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.