The Thing
I had done extensive reading and researching on industrialization, urbanization and city development, and had also noted the takes of prominent scientists and philosophers on these topics and the issues that arise from it, during a trip to Mollem, Goa in early 2022. This project was a good chance to apply and visually express everything in the form of a comprehensive summary of the learnings that were most insightful to me.
Idea inspo and first iteration
Socialism as a political ideology arose as a response to the socio-economic situation during the Industrial Revolution. The socialist movement brought public attention to issues such as the harsh working conditions of laborers, the unregulated factory system and mass displacement of the workers with the introduction of machines in the workplace. In more ways than one, the movement gave power to the lower and working classes. The concept here being 'City as an organism', I tried to portray this dependency of the working classes on the movement through a sketch depicting a frail, sickly half-man-half-machine, coming 'home' from work, 'home' being his belief in his socialist values.
The research that I did on the Industrial Revolution in Europe and how it affected the population, job availability, gender roles, politics, the economy etc. and how those issues inspired all kinds of art, was very eye-opening. One thing I took notice of when working on this piece was the clothing that people wore during the industrial age, and how it differed from class to class, by age and gender. It’s something that I want to further get into and read about, as I was intrigued by it.
Close-ups
Final work, 11.5 x 16.5 in
Graphite pencil
