Medium is the message

Rahul Bhattacharya,editor Art and Deal,artist Vibha Galhotra,Dr Awadhesh Misra,editor Kala Dirgha and Dr Rajesh Vyas,an art critic and painter participated. The discussion focussed on the new expressions in art via the new media,teh focal subject of the week-long event courtesy the National and Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi.

An alumnus of the College of Art,Chandigarh and then Shantiniketan,Galhotra studied both print-making and sculpting and works with a range of mediums and materials to comment on life around her. As she takes you through her repertory of work,Galhotra insists that new media is a tool for art,one that comes with growth in technology. “The growth was quicker in the 1990s,with computing,communication,economy and IT industry growing fast. Expressive,quick,new media helps artists to gather information from around for the masses.” Galhotra uses science,electronics,engineering and printing in her installation,construction,deconstruction and reconstruction. Depicting the mushrooming growth of buildings in cities,she works on varied materials and mediums and does site-specific work,be it rising concrete jungles,lack of privacy,terrorism or pollution.

Bhattacharya questions the concept of new media,discussing the social role of media art,criticism and practices. He shows film clips to depict how young artists use a variety of tools to speak to the audience,using both technique and art. “We cannot valourise or demonise any medium. New media is a dialogue,its old forms like kinetic,performance,sound,machinery and photography and the new like chat rooms,computer coding and internet creating new impacts. So,when we discuss new media,we need to fragment it. Also,viewing and criticism of new media in India is still at the nascent stages,” he explains.

Dr Vyas raises the question if technique is the medium of art. “We need to define these separately,realise it’s an ever-changing process and we still we need to be educated on the subject,as not much has been written about it.” Dr Awadhish Misra finds meaning in the madness,pointing out that new media art might create shock value,as humanitarian principles are broken in the name of art. “There are layers of meaning,it’s not black and white,technique enhances art and vice-versa and it’s a dialogue that needs to be continued,” Mishra says.

“Whenever a medium enters an industry,it changes the way things work and introduces new possibilities,change ideas and perceptions. Art is an expression and not just a tool to communicate,” says Mishra.