Manifestations of Monotony

Explorations in Narrative & Space

As part of my Final Diploma Project I worked with the Art in Transit project, a collaborative effort between the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology and the BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.) Art in Transit aims to transform the metro station at Peenya, an industrial area of Bangalore city, into an "art station."

Visualizing the dialogue between spaces and experiences, this body of work is a coming together of conversations, narratives and locales in Peenya. Merging reality with fiction, these sequential narratives explore the themes of monotony and routine.

http://mappeenya.wordpress.com/

My initial time in Peenya was a chaotic jumble of dodging through incessant traffic, the drone of factories and a Highway-Flyover combination that made crossing the road a fifteen-minute ordeal. The only reference I had for Peenya’s geography was Google Maps so instead of deciding my route beforehand I would set lenses of enquiry through which to study Peenya and pick a lane to explore at random. Armed with a camera and notebook, my visits to Peenya primarily consisted of aimless extensive walking.

Character Sketches at Peenya

Mapping Peenya - Process

Old men smoke beedis in quaint garden nooks, tractors sprout plastic flowers and stone benches create idyllic nap spots under shady trees on the streets of Peenya. Repeating themes were people at leisure and things of beauty and Peenya began to form a visual identity.

I collated these observations into a walking map of Peenya at rest, inspired by Johannes Hevelius' Seleongraphia.

Final Map of Peenya at Rest

The Abandoned Plot

Some places I visited in Peenya stood out more than others, and an abandoned plot previously occupied by a cafeteria for HMT employees was one such space. Giant anthills and snake holes spotted the ground and a single storey building stood in the middle, smothered by tall trees and wild grass.

The caretaker of the plot was a solitary man who barely seemed to notice we were there and left us to poke and prod around for as long as we pleased. Time appeared to stand still at the plot yet the caretaker seemed perfectly at ease.

Character Exploration - The Caretaker

Monotony and routine being constant themes of interest in my process, I wanted to work with the mood of stillness and lingering in the plot. I decided to map the space from the perspectives of the caretaker, and introduced an additional character, an elusive rabbit, to try and evoke a sense of space through the characters.

In a place where time appears to be frozen the rabbit is the only reminder that time is moving.

Storyboard Iterations - The Abandoned Plot

Final Map - The Abandoned Plot

Final Comic - The Abandoned Plot

I decided to maintain the characters of the caretaker and rabbit to further explore other sites in Peenya and my second narrative was based in the Metro Scrapyard.