A trail of metallic silver and golden frogs guide you from a lily pond to the main gallery,leading towards the large photograph of a young boy floating in the pond. He sits on a tyre tube with lotus flowers in his hands,posing like a king. The frolicking flower picker is an expert in his domain and we have tried to make him look like an emperor in his field. The message is simple if you give your best effort to your work,no matter how big or small it is,you will excel, says Delhi-based architect Vikrant Sharma,explaining the work titled Reign Supreme,designed in collaboration with photographer S Thiru. The photo art installation is one of the ten works that comprise the exhibition titled The Deconstruction Project. It is an outcome of six months of discussions between the two,when they decided to bring together their expertise. We first met six years ago,when Sharma designed my office in Uday Park, says Thiru,adding that the aim of the project is to encourage presentation in a manner that the photographs interact with the viewers. The objective is fulfilled. Featuring three layers,the work titled Smile has people tearing bits and pieces of the top two layers that feature a collage of black-and-white photographs from Thirus Kutch trip presented in the form of stamp-like perforations. People can tear the stamps and keep them as souvenirs. They will then uncover the third layer that comprises coloured photographs of a smiling girl, says Sharma. Another interactive work is A Life Less Ordinary. Aimed at refreshing childhood memories,this consists of eight movable squares of a photograph of a vintage bike arranged in a puzzle-like manner,resembling a Rubiks cube. You can play with it,move it and discover the photographs of my road trips, notes Thiru,as he moves to another photograph. Titled Transcend,the black-and-white close-up has a smiling boy,who,Thiru informs,has been burnt from his neck down. When pain is all around,it is the sheer joy of being alive that resounds within the heart, says the photographer,adding that he hopes the image will touch peoples heart. The exhibition is on at 72,Lodhi Estate,till today. Contact : 43500200
