the not mine text, initially shunning the work as graffiti. This made me wonder why graffiti is often deemed as unacceptable or as a form of vandalism. Ultimately isn’t it just one of the processes in art? Why has this technique been given such a negative connotation and is looked down upon? After understanding that most hit and run artists use calligraphic graffiti, I got a sense of why it has such a negative connotation. Also, it originated out of a need to rebel, due to which it is often associated with a negative attitude. Another question that I wondered about was if a theme required. What is a theme in the first place and how broad can it be? How would different cultures relate to the theme and will they be willing to accept a radical theme in their area? How radical can our theme be? What if there is no theme at all? Can there be no theme? Or is there always a theme? Will the audience be able to relate to the theme? Will they be able to understand it? Is the audience always looking for a theme in a work? During the Indiranagar mural, I realized that more than a theme, a visual connect is required to produce a cohesive piece. In our mural, the underlying theme was our reflections of the area, even though different people were representing or thinking about it differently. The choice of location, really added a certain amount of relevance across the entire wall. Most pieces established links with the pieces located in the vicinity, however there was a slight bit of a missing visual link between ‘ a public mess’ and the other umbrellas. However, when the conversational map was established, a better link was achieved. Day 2: First Impressions Over the last couple of days, I was being a little more aware of the murals I saw. Thus, the first thing I noticed once I got of the G9 in front of St. Mary’s Basilica was a mural on which people had blatantly stuck more than a few posters and conveniently spit paan. There were certain areas where the posters had been peeled off because of which; the paint had peeled off too. This made me wonder if the mural we paint too, will be in this condition too. I then walked into the St. Mary’s Basilica. Having seen the church on my way to MG Road very often and even having done a project on it, I had always wanted to go see what it actually looked like beyond the ‘No Photos Please’ board. I sat in the church for almost an hour, sketching the pillar that referred to the incident where Jesus converted water into wine. I left once the mass began to see the pieta statue outside of the church. After this, we moved into the bustling streets of Shivaji Nagar. The market place had a huge variety of colours, noises, smells, goods being sold, sales, salesman and innumerable feet moving about at various speeds. The deeper we went into Ibrahim Street, the busier it got. This area had its share of religious places to go to. There was the Jumma Masjid where we could enter only till a certain point as well as a temple with gold plated interiors, which we went to. On reaching Laxman Main Street, we came across a rather peculiar restaurant called Sreeraj Lassi Bar which apparently came in as a chain from Dubai. After this, we moved into Kamaraj road, we saw this Antique watch shop right where it started. It has this collection of all kinds of ornate watches from different time periods and even had a fare share of grandfather clocks. On moving further into the street, we could see a glimpse of an empty wall. Once I reached the RBANMS grounds, I could not help but wonder if the huge expanse of wall was our Canvas. Coincidentally the first part of the wall we saw was where my pieces were. Walking the expanse of the wall, I was rather blank and intimidated by the large surface area that needed to be covered. At that point, more than placing an image on the wall I was concerned about how we’d fill the space up. Day 3: Mapping exercise My mapping exercise was to find 10 objects that don’t have any use according to me. Also, I had to create 3 possible uses for them thereafter. I started from the wall and then walked around the area. Throughout, I was wondering how to term an item as useless because I felt that the term useless was something very relative and specific to an individual. Also, if the object could have 3 possible alternate uses it is hard to deem it as useless. Thus, I looked at different objects that had no use for me as an individual and imagined how someone else could make use of them. During my walk, I found a tomato slicer that did not work as a product. It was one of the most outright useless thing that I noticed as it was a poor design that was not functional. As alternate uses, I thought of it being a great beard scratcher, or a tong for noodles, or a case for blanching vegetables or even to pinch someone’s nose. The other thing I found was a makeshift belt that a man was selling for Rs 10. As a low cost accessory it worked, however it was not a very efficient belt because it loosened out eventually. A use that I thought of that could actually use its uselessness was a dog collar as it would never really be too tight for the dog. Also it would work as a bag strap. I then came across this lampshade that did not allow any light to pass through. Apart from these objects, I found used diyas, coasters with no waterproof coating, glasses with no lenses, bus tickets, footmats in front of the Shivaji Nagar shops, plastic scissors old tube lights and cycle rental stands as few of my useless objects. I chose to extend this exercise in other places as well and tried to understand how people deem objects as useless and on what basis they decide if an object has become garbage. Day 4: Research on Public art During the course of my research on street art, I came across 5 artists whose works I found rather interesting. The first artist was Dr. D, whose no real paste-up in a fun and quirky way mocked the brand L’Oreal and its false promises. This work got me to want to see more of his work. Most of his other work too, was along these lines and would mock government agencies and other organizations. He used simple techniques of stenciling and paste ups to get is point across. The second artist that I came across was going, who did large-scale murals, where he spoke about issues in an ironic way. This particular work of his caught my eye because he very blatantly put his point across. In a place like this, where the government was doing everything possible to promote football, it sidetracked the most essential human need for food. The artist really pushed the audience by presenting them the truth minus the frills on a very large scale. The third artist whose work I found interesting was Pao, an Italian Street artist who used makes very site-specific pieces that interact with the space. The spce and the objects in the space act as inspiration for his piece and then form an integral part of the work itself. Also, this work would alter on the basis of how these objects would alter. In the case of the image above, when the bush grows out of shape, it would impact the piece itself. Thus his pieces have an interesting afterlife. Antoine Steven, an artist from Malta, has adopted a style wherein, he uses paint drips to his benefit. This style was something that I found interesting due to the fact that most people try and cover up these drips painstakingly, however, he incorporates these drips into his way of working. He is not an anonymous artist, as most of his work is in the grey areas of legality. He paints on walls that are of little importance. This artist called rage is a hit and run artist because of his rather controversial works. He generally uses a stark contrast of red against white and makes sculptural pieces. The second half of my research was to study the various processes of street art. The first process, which is closely related to graffiti is calligraphy. This is one of the most commonly found forms of street art and is often considered as vandalism as it is just considered as a mark on the wall that does not aid in beauty. Chalk Drawing is another upcoming form of street art as it allows the artist to create realistic drawings with ease even on rough surfaces. Also, srtists like Julian Beever have promoted this form of street art due too the 3d illusions he creates in very public spaces, specially roads. This is also one of the more acceptable forms of street art as it easily washes off and is not considered to be damaging for the space. Paste up is a technique wherein a picture is pasted on a wall using wheat paste and varnish. This is a technique followed by hit and run artists as it is one of the quickest techniques. Sculptures in street art are an upcoming form. Mark Jenkins is an artist who practices sculptural street art where in he tries creating a high relief that interacts with the space as well as the people due to which the audience, unknowingly, becomes a part of the piece. This style however does not have a very long afterlife, as it is prone to theft or breakage. Stencilling is one of the most well known forms of street art, extensively used by hit and run street artists due to the speed that it provides. Projection art is another form of street art. This form is one most enjoyed by the audience as it includes fast music graphics as well as music. This can address a large audience at one time. For the extension of my research I was supposed to look into projection art further. It has been used commercially extensively in advertisement specifically for Nokia in London and for LG in Berlin. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX2Gd-kqV5s- Dead mau5 in London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm1CvO1IQxY- Lg in Berlin) This technique is widely used in entertainment parks such as Disneyworld and Universal studios as these projections are visual delights for all the visitors. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q4Poa3rU0g- CINEMATIC SPECTACULAR LAGOON SHOW AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ-m5DQrtKw - Cinderella’s castle) Also, this technique has been commercialized and various places hold projection shows using water jet streams as a screen. The show, ‘Songs of the Sea’ in Singapore is one of the major tourist attractions and is a great source of revenue. In India too there is a similar projection show in Ahmedabad. However this show still has scope for technological advancement. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT86CW2MzMw -Sentosa Songs of the Sea Full Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdOxxa_gYqI- Ahmedabad Lake Laser Show) Projection art is also showcased at certain high-end parties, specially new year parties. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN17SHAEb - 3D Projection Mapping - New Years Eve 2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8_0zxFPMYE- 2011 Sugar Land New Years Eve 3D Projection Mapping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouoZXVTGyco HBO Emmys After-Party 2012) During the course of the walk, I tried understanding how one decides the value or the usefulness of an object. I tried looking at how people deem things as useless and as garbage. On collaborating with Shyamolie, who was dealing with value of garbage and Kinnary, I realized how people are not willing to take responsibility for garbage or useless things. When an object holds a certain value for them, people willingly take responsibility or ownership of that object, but once it looses the value it holds and becomes garbage, no one but a garbage collector is willing to take responsibility or ownership. We were looking to create a visual that makes people more conscious of this attitude without enraging them or making it sound like an anti consumption campaign. Thus, we came up with the image of a garbage man, wrestling with a huge garbage bag, against a background of ‘ not mine’ in several different languages. We chose the space in between two major garbage dumps to form a connect with the other mural on public mess. The first thing we began to do was the stenciling of the text. This continuous repetition of “not mine” really made people curious as to why we were stenciling the test continuously across the wall. There were certain people who came up to ask us if there was an issue. Several others disapproved of the work as graffiti. There were people wondering what we were referring to as ‘ not mine’. This created a lot off chaos in people’s minds where they started identifying the possible things that we could be referring to. At this point people were trying to identify what according to them is not theirs. However once the plastic final mural was up, several people really got what we were trying to communicate. Also, it was interesting how different people interpreted the garbage man differently. Quite a few of them thought of him to be a superhero, wrestling with garbage. Most of these were little children who understood that people who take charge of their garbage are the ultimate superheroes. Our second piece was an extension of our first piece. It essentially was to respond to the people’s curiosity around the ‘not mine’. This essentially was a platform for people to interact with the piece and share what they don’t feel responsible for. In this piece, we basically set up a structure of 250 circles, which were painstakingly stenciled on the wall. These circles had a not mine written and the in circle was left for people to work on. We worked on about 200 circles ourselves using multiple styles and techniques such as paste-ups, stencils, etc. Once the piece was complete, we contextualized it a little by writing “ What’s up with Bangalore’s NIMBY attitude?” across these circles in the wall’s off colour. Day 1: Speculations
On the first day, we first discussed our purpose of taking the course. The reason why I took this course was to paint on a large canvas as well as to understand and evaluate colour. Also, murals as public art were something I found to be an interesting form of public art with various techniques involved which I was looking to learn. In the course of a chalk talk where we were looking to address the question of what making art in Bangalore means to us, there were several questions that came up. One question was whether an image is just a mark on the wall or whether it should be looking to address a cause. Can our skill of visual narration be used to communicate or spread awareness regarding pressing issues? Is that what our skill always needs to be used for or can it just be a personal narrative? Would I be comfortable sharing that personal narrative with the public? Would it be appropriate to the audience? My final piece, was came under the umbrella of ‘A Public Mess’ which looked at how people are not willing to take responsibility for their garbage, which did look into spreading awareness regarding the issue of garbage. However, it was not just to spread awareness, but was also a representation of my personal journey and the thoughts that the walk evoked. Certain things needed to be filtered in the process in order to make it accessible as well as acceptable for the audience. We did not want to enrage the audience but just make them a little more conscious of what they do. The other question was that of ownership. Whether we actually own the piece or whether the entire community owns it. During the course of this process, I realized that there is a certain point where one needs to detach oneself from their work especially while working in a public space and hand down the work to the public. Beyond a certain point the work cannot be monitored. Also what happens to the work beyond the final product is rather interesting and is something that I would like to analyse and explore. Another question that came in my mind was how do we make value. How can we ensure that our thought or work can be worthy enough to be on a wall or in a public space addressing a large audience? Also how can we address the different kinds of audiences considering that the audience could be ranging from a child to an artist, who may be speaking a different language or may have multiple interpretations of the piece? During the course of my walk, I realized the fact that it is very hard to deem an object as useless. Ultimately, everything holds some sort of value to someone. In terms of value of our work, it was not just the aesthetics that created the work to be worthy of being in a public space, but also the underlying message that it was trying to communicate. In terms of addressing a vast variety of audiences, different people had different interpretations of the character of the garbage man. Most people understood it to be a superhero rather than a scavenger, but the main message of responsibility for garbage was still communicated. Also, this helped build up a lot of conversations regarding garbage with the people, which helped us communicate our idea verbally as well. I also wondered what it would be like to only work in Black and White and how would that audience respond to it. This question could not be addressed in its entirety; however, I understood the value of a stark black and white image and the power or command it can hold in a composition. The other thought that came into my mind was what separates you from the Audience? Can the audience be the artist in some way? Can they be inspiring a work? Or can they be making the work? Do they need to be facilitated or can they work freely and independently? What if there is no line between the audience and us? In the process of making the second piece, which was an interactive mural I looked at these questions to realize that the importance of a framework or a structure for the audience to paint on the wall. Also, as facilitators, we were also looking to censor certain kind of things that were to be made on the wall. For both the pieces, people were the inspiration as we were looking to approach and understand the not in my backyard syndrome that people unconsciously display. Before starting the mural I was wondering whether street art is some form of encroachment? Are we getting into a space and making its inhabitants uncomfortable with our work? Will they be displeased with us trying to make way for our ideas in their space? Despite having permission to paint on the wall, I was still rather confused regarding the whole idea of encroachment. There were several people who were willingly accepting our mural as social service or a social reform practice, however, several others, were rather condescending of our work. A fair amount of people only wanted something aesthetically pleasing rather than anything else. They were also a little cynical of us using spray paint for the not mine text, initially shunning the work as graffiti. This made me wonder why graffiti is often deemed as unacceptable or as a form of vandalism. Ultimately isn’t it just one of the processes in art? Why has this technique been given such a negative connotation and is looked down upon? After understanding that most hit and run artists use calligraphic graffiti, I got a sense of why it has such a negative connotation. Also, it originated out of a need to rebel, due to which it is often associated with a negative attitude. Another question that I wondered about was if a theme required. What is a theme in the first place and how broad can it be? How would different cultures relate to the theme and will they be willing to accept a radical theme in their area? How radical can our theme be? What if there is no theme at all? Can there be no theme? Or is there always a theme? Will the audience be able to relate to the theme? Will they be able to understand it? Is the audience always looking for a theme in a work? During the Indiranagar mural, I realized that more than a theme, a visual connect is required to produce a cohesive piece. In our mural, the underlying theme was our reflections of the area, even though different people were representing or thinking about it differently. The choice of location, really added a certain amount of relevance across the entire wall. Most pieces established links with the pieces located in the vicinity, however there was a slight bit of a missing visual link between ‘ a public mess’ and the other umbrellas. However, when the conversational map was established, a better link was achieved. Day 2: First Impressions Over the last couple of days, I was being a little more aware of the murals I saw. Thus, the first thing I noticed once I got of the G9 in front of St. Mary’s Basilica was a mural on which people had blatantly stuck more than a few posters and conveniently spit paan. There were certain areas where the posters had been peeled off because of which; the paint had peeled off too. This made me wonder if the mural we paint too, will be in this condition too. I then walked into the St. Mary’s Basilica. Having seen the church on my way to MG Road very often and even having done a project on it, I had always wanted to go see what it actually looked like beyond the ‘No Photos Please’ board. I sat in the church for almost an hour, sketching the pillar that referred to the incident where Jesus converted water into wine. I left once the mass began to see the pieta statue outside of the church. After this, we moved into the bustling streets of Shivaji Nagar. The market place had a huge variety of colours, noises, smells, goods being sold, sales, salesman and innumerable feet moving about at various speeds. The deeper we went into Ibrahim Street, the busier it got. This area had its share of religious places to go to. There was the Jumma Masjid where we could enter only till a certain point as well as a temple with gold plated interiors, which we went to. On reaching Laxman Main Street, we came across a rather peculiar restaurant called Sreeraj Lassi Bar which apparently came in as a chain from Dubai. After this, we moved into Kamaraj road, we saw this Antique watch shop right where it started. It has this collection of all kinds of ornate watches from different time periods and even had a fare share of grandfather clocks. On moving further into the street, we could see a glimpse of an empty wall. Once I reached the RBANMS grounds, I could not help but wonder if the huge expanse of wall was our Canvas. Coincidentally the first part of the wall we saw was where my pieces were. Walking the expanse of the wall, I was rather blank and intimidated by the large surface area that needed to be covered. At that point, more than placing an image on the wall I was concerned about how we’d fill the space up. Day 3: Mapping exercise My mapping exercise was to find 10 objects that don’t have any use according to me. Also, I had to create 3 possible uses for them thereafter. I started from the wall and then walked around the area. Throughout, I was wondering how to term an item as useless because I felt that the term useless was something very relative and specific to an individual. Also, if the object could have 3 possible alternate uses it is hard to deem it as useless. Thus, I looked at different objects that had no use for me as an individual and imagined how someone else could make use of them. During my walk, I found a tomato slicer that did not work as a product. It was one of the most outright useless thing that I noticed as it was a poor design that was not functional. As alternate uses, I thought of it being a great beard scratcher, or a tong for noodles, or a case for blanching vegetables or even to pinch someone’s nose. The other thing I found was a makeshift belt that a man was selling for Rs 10. As a low cost accessory it worked, however it was not a very efficient belt because it loosened out eventually. A use that I thought of that could actually use its uselessness was a dog collar as it would never really be too tight for the dog. Also it would work as a bag strap. I then came across this lampshade that did not allow any light to pass through. Apart from these objects, I found used diyas, coasters with no waterproof coating, glasses with no lenses, bus tickets, footmats in front of the Shivaji Nagar shops, plastic scissors old tube lights and cycle rental stands as few of my useless objects. I chose to extend this exercise in other places as well and tried to understand how people deem objects as useless and on what basis they decide if an object has become garbage. Day 4: Research on Public art During the course of my research on street art, I came across 5 artists whose works I found rather interesting. The first artist was Dr. D, whose no real paste-up in a fun and quirky way mocked the brand L’Oreal and its false promises. This work got me to want to see more of his work. Most of his other work too, was along these lines and would mock government agencies and other organizations. He used simple techniques of stenciling and paste ups to get is point across. The second artist that I came across was going, who did large-scale murals, where he spoke about issues in an ironic way. This particular work of his caught my eye because he very blatantly put his point across. In a place like this, where the government was doing everything possible to promote football, it sidetracked the most essential human need for food. The artist really pushed the audience by presenting them the truth minus the frills on a very large scale. The third artist whose work I found interesting was Pao, an Italian Street artist who used makes very site-specific pieces that interact with the space. The spce and the objects in the space act as inspiration for his piece and then form an integral part of the work itself. Also, this work would alter on the basis of how these objects would alter. In the case of the image above, when the bush grows out of shape, it would impact the piece itself. Thus his pieces have an interesting afterlife. Antoine Steven, an artist from Malta, has adopted a style wherein, he uses paint drips to his benefit. This style was something that I found interesting due to the fact that most people try and cover up these drips painstakingly, however, he incorporates these drips into his way of working. He is not an anonymous artist, as most of his work is in the grey areas of legality. He paints on walls that are of little importance. This artist called rage is a hit and run artist because of his rather controversial works. He generally uses a stark contrast of red against white and makes sculptural pieces. The second half of my research was to study the various processes of street art. The first process, which is closely related to graffiti is calligraphy. This is one of the most commonly found forms of street art and is often considered as vandalism as it is just considered as a mark on the wall that does not aid in beauty. Chalk Drawing is another upcoming form of street art as it allows the artist to create realistic drawings with ease even on rough surfaces. Also, srtists like Julian Beever have promoted this form of street art due too the 3d illusions he creates in very public spaces, specially roads. This is also one of the more acceptable forms of street art as it easily washes off and is not considered to be damaging for the space. Paste up is a technique wherein a picture is pasted on a wall using wheat paste and varnish. This is a technique followed by hit and run artists as it is one of the quickest techniques. Sculptures in street art are an upcoming form. Mark Jenkins is an artist who practices sculptural street art where in he tries creating a high relief that interacts with the space as well as the people due to which the audience, unknowingly, becomes a part of the piece. This style however does not have a very long afterlife, as it is prone to theft or breakage. Stencilling is one of the most well known forms of street art, extensively used by hit and run street artists due to the speed that it provides. Projection art is another form of street art. This form is one most enjoyed by the audience as it includes fast music graphics as well as music. This can address a large audience at one time. For the extension of my research I was supposed to look into projection art further. It has been used commercially extensively in advertisement specifically for Nokia in London and for LG in Berlin. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX2Gd-kqV5s- Dead mau5 in London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm1CvO1IQxY- Lg in Berlin) This technique is widely used in entertainment parks such as Disneyworld and Universal studios as these projections are visual delights for all the visitors. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q4Poa3rU0g- CINEMATIC SPECTACULAR LAGOON SHOW AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ-m5DQrtKw - Cinderella’s castle) Also, this technique has been commercialized and various places hold projection shows using water jet streams as a screen. The show, ‘Songs of the Sea’ in Singapore is one of the major tourist attractions and is a great source of revenue. In India too there is a similar projection show in Ahmedabad. However this show still has scope for technological advancement. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT86CW2MzMw -Sentosa Songs of the Sea Full Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdOxxa_gYqI- Ahmedabad Lake Laser Show) Projection art is also showcased at certain high-end parties, specially new year parties. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN17SHAEb - 3D Projection Mapping - New Years Eve 2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8_0zxFPMYE- 2011 Sugar Land New Years Eve 3D Projection Mapping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouoZXVTGyco HBO Emmys After-Party 2012) During the course of the walk, I tried understanding how one decides the value or the usefulness of an object. I tried looking at how people deem things as useless and as garbage. On collaborating with Shyamolie, who was dealing with value of garbage and Kinnary, I realized how people are not willing to take responsibility for garbage or useless things. When an object holds a certain value for them, people willingly take responsibility or ownership of that object, but once it looses the value it holds and becomes garbage, no one but a garbage collector is willing to take responsibility or ownership. We were looking to create a visual that makes people more conscious of this attitude without enraging them or making it sound like an anti consumption campaign. Thus, we came up with the image of a garbage man, wrestling with a huge garbage bag, against a background of ‘ not mine’ in several different languages. We chose the space in between two major garbage dumps to form a connect with the other mural on public mess. The first thing we began to do was the stenciling of the text. This continuous repetition of “not mine” really made people curious as to why we were stenciling the test continuously across the wall. There were certain people who came up to ask us if there was an issue. Several others disapproved of the work as graffiti. There were people wondering what we were referring to as ‘ not mine’. This created a lot off chaos in people’s minds where they started identifying the possible things that we could be referring to. At this point people were trying to identify what according to them is not theirs. However once the plastic final mural was up, several people really got what we were trying to communicate. Also, it was interesting how different people interpreted the garbage man differently. Quite a few of them thought of him to be a superhero, wrestling with garbage. Most of these were little children who understood that people who take charge of their garbage are the ultimate superheroes. Our second piece was an extension of our first piece. It essentially was to respond to the people’s curiosity around the ‘not mine’. This essentially was a platform for people to interact with the piece and share what they don’t feel responsible for. In this piece, we basically set up a structure of 250 circles, which were painstakingly stenciled on the wall. These circles had a not mine written and the in circle was left for people to work on. We worked on about 200 circles ourselves using multiple styles and techniques such as paste-ups, stencils, etc. Once the piece was complete, we contextualized it a little by writing “ What’s up with Bangalore’s NIMBY attitude?” across these circles in the wall’s off colour. Women journalists should be sent out to cover conflicts as long as they are willing to risk life and limb to expose human injustice under the most tragic circumstances and proper steps can be taken to ensure their safety.
Threats and violence against women journalists are on the rise in many regions of the world. In their work exposing injustices and bearing witness to human rights violations, women journalists are women human rights defenders and as such are in need of better security and protection mechanisms. Threats, murder, confiscation of material, deportation, arrests and intimidation are a couple of threats that both male and female journalists face in hostile, corrupt and violent environments and in war zones. Female journalists, however, face certain gendered risks in such situations. Maggie O’Kane says, “I am a woman. Nobody pays attention to me.” Women have a tendency to remain unnoticed and tend to have a humanistic approach to the way war is covered. They are more approachable for other women especially in Islamic countries, where stringent laws do not allow women to interact with male reporters. Women in Bosnia say being female has sometimes proved to be a plus in gaining access and information, or providing cover. The stereotype of women demand special treatment in the form of better food, more comfortable sleeping quarters, and private bathroom facilities have begun to break. It has been widely accepted that the willingness to risk one’s life depends more on the personality, character and sensitivity level than on being male or female. Sexual violence, threats and attacks against female journalists are rarely talked about within journalistic circles, in the news media or by non-governmental organizations. Thus, woman journalists, from across the globe, who have been sexually abused choose to remain silent due to cultural and professional stigmas that could mean losing future assignments. The fact that Lara Logan openly talked about the assault on her in Egypt, has led to an improvement in the security facilities available to women journalists. Furthermore, such form of sexual abuse has met with vehement opposition. According to Susan Milligan, a political reporter who has covered war in Iraq and the Balkans, women being pulled out from areas of conflict is insulting. The risk associated with being a war correspondent isn’t limited to women, says Badkhen, who has covered wars in Iraq as he too have been sexually assaulted in war too. “But it’s a risk that we choose to take because it’s an important part of democracy, telling people what’s going on.” Women journalists need to carry out their work with adequate security, protection and high-level support. Caution and preparatory research are of paramount importance to moving safely about in dangerous environments and gathering material for stories. Women journalists need to carry out their work with adequate security, protection and high-level support due to greater possibility of a sexual assault. Women venturing into such areas of conflict need to get advice from women who have already been there. Several women such as Sylvia Poggioli of National Public Radio; CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and Jackie Shymanski; Janine di Giovanni with London’s Sunday Times; the AP’s Maude Beelman; Carol Williams of the Los Angeles Times; Penny Marshall of Britain’s Independent Television News; Judy Dempsey of London’s Financial Times; and freelancer Anna Husarska have successfully covered conflicts in various war zones. Penny Marshall of Independent Television News told a wire service reporter it was the initiative of two women editors that led her to investigate the abominable living conditions in Serb-run detention camps at Omarska and Trnopolje in Bosnia. Her pictures of terrified, bone-thin prisoners – most of them Muslims – stunned the world and resulted in some of the camps being closed. Julie McCarthy, European editor for National Public Radio, says the tenor of the newsroom, not gender, and makes the most difference as to whether stories center more on the human condition or on battlefield heroics. Sky News’ Alex Crawford became something of a sensation on Twitter in August last year after riding into Tripoli on a rebel pick-up truck, providing dramatic live broadcasts from a satellite dish powered by a cigarette lighter socket. The woman who chooses to be a war reporter is clearly moving out of a traditional female role, and should be allowed to cover conflicts if she is fully aware of the possible consequences and is willing to face them. Their decision to move out of their comfort zone needs to be respected. From being a city that was entirely alien to me, Bangalore now seems to have an extensive history behind its Kannadiga dominated façade. I have now come to realize the background behind its multicultural nature. The fact that houses, people, not just from the southern parts of India, but also from all over the Peninsular subcontinent as well as Britain is due to the various events that took place in the context of its history. Also, staying in the isolated satellite town of Yelahanka, I had minimal information regarding the existing lifestyle in the city, let alone the Cantonment Area. Earlier, my impression of Bangalore was that of an orthodox city, rightly called the Pensioners’ Paradise with minimalistic shindig. However, I now in reality is incredibly aristocratic and well developed with a cosmopolitan outlook. This perhaps, is due to the influence of various multinationals, as well as, various IT firms that have been established in the Silicon Valley of India.
They are highly influenced by the other rapidly growing economies in terms of their vastly capitalistic approach, contrary to the socialist economy, which formed the basis for development after the Indian Independence. Also, I have been able to understand, what goes behind the scenes in the ‘glamorous’ lifestyles of IT professionals as well as Call Centre employees. Despite the comforts and luxuries available to them in abundance, they seem to lead a very disgruntled and displeased life. Living under the constant pressure of performing well and constantly being monitored for optimal performance, leads to several health perils, in the form of Hypertension and extreme stress. Also, the training that they go through has a high possibility of emotional as well as psychological degradation as they try overcoming their Mother Tongue Influence (MTI) on their speech. This brings me to question whether they are able to understand and experience the true nature of serenity and contentment in life as they live in a very materialistic and career centered environment. Additionally, the entire notion of uncertainty that runs parallel with their professional lives is further corrupting. Moreover, I was able to recognize the root of the existence of the Anglo Indian Community and realized their importance in present day Bangalore as well as its bygone era. They were able to promote as well as accelerate the growth of English language as a mode of communication, making it Bangalore one of the largest English speaking areas. This has allowed effective communication with the world allowing the process of globalization to take place with a rapidly accelerating speed. Due to this, several foreign companies have been outsourced to Bangalore, which is the root cause of the phrase ‘ to be Bangalore-d’. Furthermore, I learnt how the separate production units, differentiated on the basis of the final goods they provided, functioned with minimal interaction between these entities. Also, it was interesting to know how a caste system existed despite the society being relatively modernized during the British Raj. Also the attempts made to unite these separate entities by providing them with a social platform that had rather interesting consequences. Also, while walking through the Cantonment Area, I realized how several facets of the British raj were still intact in the form of the architectural style as well as various statues such as that of the Queen at Cubbon Park. I can now conclusively state that the ‘city of boiled beans’ had a rather vivid past as well as a present, however, there is a sense of materialism that has made its way into society, degrading certain social values, especially in the developed sector of society. A children’s film is a film, which is suitable to be watched by children. The content should be something that children are able to comprehend as well as relate to. Children play the protagonist in both films. However, the content of ‘Turtles Can Fly’ has sustained trauma and conflict inflicted on children, which may have a negative psychological impact on children. Furthermore, it may shatter the child’s sense of self as it contains several scenes of brutality. Children lack a sense of judgment and a capacity to take decisions; therefore such a film would either harden children or lead to a greater amount of conflict. The film ‘The Great Indian School Show’, layers information in a satirical manner due to which, there is minimalistic violence. The content of the film has been presented in a comical, making it appropriate for children to watch. Thus it can be said that in both the films, aggression on children is being depicted, however, the presentation of the topic classifies ‘The Great Indian School Show’ as a children’s film.
Children are the protagonists in both the films. Both these films deal with aggression faced by children. However both these films, present this central idea very differently. ‘Turtles Can Fly’, presents aggression in the form of the brutalities that children face in times of war. It presents the world as a dark place combining two poignant elements that is children and war, to create powerful emotions. This film is shocking for us as it threatens our own position as silent watchers of the suffering present in our world. ‘The Great Indian School Show’, talks about aggression that takes place on a more domestic level. The film talks about the disparity in the Indian education system. It talks about the invasion of privacy, that children experience in their school. The film has been shot in an observational style wherein no judgments are made. The observations have been juxtaposed with each other to lead to a conclusion. The information is built up layer-by-layer to build up to the ridiculous idea of the aggression children face in school. ‘Turtles Can Fly’ is a semi fiction as the film is based on reality, but scripted and ‘The Great Indian School Show’, is non-fiction as it documents the reality of school children. The society in Brazil has been portrayed as a highly bureaucratic society with a stringent system controlled largely by information. This movie is about the dependency of humans towards machines and how they were influenced by technology .The society works under a framework of manipulation of records. It criticizes the controlling nature of bureaucracy of information. Technology controls most of the daily activities of the individuals in the society. Man used his wit and power to invent various easygoing gadgets to perform his work without putting any pressure on his Howevershoulders. However certain individuals are trying to break away from the system, for more freedom, by resisting the framework. There is a great amount of disparity between the bureaucrats and the free rangers. The bureaucrats live a very comfortable life in a comparison with the free rangers who live in dark, dingy places. The bureaucrats spend exorbitant amounts of money on extravagant beauty treatments and food. They are unable to enjoy life as they are stuck in the rigid framework. Invention of machines and gadgets has made his life so easy that at a very slow pace he started becoming dependent of machines for everything.
Our society too, has a framework set up by the constitution within which we need to function. In the past, man used to perform lots of activities by himself, but gradually tables turned and machines ruled his heart, brain, as well as body, and then his whole world. Technology is a major part of our lives without which, our life would come to a standstill. Certain bureaucrats try and form a framework within which we tend to get selfish and self centered. However we all feel the need to be free and express ourselves and feel the need to break free from the framework. Thus, the society portrayed in this film made in the 1980s is similar to ours; however, the bureaucracy is not as extreme in our society. The film, blade runner gives us a fair understanding about the society in 2020, wherein, a scientist, Kyril has managed to produce human replicants by instilling in them, artificial memories.These replicants ad greater processing power as well as physical power as compared to the humans. The society depicted in the movie was set in 2020.These memories led to the development of emotions in these replicants which were allowed a life span of only 4 years.The humans were least bothered about others, whereas the replicants had a greater sense of emotionl response.This norm shows the fading value in society as they manufactured replicants more human than humans and later, killed those same replicants despite the fact that they too had emotions and feelings. The society came across to me as gloomy place as there was minimal lighting in the dark and dingy streets with huge buildings. Corporate power looms large, the police seem omnipresent; vehicle and warning lights probe into buildings; and the consequences of huge biomedical power over the individual are witnessed in the society. The society blatantly played around with the replicants’ emotions, treating them like slaves. Due to this unjust society, a revolt by the oppressed replicants breaks out. The replicants appear to show compassion and concern for one another unlike the humans, who lack empathy while the mass of humanity on the streets is cold and impersonal. Poverty was still prevalent in the society
Memories are a major proof of being human. They influence our emotion and behavior and are the root cause our own beliefs about us being human. Rachel due to the memories that may have been transferred into her, developed certain feelings and emotions. She developed an emotional attachment with the detective, hence giving her human attributes. However, she lacked a conscience, as she would kill a wasp if it sat on her shoulder, which indicates that she may be a replicant. Racheal had developed human emotions, was physically strong and had strong emotional level as compared to human being. The society in the film is heartless and lacking a conscience. Therefore, I feel that Rachel may have developed a lack of conscience due to the society that she was part of. I feel that memories and experiences are main proof our existence as humans. The fact that they are unable to reproduce and disintegrate after 4 years is perhaps, the only distinguishable characteristic in replicants. Also, they have greater physical and mental strength compared with humans. They are visually indistinguishable from humans and have implanted memories that lead to the development of emotions in them. Someone too, like in the case of the replicants, has engineered us. They have a greater sense of empathy than the humans, which causes us to re-evaluate the concept of humanity. Thus there is a great amount of confusion in my mind regarding the nature of the characters in the film. The film talks about virtual relationships. The film questions our reality.Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, parallel universes, aliens, and paranomal abilities. This film deals with the imagination of the protagonist, Kris, which when combined with the supernatural element of Solaris encounters the mysterious phenomenon of Solaris, wherein his dead wife’s form returns. Due to this, the film qualifies as a science fiction despite the absence of a fast narrative pace and special effects, which is generally prevalent in commercial cinema. Thus, its storyline qualifies it as science fiction, even though it has the fluidity of slow-paced, philosophical poetry.
There are a couple of notable instances of cinematography and soundscapes, which impact the storytelling. The tunnel scene is one such example as it forecasts the man’s future. The use of rocket soundscapes foretells that the protagonist will set forth on a journey. It is a mechanized scene bringing with it, a sense of detachment which Kris experiences later in the film in Solaris Also, the parallel images of the ocean, give the viewer enough time to reflect ones own thoughts and feelings and connect with oneself. There is a sense of sterility, which is evident in the later scenes where the protagonist is in Solaris. The use of still images of paintings to depict life on earth too, impact the storytelling as they reflect the events on Earth comparing it with the life on Solaris continuing with the film’s cinematography style. Tarkovsky distinguishes between Earth and Solaris by depicting Earth as an organic place with the dog, horses and the aquatic plants and Solaris as a detached, minimalistic and sterile place. Also, Tarkovsky subtly uses soundscapes to distinguish between the atmosphere on Earth by using classical music and electronic music for Solaris. The film poses several philosophical that human beings ask each other, which make us introspect. The film runs in the form of two narratives, the first being the storyline itself and the other being the introspective questions it probes. It questions the morality and the ethics of Science. It talks about the existence of the universe functioning on a gigantic clock with multiple realms that are beyond our understanding. It talks about distances between the protagonist and his wife, which is metaphor for the distances we experience from our own self; as his wife was actually a reflection of his own memories and was a figment of his own imagination. It talks about how we choose to discard certain experiences to create our own reality, just as Kris creates his own reality in Solaris at the end of the film. |