Contemporary artist Sudarshan Shetty speaks to Rani Jana about 'Future Remains', his latest exhibition at Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna. Through an interplay of sculpture, video, and installation, Shetty explores the afterlife of everyday objects—suitcases, utensils, garments—transforming them into remnants of an imagined past. From wood-carved replicas of falling objects to fossilised clothes in resin and marble dust, the exhibition blurs the lines between permanence and impermanence, memory and loss. In this conversation, Shetty delves into his creative process, the relationship between objects and the body and more.
Reporter: Rani Jana
Editor: Sudhanshu
Illustration in Video by Saahil.
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Reporter: Rani Jana
Editor: Sudhanshu
Illustration in Video by Saahil.
Follow us:
Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/
X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia
#SudarshanShetty #FutureRemains #GalerieKrinzinger #ContemporaryArt #ArtInterview #Sculpture #VideoArt #InstallationArt #IndianArt #MemoryAndLoss #ArtAndObjects #ArtConversation
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NewsTranscript
00:00What is this object-human relationship, you know, that is something that I'm constantly thinking of
00:04and that's why very often than not, deliberately so, I do not use human figure to kind of, you know,
00:12explore this. I try to explore a human presence or whether its absence through a world of objects
00:20that may tell a story about someone who's not there but at the same time there because the
00:25story is being told constantly. Hi, I'm Rani Jana and today I'm speaking with Sudarshan Shetty,
00:37a contemporary Indian artist known for his multidisciplinary practice across painting,
00:44sculpture, installation, video, performance. His works have been exhibited at prestigious
00:51institutions like Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan and the Tate Modern in London as well as
00:58widely across India. His art has also been featured on the covers of Outlook, Issues, Nostalgia,
01:06Minimum Mumbai and Love Virtually. Today we will be discussing his latest exhibition, Future Remains,
01:14currently on display at Gallery Prinzinger in Vienna. So, thank you Sudarshan Shetty for
01:21joining us today. Future Remains features everyday objects such as cooker, radio, umbrella, a lantern
01:30and microwave. So, to explain the concept to viewers, you have displayed wood carvings of these
01:38objects and they are displayed surrounded by a video of the same objects falling and breaking.
01:46So, what inspired this concept? Well, I've been like visiting the flea markets in
01:54Bombay and elsewhere for the last 30, more than 30 years and collecting a lot of stuff from there,
02:02looking at residuals of a certain kind of recent past that comes alive in these flea markets for
02:09me. I mean it's kind of repository of stories and you know that you can imagine of a person
02:16or a family or you know various kinds of people that you can imagine. These objects, therefore
02:25for me, are these vehicles or vestibules of these stories. So, I've been coming
02:34and you know the show itself has like about 30 to 35 objects that I collected,
02:42it's kind of that became the central point of the work and in fact something that I had
02:47written as a text, you know I have written texts that are kind of one-liners without punctuations
02:54over the years. So, one of the texts came to have certain meaning when I looked at this
03:02collection of objects that appear to be or that could have been imagined to be someone's you know
03:10that could represent someone's past, simply speaking, that it could be like you know how
03:18much does a man need and you know how much of we leave behind to tell our own stories
03:26as a part of our condition of living. So, this was something that I was very interested in. So,
03:33these objects what I did was over the period of like maybe a little more than a year,
03:39copied in wood and the wood that comes to represent here is collected for again from
03:45free markets that belong to various dismantled structures in and around. So, that's another way
03:52of including those unknown stories into the work and then you don't see actually the objects
03:58in person in real flesh and blood because you don't I mean it's also playing with this notion
04:04of what is real and what is imagined. So, you see the objects and it kind of reminds you of
04:09it takes you back to the original object but those original objects are also kind of represented
04:16they play a part in the video and things so on. So, what we did was we dropped
04:23each of these objects against the backdrop in a studio in Mumbai while we recorded,
04:30I mean while we were shooting the dropping of the objects with a slow motion camera
04:36and the sound of each of those drops were recorded by on spot and we made a kind of
04:44musical kind of composition out of the sound and then went back to the editing studio where
04:52like the sound is all the images are kind of synced to the sound of those. So, the sounds
05:00are real and the drops are real but it's also slow motion it kind of removes itself from
05:06the idea of reality in some ways and also like you may it may raise questions whether it's real
05:13or it's kind of digitally manipulated but it's not except for the fact that it is it's short on
05:19slow motion it's not digitally manipulated. So, it's playing between this notion of what is real
05:25and what is imagined or even what is not real and yeah that's the kind of summary of the show.
05:35And why did you choose wood as the material to replicate the objects in the video installation?
05:43So, you don't see that it's like it kind of creates a travel that it kind of refers to an
05:48object that was once which had a life it was functional at one point of time. Once you
05:55replicate that object and for example you know like the old kind of dial phone and once you
06:02replicate that object it kind of creates a sense of travel in your experience of it right there
06:07that it kind of goes back to for you to imagine the phone and the phone which is again redundant
06:12which is not in use. So, it kind of takes you back in layers in terms of your memories of your own
06:18past and also kind of looking at the idea of function how does it come alive as an art object
06:25and you know what do these objects hold as meaning at the same time what will this
06:32how you know what value does it kind of accumulate as soon as it's in a gallery or a museum space.
06:38So, all these questions come to play its part in the experience of it possibly that is
06:46something that I constantly kind of deal with and think about when I'm making any work.
06:53And in another part of your exhibition, you transformed soft objects like clones and bags
07:02into solid resin and marble dust sculptures. What drew you to that approach?
07:10So, most of those images come from like you know real kind of situations that I've seen around you
07:17know it's also kind of residual that it's like also has this feeling of something
07:24someone has left behind or some people have left behind and it's not in use anymore. So,
07:29that needed to be kind of you know the idea of fossilization that it kind of make it look like
07:35marble those discarded clothes as you may see it in the show they're made to look like marble
07:42but they're not marble they're not made in marble the fact that it's not made in marble itself is
07:48inclusive in some way once you know it's not in marble it looks like it. So, it's playing with
07:55this notion of you know how do you preserve things and what does it mean and how much of it is
08:03real I mean going back to the idea of you know like I mean looking at an object in the museum
08:08that you the effort of using museum is to kind of museumization is to kind of
08:15place it in its source that it kind of refers to the source where it came from but I suspect
08:22that happened because not only the perceptions change over the period of time but also the
08:27object itself gathers a certain kind of history on its own even through the time it lives without
08:35using the museum space. So, how do you kind of you know fix it in value or fix it in meaning
08:41is something that I think that's not possible and it's kind of ever shifting this meaning
08:46the idea of meaning itself every object if it has to have tell a story that it kind of must
08:52change for the period of time. So, how do you include that into an experience that I am creating
08:59for example in a gallery here? And some of these objects that like the bags and you which you
09:10turned into like solid objects through resin and marble dust they are kept in a wooden cabinet
09:16and it's kind of closed and they look like bags that are filled with something but they're not
09:23they are just sculptures. So, what was the thought process behind you know showcasing that?
09:30The thing is I mean I was creating the kind of scene of or a kind of space that is being
09:40kind of emptied and left like you know emptied of a human presence basically that I've seen
09:46as a personal experience in many many places especially through the time of covid that there
09:51were a lot of spaces that I would go and you know like I mean some of the spaces of the people who
09:57work with me that had left for their respective homes in the villages. I've shot a lot of pictures
10:04of those spaces and I think a lot of the information for these kind of work the kind of
10:10work that I'm making now comes from those pictures and my memory of it. So, it was to create that kind
10:17of space where but it's also to say that this space is not real. The fact that it is a show
10:24there is an artifice involved in kind of constructing something that something you know that is real
10:29out somewhere there is also inclusive in the show that the art is of building something that's
10:35supposed to be real is also inclusive. It's not you know that experience of its being not real
10:43is also included within the space of one's experience possibly. In another part of your
10:50exhibition, there are these salvaged doors and they're adorned with a brass heart one of the
10:58salvaged doors and the other one with the bronze rib cage and they kind of introduce a certain
11:06human element to the objects. So, what relationship do you see between these objects
11:15and the body in this work of yours? I think the kind of or the object that we surround
11:23ourselves with whether they are utilitarian or otherwise must tell a story of us in some way,
11:30must tell a story of each one of us in some way the kind of object that we and you know like it's
11:36like looking at a bookshelf of someone that you know you can make out the kind of person one is
11:42I mean that's like a old kind of idea. So, what is this relationship between what is this object
11:47human relationship you know that is something that I'm constantly thinking of and that's why
11:53very often than not deliberately so I do not use human figure to kind of you know explore this.
12:01I try to explore a human presence or whether its absence through a world of objects that
12:08may tell a story about someone who's not there but at the same time there because the story is
12:13being told constantly right. So, I mean in as many different ways as possible that I try to do
12:18within a show. It's about telling stories all the time and to find different ways of telling stories
12:24and not one way of telling stories but you know like I mean tell the same story in different
12:30different ways like sing the same song in different ragas.
12:36The exhibition combines videos, culture and installation. Can you talk about your process?
12:44How do you decide which medium best expresses a particular idea? This is something it's a part
12:52of a rigor that is I guess you know that comes through so many years of practice I guess you
13:01know it's a natural kind of response to things that this must work in a way that you know like
13:07what does marble mean, what does like you know this is like as a sculptor you are thinking about
13:13material and for many many years and it kind of how do you do, what is the use, how do you
13:19kind of use, what is the evocation that it possibly kind of comes with each material is
13:25something that you think about constantly and it's a natural kind of informal process.
13:32It's not really learned, it kind of comes from making of things and I believe strongly that
13:39even making can be you know a source of knowledge not only like reading and writing it's also
13:47in the within the making can be something that kind of produces knowledge. If you think about
13:55this exhibition particularly like I mentioned there are different parts to the exhibition. One
14:02is the vessels and everyday objects, the other is the etched text with the light print of this very
14:12personal account, then there is the salvaged toes, then the clothes and the bags that have been
14:20transformed into something solid. So how did you decide what medium is the best for
14:26which part you know like why did the doors need to have the bronze rib cage or why did the clothes
14:36and the bags needed to be in a more solid structure? I think it plays in two ways in the sense that
14:44like I said you know like it's a rigor that you may have kind of acquired through your working
14:50with material and images for like you know in my case I mean I passed out in
14:571985, so it's been 40 years out there you know what doing things and you know trying to
15:06find your own way through the world so to say and on the other hand it kind of you develop
15:12an intuition of you know how things come together. So it appears to you that you know like I have I
15:18constantly collect objects and then I sometimes find it I mean to the extent that I find it
15:23difficult to you know store them sometimes but like I'm constantly like looking at these objects
15:29and there are things that have been lying around for like for example these doors would have been
15:34lying with me for like more than 10 years and one day it kind of it's there in my studio and it kind
15:40of tells me what to do you know it kind of it's a two-way kind of communication I guess also the
15:47objects tell you how to how it may come together and they come alive the time has come for it to
15:52be out there I guess. Now I'll move to the etched text piece like I mentioned it is deeply personal
16:01and poetic. Is it based on a real story or is it an imagined narrative constructed you know from
16:10collective memories? It's not from a specific story and this is something that I kind of strive to do
16:16is that I do not have a pointed way of kind of you know converging into a singular idea kind
16:22of hope and on the contrary it's like you know trying to open up you know areas of other
16:28interpretations possible that kind of you create space for other interpretations become possible
16:35that one can take away from it the way one may have experienced the world or understood the
16:40objects or you know whichever way it's possible. I do not kind of talk about one thing with any
16:46objects I try to kind of bring it together in a way that it kind of opens up as many possibilities
16:53for as many stories that could be kind of about the same thing and my story could be entirely
17:01different than someone who's coming to the show and looking at the show. So in Future Remains,
17:08the wooden trophies in the wooden trophy cabinet contrasts with the other pieces that use resin
17:16and marble dust to kind of immortalize them. Why did you choose to make the trophies out of wood
17:24instead? Wood is again like it's a it goes with the text. I don't know if you read this text
17:31piece that was there which was as edge for the you know like this. Yes. It again looks like
17:37marble but it's not. Yeah. It's not. Yeah. It's almost like a memorial. Yes. It's about this
17:44widow who goes to the hospital with this right with the bowl of land of saltless. So yes.
17:52So I see this piece as a companion piece for that that kind of you know it talks about the life and
18:00you know your you know accumulation of your accomplishments in some ways that kind of
18:06represents that and it's again in humble wood. It's not this shiny cup which is supposed to be.
18:12So that travel that kind of you see that shiny cup you know what that shiny cup you know like
18:17the sports you know awards are like. Yes. So it kind of rendered like shineless in this
18:26humble kind of wood that almost for my for me evokes a sense that what does it mean for us to
18:33kind of accumulate objects both material and immaterial and objects where I say objects also
18:38mean the idea of accomplishments you know. So it's indicative of that really and what I mean
18:44it kind of rendered kind of shineless and without function or you know it's almost useless in that
18:53sense. So trophies like you mentioned you know like the sports prizes they kind of indicate
19:00success right and winning. Was there any part of you that was also trying to you know kind of decipher
19:09the concept of success and winning through you know making the trophies into wooden objects
19:16rather than their desired material which is silver, gold, bronze? I think one of the human condition is
19:23to find meaning you know like we can't not but look for meanings and at the same time very well
19:31knowing that you know everything that you gather or everything and all these accomplishments can
19:37also be seen as meaningless. So both those positions are mutually inclusive even in our conscious
19:46life so to say in our waking life even not only in the dream life that I am quite interested in
19:53this kind of opposite seemingly opposite positions are inclusive in the same space of
20:00your experience or your experience of your own life even. So I constantly work with that idea
20:07that if it's meaningful like that you kind of you know invest something with so many meanings
20:13the object that you kind of live with at the same time it can be meaningless and all the objects
20:20that I'm talking about in the show itself they are rendered meaningless by the fact that
20:25they are you know ripped off their function so to say and it kind of includes certain value
20:31when it comes into a museum space or the gallery space as objects that can be seen as artwork.
20:40The exhibition Future Remains is currently on display at Gallery Krinzinger in Vienna.
20:47How do you think international audiences will interpret these objects which are deeply local,
20:55very Indian and the stories also are quite personal and you know so how do you think they will
21:04take it? I don't know how they take it but you know my job is to take my these stories to them
21:11I don't know how it will be that kind of scene but I've had like you know some very good
21:17conversation and this is the fourth time I'm showing with them in the period of last 17 years.
21:22So I've had great conversations I've had like you know because of my show and because of
21:29fact that you know like I've had the opportunity to be there. I've met many many interesting people
21:36that I have a longer relationship with even now. What would be like a memorable
21:43interaction that you remember you know as an artist displaying your works on international
21:52grounds? There are many many many of them not fair to kind of pick one or two. Many friends I've met
22:02and many meaningful relationships that I've had and had this possibility of continuing conversations
22:10about their work, my work, some of them are artists, some of them are architects and writers
22:16and you know all kinds of people and this constant sharing that has happened like I
22:23mean that's still ongoing that I value a lot. Thank you so much Sudarshanji.
22:32you