I was just surfing the internet for some random art updates and stumbled upon the news of Anish Kapoor’s exhibition in Mumbai. I have always admired his work and it has been an inspiration for me. It was clear I had to visit this one. Since it is December, the weather in mumbai was also pretty good, which definitely added to my enthusiasm. Reaching outside the studio I saw the bus stop covered with the exhibitions blood red poster. And the excitement increased.
The first thing I saw was the S-curve. It reflected a magnified me, in an angle that made me look a bit leaner, and the background was all defocused. I loved that sight. Made me look as if I was seeing myself through a camera where the lens has focused on me. I walked across to the other end and found myself become smaller in the other end of the S-curve. It was an amazing transition in the center, where it looked as though I am entering into another world. The best part was that I could stand in front of it for a long time transfixed at it.
There were sculptures of this sort in stainless steel which reflected me, magnifying me, shrinking me, stretching me, and making me more involved in them. It was as though I was in some other world, and as though I was a part of the sculpture. There was one in which parts of me were duplicated in infinite numbers. And it was all glittering with reflecting and multiplying the lights in the studio. It was just so beautiful. I was standing in front of this one admiring it, when one of the gallery men came to me and said that the cannon is about to be fired. There was the cannon that shot pellets of crimson wax on the corner, creating an image and each time changing with the cannon being shot. Watching the cannon shoot; in fact I should not say watching; but experiencing the cannon shoot was a wonderful experience. I could see people around gathering with looks of interest and then without any signal, he pressed the lever, and with a loud bang the wax shot in the air and landed on the white wall with a thud leaving a part of the wall red. I remember everyone in the hall was as stunned as me, even the kids. For half a second everyone was staring blankly at the wall and then the expressions turned into smiles. This was one sort of art experience where I saw different people and even kids were smiling and waiting for it to happen again.
The experience was something that I really enjoyed. Bit sad, that I could not meet the prolific creator of this world, but would love to thank him for creating that world. 🙂