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.