The Act of Mimesis

Explicit performative. Those two words I believe define and give color to the work of South African born/Berlin based artist Candice Breitz. What do those two words mean? Well, if we take a "look" at Judith Butler's "Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex", we might be able to take a peek at the "Explicit". Normatively, the word "Explicit" can refer to sex. But is there anything explicit in Candice Breitz's work? Conventionally, the answer is no. It is also easy to see that Breitz's work operates as "stylized bodily acts", they are performed. Here we can bring Judith Butler back into the thick of things and see that " these stylised bodily acts, in their repetition, establish the appearance of an essential, ontological "core" gender." Her choice of styling and wardrobe make impressions on our reading of "Sex" in normative ways, while still being subversive. Thus the production of identity and our ability to "identify" a representation is always already deferred, and here I'm thinking of the late Jacques Derrida.

Breitz work is poppy, humorous, because it introduces icons of femininity, while simultaneously bringing to the foreground distancing techniques like the theatrical, or more accurately pathos.

Phone and Photography - Black n White

Black and white photography has got me quite hooked nowadays . I go around thinking how a specific place/thing is gonna look in a photo ; and if it will be better in B/W or colour . And sometimes , I took out my phone to verify my thoughts . Some of the better photos I clicked -


This thing I am holding in my hand is a souvenir Pranay got for me from , obviously , New York . I first tried shooting it by holding it directly against the tubelight , but it didn't work out well .


This is the view from outside my room . Found the almost parellal shadows interesting .

This is a painting on a wall at the Student's Activity Center ( it looks more like a booth bungalow than anything else ) . Though i could have cropped this foto so that the eye becomes the center , I liked this one as it is .


The last one of this post is one of those pics which you first think of in your mind and then shoot to see if it's gonna work out . I asked these two fellows to stand in the doorway in the afternoon and shot this photo , which came out exactly as it was meant to .

Phone and Photography - Skyscapes

I was playing cricket at the Marina beach on the lawns beside the lighthouse when i noticed the interesting lighting in the sky . Out came the phone , and it performed as good as ever . Though the contrast adjustment in the phone didn't allow me to get a silhouette then and there , a bit of tweaking with Picasa did the job .



This one was really weird . What you are seeing is exactly as how I saw the sky that . I went a bit early to Besant Nagar beach , in my over-enthusiasm to play frisbee and got treated to this beautiful sky . Of course, everyone around were clicking pics too . This was one time I wished I had a better camera .


Again, I had to tweak this foto and then crop it appropriately to get it to it's present state .


This was a photo I shot in Ksheera-Samudram , my native village . Surprisingly, i managed to get the silhouette effect without the help of any editing software .

PHONE and PHOTOGRAPHY - THEKKADY , KERALA .

Thekkady was the first place we went to on our Kerala trip this summer . The place was bleddy brilliant , but the mallus seemed to be pretty determined to keep Indian tourists out of the place, except for the filthy rich of course . Every single item on sale there was exorbitantly over-priced . And I feel it would be rather better not to talk about the hotels there, which were targeted mainly for the foriegners . Still, there are a few good "home-stay" places available which rent out rooms at an affordable rate . The GreenView Homes was one such place , where we stayed for two days . This picture was taken in the backyard of the place . It is my sister on a hammock . You might think I have altered the picture on photoshop or picasa or something but no, I haven't and I don't know how in hell I got the blue-ish tint . The second one is an edit of the original ; this is the firs time I am experimenting with black and white . Wat Say?

PHONE and PHOTOGRAPHY - YELAGIRI TRIP

Even though I don't have a proper camera , my interest levels in photography have only increased ever since I took possession of my cam-phone , SE w810i . It's camera has the following specifications: 2 MP, 1632x1224 pixels, autofocus, video, flash .
It all started with the trip to yelagiri , during wich I clicked more than 300 photos .





That's KK cramping up to shoot some photos . I don't know how, but some of the trip photos seem to be missing . I shall upload some more , if I come across them again .

The Blogger Question And My HAIRCUT

As everybody who has been in touch with me will know, I had very recently cut off my long hair (well, somewhat long ) and come to college with short hair which made everyone here hesitate to decide whether it really was me . But how the fuck can this bleddy website know about my image-changing haircut ?

My blogger question was :

The hair from your last haircut ... what would it say about your new style?

WHAT SAY???



P.S. :Speaking of hair and haircuts, here is a nice piece I read; my emotions go somewhat along the same lines - http://vinodg.blogspot.com/2007/07/con-hair.html

J K Mandir

Beautifully constructed, J.K. temple is a boon to the devotees. Built by J.K. Trust this architectural delight is a unique blend of ancient architecture with the modern. The even-level roofs o the mandaps have been provided with adequate ventilation for sufficient light and air. Among the five shrines that the temple has the central one s consecrated to Shri Radhakrishna and the other are adorned with idols of Shri Laxminarayan, Shri. Ardhanarishwar, Shri Narmadeshwar and Shri Hanuman. (Source : kanpurcity.com)

I was pleasantly surprised by this quiet , clean place situated in the middle of kanpur city . I never expected to see such a beautiful place in the big dirty dustbowl that kanpur is . It gave ample oppurtunity for photography , though it was sad that I had only my phone-cam (SE w810i) . But the photos that came out were far exceeding my expectations, thanks to the brilliant lighting , I guess . One other photo I liked a lot was (check out the reflection) :