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.
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.