Exhibitions | enter11
in the
Main Gallery
Friday 14 October 2011 - Friday 23 2011
Daily 12 noon - 9pm
Design by Preetika Sah
enter11 is Watermans annual exhibition of the year's finest work
by South Asian Digital Art and Design Graduates.
enter provides a platform to showcase the emerging talent in the
field of digital art, design and media production. This
year's exhibition includes work that involves innovative processes
and diverse material ranging from design, interactive installation,
film, graphic and communication design.
The exhibiting artists have been handpicked from some of the
country's leading Institutes that offer unique opportunities in
exploring digital art, design and innovative technologies. The
selected artists take different approaches to the use of
technologies in their creative practice in order to articulate
their responses to contemporary issues in an innovative manner.
Selected artists
Priyanka Gaitonde - MA Design for
Textile Futures, Central Saint Martin's College of Art &
Design
NANO COOKBOOK
The NANO COOKBOOK is a cookbook that communicates
emerging technologies in a visually compelling way. Using everyday
familiar metaphors of eggs and recipes it tries to engage with the
unfamiliar and abstract science. The recipes in the cookbook are in
the form of a Nanome; an egg with millions of atomic layers of
coded information. When any layer is activated by a code, it
undergoes a process of molecular self assembly to create a unique
electro-info-biotic-dish. The recipes suggest provocative
scenarios, inviting one to question and form ones own imaginative
vision of the future. The recipes in this book also have links to
real research taking place in labs around the world.
WHY : "The greatest discoveries of science have always been
those that forced us to rethink our beliefs about the universe and
our place in it." ~Robert L. Park, in The New York Times, 7
December 1999. Nanotechnology with its ability to transform and
control matter at the atomic scale appears to be one such discovery
of science. Future nanotechnologies are predicted to be a synthesis
of biology, robotics, electronics, information and cognitive
sciences that would affect almost every area of human activity like
medicine, food, clothing, defence, national security, environment,
energy generation, electronics, computing and could come up with
powerful life changing technologies like A I, space travel,
medical treatments, robotics etc.
The potentially immense risks and benefits nanotechnology
presents to society therefore requires ethical reflection. However
according to my research most people have never heard of
nanotechnology and there is communication gap between the
scientist and the general public. The NANO COOKBOOK was
created from these insights.
Priyanka Gaitonde is a designer exploring the
intersection of materials, crafting, technology, communication and
society.
Based in both India and London she has been working on research
led projects within diverse Gobal contexts. Her work spans from
grass root development of hand woven traditional textiles in India
to critical design and future technological scenario building in
collaboration with scientists and researchers. Trained as weaver
she experiments with a variety of mediums like hand crafting,
digital coding, films, photography, space and sound.
Her current work explores the changing roles of a designer in a
fast paced ever transitioning society and pushing the concept of
textiles as a tool to engage with ones surroundings.
http://www.priyankagaitonde.com/
Akhila Krishnan - MA Communication Art &
Design, RCA
DHARAMKOT PLACE OF PRAYER
2011, Digital Video with sound, presented in an
installation
Created in collaboration with Chris Bartholomew and Laetitia
Stott
This film is concerned with the idea of location and material.
Buddhist prayer flags are hung along mountaintops and paths all
over the Himalayas. It is believed that as the wind moves through
them, the prayers on the flags are carried away into the
surrounding world. In the moment of this encounter between
prayer-fabric-wind, there is a conjunction of the sacred/ordinary,
the ephemeral/material and the tactile/visual. This film uses the
camera to reveal and make manifest this moment that the eye can
sense but not see.
CONVERGE (from the Stitch series)
2011, Thread & Paper
The Stitch series is rooted in the cinematic theory of
Persistence of Vision, which says that the interval between each
still frame is bridged in our minds in order to perceive film as
'life-like.' It has been proposed that our natural vision works in
the same way to sense continuous motion.
I aim to give a form and materiality to this interval. I seek out
the invisible that lies within ordinary structures; the pages of a
book or the walls of a building and make them manifest. The threads
are a means to reflect motion, time and space itself.
Converge in particular, also explores the intersection of
ideas of shape, medium, dimension and sense i.e. the
tactile/visual.
Akhila Krishnan is a visual artist and
film-maker. She completed her BA at the National Institute of
Design (India), during which she also studied at the Ecole
Nationale Superieure Des Arts Decoratifs (Paris) as an exchange
student. In 2009, she was awarded the prestigious Inlaks
Shivadasani Scholarship to pursue her M.A. at the Royal College of
Art.
Akhila received a distinction for her post-graduate thesis at
the RCA, which explored how ideas of materiality and tactility
could be located within the context of the moving image. Her
practice builds on this research, exploring the relationship
between the material and the temporal, the still and the moving
image; negotiating their knots of tension and connection.
She is interested in the act of revealing; in weaving back and
forth between the mediums of drawing, textiles and film, Akhila
explores the resonances between them. She uses each to influence
and uncover new dimensions of the other. This act of
translation is crucial to her work. Through the resulting shift in
meaning and language, she aims to transform our experience of the
ordinary, to enable the viewer to perceive in a new and sensual
way. In this way, Akhila's work is concerned with the body and
with memory; to create, convey and remember experiences. Her
process is rooted in a documentary-based approach that is concerned
with personal history, space, geography and culture.
Akhila is interested in collaborative and cross disciplinary
practice, working with fellow practitioners to create work that has
been shown in the Barbican, the Southbank Centre, the Horse
Hospital (Bloomsbury), West London Synagogue, the National Theatre
and the Kanoria Centre for the Arts. Her films have been shown on
Doordarshan (the national TV channel in India) and screened at
various film festivals like Film South Asia (Nepal), Al Jazeera
Film Festival (Qatar) and The Open Frame Film festival (organised
by the UN in New Delhi.) Akhila also worked as a visiting tutor at
the National Institute of Design from 2007-2009.
www.akhilakrishnan.com
Shafiah Latif - Graphic Design: New Media, UCA
Epsom
MERGE
Merge is a project that explores both Eastern and
Western cultures through the use of languages in writing. The
project Merge was initiated by the fact that many
individuals have been born and raised in the UK but have an ethnic
background that derives from many different cultures around the
world and is what makes Britain the multi-cultural society it is
today. The two languages that have been focused on are Urdu and
English. The project aims to look into Romanisation, a form of
communicating a different language through transliterating, this
has been done with Urdu through the use of the English alphabet.
'Merge' examines the use of phonetics and linguistics of Urdu in
English. It also aims to find a common ground in both cultures
through popular culture and interests, in particular jokes, lyrics
and poetry have been used and developed to produce the final
outcomes.
Shafiah Latif has recently graduated from
University for the Creative Arts at Epsom in Graphic Design: New
Media. From a young age she has always had a passion for
calligraphy, in her time studying she has developed this love for
typography and language. Culture and identity has always influenced
her work and concepts. To quote John Cleese she believes that "High
creativity is responding to situations without critical thought"
(playfulness) and she feels to reach that it is always important to
not be afraid of silly ideas.
Shafiah has recently been inspired by the works of Joshua Davis
and is now working on self initiated projects where she is
experimenting with her own illustrations and computer aided design.
In the future she would love to be involved in Art Direction and
project management and to start up her own design studio.
www.shafiahlatif.com
Alkesh Parmar - MA in GSMJ (Applied Arts), Royal
College of Art
MATERIALISATION
Light is a universal language within most religions it has a
magical element represented in a form of de-materialised matter but
I have also been engaged in thinking about processes of
re-materialisation, materials being transformed from one sphere to
another, in most cases, materials which are normally detained to be
simply waste product without further use.
Both de-materialisation and re-materialisation are linked for me
because they are aspects of energy systems. My thinking about light
is both from the standpoint of physical manifestation but is in
turn connected to the etheric substrate of the human being- the
etheric and subtle as an emitter of light - or being a light
sensitive medium.
Alkesh Parmar was born in Leicester where he
studied a BA in Design Crafts, back then in 2005 it was a new
course which fed the demand of a new generation of applied artists
not wanting to restrict their practice to a single craft/skill but
instead explore many skills, materials and processes. After this
Alkesh went onto to Royal College of Art where he again studied an
Applied Arts course, this proved to challenge his creativity both
artistically and also as a designer. Here he explored his
fascination of spiritual light and sustainable materials, where he
constantly crossed boundaries of art and design to then question
the nature of applied arts and its relevance as a school. Alkesh is
now a London based artist/designer who is at the forefront of
sustainable and lighting design art.
alkeshparmar.com
Sabiha Rajar - MA Textile Design, Chelsea College
of Art & Design
FUTURE TRADITIONS
This Project is also based on a textile craft of Pakistan called
Ralli/Quilts, which started as means of recycling. The inspiration
for this Craft, Rallis was the Makli Tombs
(14th-18th century) in Thatta, Pakistan which
is one of the world's biggest necropolis. The stone carvings on the
tombs are amazing source of inspiration till today. Sabiha Rajar is
taking up this Craft into a new dimension and at an advance level
using new means as digital print and Laser cutter and bringing back
the knowledge of working with the Craft by new methods and
techniques without losing its identity.
Sabiha Rajar is a Textile Designer and has been
teaching at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in the
Textile Department in Pakistan. The area of her interest is Design
Intervention, to sustain the Textile Crafts of Pakistan. Sabiha
believes it's a responsibility of a designer to help sustain crafts
and promote them through Design Intervention.
sabiharajar@wordpress.com
www.chelseamatextiles.com
Preetika Sah - MA Communication Design, Central
Saint Martin's College of Art & Design
VISUAL PHONICS
Visual Phonics is a symbolic system developed to
represent the spoken sound in written form. The project establishes
the role of sound in written text, which is crucial for
pronunciation or learning a new language.
The symbols are universal in application and are developed
keeping in mind the people with visual or hearing impairments,
adopting a multi- sensory approach towards sound - letter cognition
and development. Visual Phonics is a method of teaching people to
read based on the sounds that the letters represent.
The Consonant sounds are mapped according to the place of
articulation (tongue, lip, teeth) and the vowel sounds according to
their frequency.
The symbolic system gives us a unique experience of looking into
the lives of the blind and deaf. They often form separate
communities by following different set of languages, which are
alien to us (ASL and Braille). The main aim of the project was to
create symbols that don't create stereotyped boundaries and are
universal in their application.
Preetika Sah adopts a multidisciplinary
approach in creating people centric design that forms the epicenter
in her design practice. The visual transference of sound both
physical and perceptible is of a core interest to her. She intends
to explore sound from a multi dimensional angle creating multi
sensory sound - vision explorations in the future.
The practicality and productivity in design is what keeps her
going and working to make a difference. At the end the artist hopes
the project will make the people see - hear - sing to the
melodies, which often go unnoticed.
http://preetikasah.blogspot.com/
Jigna Patel - BA Design, Goldsmiths, University
of London
DRAW-IT-YOURSELF
Do-It-Yourself (D.I.Y) describes a way of changing or repairing
something without employing an expert. You are an amateur who wants
to try your hand at a set of skills without undertaking numerous
lessons or spending lots of time in classes.
Draw-It-Yourself presents a range of tools and devices that
enables anyone, amateur or not to engage in the act of drawing. The
devices capture, recreate or portray the subject matter offering
instant results. Using the devices allow the user to produce their
own drawings fairly accurately without having to enroll or adhere
to traditional rules of drawing whilst still allowing the user to
have their own creative input.
Jigna Patel was born in North London, 1987. She
moved to Leeds at the age of 18 where she completed her art
foundation at Leeds College of art and design. During her stay in
Leeds she was fortunate to produce graphic work for various
bands.
Knowing that design was the industry she wanted to be in she
studied at Goldsmith University, having just recently just
graduated with a BA Hons in Design.
She has worked with various design companies such as Tank and
Re-design and had her work published.
In the future she will be moving to Mumbai, India for a few
months to work for a top advertising company.
Jigna in particular loves to produce illustrations and feels
that her strengths lie in this and graphic design, however she
loves all aspects of design and is able to adapt to various roles
to meet briefs. Please have a look at her work and ask any
questions or just say hello!
http://cargocollective.com/jignapateldesigns