LIFE IN OBJECTS
We tend to collect things for a variety of reasons – to lend familiarity to otherwise foreign spots, or morph known places into realms of newness. Mostly, the desire to pursue meaning and forge connections with our situation and surroundings forms the patterns of what and how we collect. ‘Life in Objects’ is an ongoing experimentation made possible by putting some of our favourite objects and people under the same roof. It is a purposeful documentation of the interactions between the animate and inanimate.
Selected pieces from our collection, for a brief period, spent time in the company of curious minds – individuals with their own unique approaches to craft and the world. The experiences that they shared with the object, and the changing relationship between the object and the self are reflected in this section as unfiltered memoirs. Conceptualized with an aim to explore the ties that connect our emotional and intellectual layers to the physical world we live in, Life in Objects borrows stories that unravel in intimate, personal spaces.
Karan Shrestha
Karan Shrestha is an artist and filmmaker. Shrestha presents works that are an archive of physical landscapes, political histories, and transient memories, and a speculative world that suspends reality, creating space to contemplate notions of the present.
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Seeded Candelabras
Cupping my hands to grasp the brass Bijni, the gesture it evokes has significance across cultures. The seed-holder demands openness when carried. Objects from the past come with a weight, and contained within, are stories and sounds. Functional usage apart, the objects speak to materiality, technology, design and history. There’s magic in its ability to transport and stabilize at the same time.
Wonderland Teapot
At school, we were made to draw patterns. Then mirror them, flip them and paint them. Unfazed by the consequences, some of us children scribbled instead. Play, not patterns, brought joy. The set of teapots embodies that spirit of play. The peculiarity of the finial, handles, cover and spout, and lines carved onto the body display vivacious rhythms.
The Meandering Plate
Tactile incisions on the tray indicate a sense of flow. Running my fingers along, certain impressions occur: a plough combing the soil; nerves snaking inside a body, tree-sap compressed between lenticels; a hand smearing red clay onto mud walls; bundled wires connecting computing systems. A hint of blue becomes a window offering glimpses to the familiar.
Sombrero Vase
You’re in the water. The ocean envelops your sinking body. A slow blow out your nose, your ears pop, eyes widen. You surrender to the substance. In the light streaming through, the ocean bed is teeming with flora and marine creatures, of slender curves and crusty shells. This bulbous vase assumes the appearance of those submerged marvels, surfacing to hold flowers to the sun.
Keshav Mahendru
Keshav Mahendru is an art collector and dealer based between New Delhi and Mumbai, whose friends refer to him as the ‘art encyclopaedia’. His passion for art is driven by an admiration for the creativity and ingenuity that artists pour into their work. Keshav co-founded FAQ Art, in 2019, which works on exhibitions, publications and other unique projects with museums, galleries, artists and collectors.
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SHED - Maatlu
I fell in love with this one at first sight. Half a lota, its narrow neck fits in the crook between my thumb and index finger perfectly. Finished to a smooth texture, the grain in the teak shine through. It’s as if the maker took the block of wood and played with it for a while to ascertain how best to gouge out the shape so the natural grain of the wood would be best showed off. A secret indent on the round of the cup allows you to securely put the cup down confidently. I’m told the cup will stain with every use. I foresee it getting darker, maybe the surface treatment will wear off and a new patina from holding it will develop along the narrow rim of it. Like a wooden idol, which has been worshipped and had liquids of all types poured over it, I imagine an unctuous glaze of years of use forming on it.
Sukhdev Rathod - Between the Lines
This cup is deceptively thoughtful. The blades add protective distance between the hand and hot beverage. It’s inspired by the sleeves on a Starbucks cup. I learnt recently that the sleeves have a name - zarf. It is a term borrowed from Arabic meaning a chalice like vessel for coffee. Somehow Sukhdev has managed to complete the circle here. While one can hold it one hand, this cup is more comfortably held with two - like a ritual chalice to drink coffee out of.