Movers and Shakers

Just when people thought that they had seen everything there is to see in a shopping mall,artist Vibha Galhotra surprised and somewhat shocked the shoppers with her Neo Monster.

Written by Georgina Maddox
September 17, 2011 03:52 AM IST

2 min read

Artist Vibha Galhotra makes king-sized statements about environment with her jumbo sculpture

Just when people thought that they had seen everything there is to see in a shopping mall,artist Vibha Galhotra surprised and somewhat shocked the shoppers with her Neo Monster. This 10-foot tall,39-feet wide blow-up sculpture,made of parachute material and covered in gold lycra,is an earth mover. It was spotted sitting in the central atrium of Select Citywalk mall in Saket and is part of a larger project undertaken by the artist. I am working towards a solo show titled Utopia of Difference with Gallery Espace. I could not resist sharing this installation with Delhi since I feel that the earth mover is a relevant symbol of our times. Also,a city like Delhi is constantly undergoing change,so in a way it overwhelms our lives, says Galhotra,who plans to travel with the giant sculpture to other cities,including Mumbai,Kolkata,Pune and possibly Nagaland.

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There is also a video about deforestation and the pithy message of this sad reality is contrasted well with the bling and flashiness of the gold earth mover. How did the artist come up with this idea? I first made a maquette (small scale model of a larger work) and then worked with a team of three people. Two of them were tailors and stitched together the earth mover, says Galhotra,who did a trial run of the piece in a slum area where the tailors live.

The work cost Galhotra Rs 1.5 lakh,but currently she is not planning to sell it. I want to travel with this work,so no plans of selling it yet. What I do plan to sell will be small toys that will cost between Rs 15,000 to Rs 12,000. They will be made of leather and cotton and will be part of my solo at Gallery Espace, says she.