Performative-Photos of Bengaluru:
Gaze and Historicity amidst City’s Blinding Future
H. A. Anil Kumar
Performative-Photos proudly preserve the essence and attributes of the performance and its performer. H.A. Anil Kumar pens down how the viewer’s silent gaze forms the ‘mute’ relationship between the viewer and this art form.
Incident 1: A couple of years ago, I saw a performance by Suresh Kumar at Bar1 (Bangalore Art Residency). He sat down in a small room full of audience, in the backdrop of scores of pairs of slippers, put down his head and began to knit a thread around his calf muscle. It was only the focus of the official video camera that indicated who the artist was, ‘for those who came late’1 Otherwise, almost everyone was busy scrolling their mobiles or switching it off or silencing it throughout or taking others’ assistance to switch it off for them. “This knitting is the hero of the performance; and this is going to be the beginning, the content, the form and the end of this act”, responded a cynical artist friend, who went out for a smoke, as and when the performance was happening. He proved it right, nothing took place other than the performer putting his head down in concentration and knitting throughout, monotonously. It was already half knit when the act began and seemed half knit when it concluded!
The audience dispersed once the performer got up and went out of the room. There was no indication of the end, like it was with the beginning. This was confirmed once the actor came back half an hour later with a freshly shaven head. “Was shaving your head a part of this performance?” asked that cynical friend, to which the reply was, “you should have guessed and followed me!” Incident 2: As she, an artist, entered Sumukha gallery (Bengaluru) as an audience to a performance, she was confronted by the artist friend-performer seated in front of an old typing machine. “You are a stranger to me. What is your name, where do you come from, why are you here?” was the essence of the question she posed, ready to type the answer. When the audience-artist answered her name wrongly and intentionally, the performer insisted, “are you sure that is your name?” “Yes, why are you doubtful?!” came the answer from the bemused audience. That gave away the performance and the performer’s intention, in a way. The baffled performer was shifting positing from being a ‘friend of the artist’ as well as a ‘performer’ enacting a stranger’s role. Finally the latter won; and typed the seudonym that was given.
