On
entering the North Bangalore studio of Jeevan L Xavier – artist and senior
designer with a textile company – the eye is immediately distracted, tantalised
and taken in by the numerous array of objects and visuals that JLX has
collected over time and describes as being “drawn from Indian aesthetics that
are outside of the practices of institutionalised artforms”.
The fifteen years, JLX has spent collecting these products –
educational posters, matchboxes, vernacular textiles and more – that are made
for local consumption, and whose packaging or design would usually be
considered kitschy or even ordinary, has taught him the sensibilities and
nuances of the skills that infuse each of these objects with their rich
character. It has given him an understanding of the guidelines and opened up
possibilities for experimentation. “I’ve always been curious about the
motivation of the makers of these products, who work outside institutionalised
spectrum and values, forecasts, colours and such to create work that seems to
encapsulate raw emotion and even naivety to an extent. For me, this is
quintessentially Indian aesthetic,” explained JLX. “The most striking element
that binds these various indigenous products and their creation is a sense of
spontaneity to the design. This is something that I want to harness and lies at
the core of my agitations and interventions,” he added.
While the nomadic nature of JLX’s life – travelling for
education, for family events, being an outsider – didn’t allow him to immerse himself into
these practices like he would’ve liked to. “But this changed with Bangalore –
in this city, I’ve developed different kinds of relationships, personal and
otherwise, and I value my involvement in the city. It has occupied my mind to
think of diverse ways of using my artistic practice to have a dialogue with the
entirety of the city,” said JLX. He also added that he did have a clear
intention to work with the city of Bangalore. “I wanted to work to embody my
relationship with the city”.
Of these various kinds of non-institutionalised art
practices that JLX had been dabbling with, observing and studying – decorative
vehicular art seemed like the perfect medium to enable his desire to converse
with the city. “I’ve spent years in Bangalore travelling around in
autorickshaws. I’ve even begun to think of it as my vahana, or divine vehicle,
that gets me everywhere, and the experience of getting around in this vehicle
and talking to the auto-drivers with their own unique philosophy and take on the
city has coloured my own understanding and love for Bangalore. I also felt that
Bangalore would be open and encouraging to this dialogue because it has the
vibe of being a democratic city,” he offered.
JLX looked back to his own photographs of decorative truck
art as the starting grounds for his first art work, Along the Way. This moving installation of three auto-rickshaws
resulted from his research and experimentation with decorative auto-rickshaw
art in the city. The artist worked with practitioners of this artform, locally
known as liners, to extend and take the form in newer directions to draw
attention and create conversation around these popular yet often-ignored works
of art. It also attempted to question socially-accepted notions of belonging
and self-expression.
Before attempting to translate his own take on this artform
– JLX looked his documentation of decorative vehicular art from cycle rickshaws
to trucks, from stickering to modifications. He began to read the cues and
stylistic choices based on the region of vehicle’s origin, which also
influenced the choice of colour, materials and design. “Being inside the
autorickshaw though, I also began to notice the ways of stitching, the ways in
which they manipulate the materials. I noticed the similarities between these
modes of creation and line quality to hand applique techniques, this piqued my
interest. I even notice that subtlest of interventions like the joining point
of the roof to the body of the autorickshaw isn’t left empty but inscribed with
stitch-work,” said JLX and added, “Discovering and quenching my curiosity,
which aided my research process, has become an ongoing learning game for me.
There is attempt to push the artform, the result of the negotiation between
autorickshaw driver and an enthusiastic liner, as I would discover”.
In his research, interviewing and collaborating with the
liners, JLX has estimated that this craft has been around for two odd decades.
He said, the liners remember it as beginning with getting work done by the
painters of film posters, then pasting images of film stars from calendars and
now to present day – stitching, pattern work and even metal modifications.
“Over this time, it has become a separate industry concentrated in six hubs
across the city – Nagawara, Shivaji Nagar, Mysore Road, Krishnaraja Market,
Neelasandra and Krishnarajapuram. These clusters are made up of of auto
financiers, brokers, spare parts and motor accessories shops, upholstery
establishments, welders, tinkers, film poster painters, vinyl stickering
artists and metal fabricators,” he said. “I also enjoyed that the driving force
of the artform was a collaboration between people with different skills,” he
added, “and they also seem to ignore hierarchical structures that I was used
to”.
While exploring this artform and creating this work over the
past two years, JLX didn’t want to completely lose himself but rather wanted to
find ways in which he could bring his own skills into the work. “I’ve always
had an intimate relationship with stitching and I wanted to bring that into the
making of this work. I also wanted to play with the presentation of the
artform, so from the interiors of the autorickshaw – these autorickshaws are
decorated on the outside. This twist was also to add the element of surprise,
to spark an interest in the bystander, the spectator of the work. I wanted to
break the routine and set frame of mind that city-dwellers seem to have, in
this manner, I wanted to incite conversations or thoughts.” JLX’s Along the Way seems to be the
materialisation of his desire to engage with everyone in little ways – either
by making them laugh, think or even nudge their neighbour. JLX’s work is the
artist’s urge to have a conversation without the literal, the urge to shake up
the ordinary and reveal the extra in it.
The three autorickshaws of Along the Way are designed in a progressive sequence that are
representative of the growth of the work. It shows JLX’s investment – his
understanding and control over the form is shown in the first, the second is an
experiment in possibilities regarding materials, and the third pushes even the
patterning. In each though, the colour choices – bold and striking – are all
his own. The works are a result of two years of labour, conversation, learning
and negotiations with materials, liners, the canvas and possibility. The work
also speaks as an allegory to the conundrum of our times: Should punish the
personal for social approval or is it time to show our true self – all
glorious, brilliant and radiant. The promise of Along the Way is that the artist Jeevan L Xavier seems hell-bent on
acknowledging his history, his quirks and pushes himself with regards to his
practice, and these qualities are definitely refreshing, respectable and rare in
an upcoming contemporary artist. The
moving installation Along the Way travelled
across the city between May 8-16, 2015.
