Archive and its Grammatology #1

Imagine I have clapped.
Now tell me where does this event exist?
Few answers which come to me at first instance are - 
1. You clapped.
2. If someone or a CCTV had recorded it, it exist there.
3. A photograph of me clapping.
and so on...

The idea that the event exist in memory is an idea that I don't consider because it cannot be communicated, for it to be communicated it needs to be articulated in some sharable form. But yet the form which will be generated is in a different form, which means it has a different grammatology and hence it differs from the "actual" event. The articulated form thus becomes a representation of the event, it is as much complete in itself as much it forces you to relate itself to an event in past/an idea. Even this blog is a representation of the idea. An idea of photograph or video is put as a narration/text/description, which again changes its form and thus is differs from the photograph itself.

Also, the idea of "reality" or "actual" thing is very superficial because it never exist. Things change their form every milli second, it is in a constant from of change. Thus, ideas exist in a constant reference of past and future. This puts in to a further question of when/where did an event exist, it exist in the different archival forms (which now comes contrary to the first point of the relation between event and the archive). 

Cafe Aromec - Rwandan coffee

There is something peculiar about this coffee which I am not able to identify clearly, but also this is the first time I am drinking this type of coffee. 

This coffee is from Rwanda, and it grows on the volcanic soil. Also it is been categorized under as 'bourbon' coffee. Chotu (Varun Nagda) had got this coffee for me, from there. 

Roast and tastes notes are not mentioned on the packet, making it harder for me to understand this coffee. But it seems from the colour, taste and smell that it is a dark roast. The smell of the grinded coffee is that of a dark chocolate. The peculiar thing about the coffee is it's flatness in it's first part of the sip. It tastes very oaky and earthly, and has a very dark (that is strong caeffeine) flavour, but at the same time it also seems to be a bit flat - its not acidic and has no kind of pungent taste to it, it has no sharp tastes. But it also leaves a sweet creamy choclaty after taste, which for me seems the best part because it brings such a good compliment to the oakiness of it. Also, it has a good caeffeine level, enough to make you anxious :p

Also when brewing this coffee, the colour was of nothing I had ever seen before. It's very brown (a bit vibrant) with no yellowness in it (other coffee which I have tasted usually have a kind of yellowness). 

This has been my first 'bourbon' coffee as well as first African coffee. I have little to no knowledge about coffee from Africa. 

Cinema and Music

I just completed watching Mani Kaul's 'Uski Roti'. There is a lot to this movie, but I would like to make a note of one thing which i realized after watching the film. 

Many a times and almost is many movies the is an addition of a background score which suggest the emotion of the characters and films; this thus develops the mood for the viewer and she/he gets completely locked in the mood or emotion expressed by the film maker. Music many a times aids to the cinema and helps emphasize the expression, but excessive or unthoughtful use of it becomes a constraint to experience the film to its full potential, as many a times it doesn't allow the viewer to imagine or develop her/his own ideas about the film. It rather becomes a fact that the viewer makes a note of it rather than experiencing it. The ambiguity of the film is what allows the viewer to engage in the it and understand/experience the film by not just the act of 'watching', but by being a part of it, engaging with it.

'Uski Roti' challenges many such mainstream ideas of film making and one of it is that it deny the use of music in the film. Though this film is not the only film which does that, but with its unique story telling and use of a very strong shots, it pushes its expression to its much potential and this is what brought my attention to the use of background score in the films. 

Blue Tokai - Kalledeverapura pulp sun dried

Tasted in pour over 

This coffee is from Kalledevarapura estate, which is at a height of 4400 feet above sea level, in Babadungiri hills, Chikamagalur, Karnataka. 

It tastes quite sour and has grapefruit and raisin tastes notes, but what is much more exciting for me is the the after or the last taste of coffee sip which is very nutty (or roasted almonds as the packet mentions). The nutty after taste is quite complimentary to the sour taste which you get in the first sip of coffee. The process of sun drying helps it to develop this fruity-sour taste and the fact that it is a medium roast, gives it a nutty tail to it. 

Comparing it to the the Quick brown coffee roasters - Baarbara Baba Budangiri (which is from the same region), because Baarbara is a light roast it gives quite a sweet after taste but Kalledevarapura being a medium roast gives quite a nutty after taste 

This is one of the most fascinating thing about coffee I think, it plays in your mouth giving very dramatic taste with the time and allows you to experience it in a many different ways in the entire time period you drinking it. 

Dialectic on 'Making art in one BHK' by Prajakta Potnis

This was composed as a question and it is followed by a dialectic that took place after the presentation of Making art in one BHK (Prajakta Potnis's work) by herself at SEA,Borivali, Mumbai on 8th March, 2019. There are a lot of references to her work in the write up (for which you might like to check her work). I have been reading things around this topic and will bring some good updates. 

It might be not the intent but, I felt that many of your work was about manipulation of everyday to show, let the viewer experience everyday Skewing the scale of it, juxtaposition things. Also, about manipulating the person's experience with the help of again everyday objects - threads, curtains, moss on walls, kitchen objects.

What I am really wondering is the nature of art now. 

Somewhere, it kinds of takes it apart from the everyday, and becomes a different entity. I mean art throughout history, mostly, has always differentiated itself from the everyday life. Also, the way we think about it, we difference it from the life, the mundane life. I mean for art to 'speak' it lifts up from this mundaneness, and I feel somewhere its kinds of becomes an imitation game. It portrays the everyday life, but yet it is not the everyday now, because the materiality changes, medium changes, the motive of its existence changes. 

There is a constant attempt of 'creating' art and which draws this separation. 

Art has its own grammar and language. It has so to represent the daily mundane life. The curtain-looking wall creates a surreal experience, which is hardly noticed, yet it is. The motion of rotating washing machine, and that pictured at a regular interval invites the viewer to look at the mundaneness in detail. The moss and the thread on the wall create an experience for the viewer and invites her into a mediated space. But again, this space is created with materials which are very alien to what they actually portray, for say, the thread portrays a crack in the wall, but there is no crack in the wall. The moss on the walls creates a heavy experience for the person and it is also backed by the green carpet and the moist air. 

Prajakta's main practice is about creating an art which is not a burden to carry, it has to be made with not much capital and production input and it can be discarded or destroyed easily. It removes the burden and concern of material value of art. With this it also allows to explore new mediums of art and explore the grammar if it. The main aspect though is about the everyday excitement which she very beautifully brings in her work. 

Shreyank Khemalapure - (in Prajakta's work) The creation of art, the way the language and grammar works creates a suspense, which brings an excitement, which engages the viewer into it and raises new questions. This becomes quite interesting because it is every day stupid objects but the way it is portrayed, the play of suspense makes it an art or brings that excitement which elevates the thought of the viewer. And this is what brings or is the difference between everyday life.

Everyday mundaneness is something that you would live with a very different mindset, and such art work brings the eye of the viewer and make her look at it in a very different way which gives it much more value, and thus it is identified as art.

#poem1

I entered a box.

The magician put swords

Through it.

I deflect them wisely

To the other side of the box.

The magician earned rewards,

And I earned a place to survive.

Koinonia - Amrut Casked Aged

• Tasted in pour over

Tastes a bit sour-bitter (bitterness because of its ageing in rum barrels mostly), has a bit bland taste, but complex because a lot is going on - a very little sweet taste with a bitter-sour taste. But for some reason I found it a bit bland because and would wish for a bit more deep taste (may be I will have to try it with more amount on coffee to water).