Stasis

“It is said — and correctly — that art cannot exercise its attraction without the co-operation of the subject. But what can be done so that the audience stops being an object and transforms itself into the subject?”

                                                 – Julio Garcia Espinosa

Video

Colour, Dual Channel

Duration: 3minutes 48 Seconds

‘Stasis’ : A state or condition in which things do not change, move, or progress, a period or state of inactivity or equilibrium.

The word Stasis can be borrowed to express a certain emotion one feels when sitting one is sitting in a boat that’s being rowed by a kevat, across the Ghats of Kashi-the oldest city in the world, facing the remnants of all time, including the now, caught in STASIS, in all its permanence.

That being the focal current to the work, the core of it is a visual mélange formed by filming the Ghats in their many shades, across seasons from the boats, by rigging the camera to them, making the motion of the boat, the eyes to the experience.

This has been layered above an orchestral cinematic score to create an experience of 4 minutes, which was screened individually for many of the city’s primary inhabitants: the boatmen who live at the Ghats, and are the bridge between the world’s people and Kashi itself.

These screenings have been filmed live and combining them with the film for the installation, creates a visual paradox-when looked at from a perspective outside the screening of the work, where ‘the viewer is seen watching a film which is being watched, also watching the film’s viewers at the same time.