Chapter Close
Vandana
2017
Performance
9:20 Minutes
Sir J. J. School of Arts, Mumbai
©Vandana The Artist
Courtesy Vandana The Artist & Stiftung Futur
DESCRIPTION
I appear wearing white costume, made of the fabric used in medical surgery, with a hammer in my hands, enter into the installation space created for the purpose. I break the wall made of bricks and cement by violently striking the wall with utmost force of my body and mind.
Sound Track
The audible but incomprehensible sound track, played along, is the reverse chanting of ritualistic Sanskrit mantras chanted in Hindu Marriages.
Installation An alcohol-dipped wedding costume hangs on a stand commonly used to air-dry clothes in normal household routine — a reminder of the undeserved disrespect women go through in Indian society, especially after marriage. The alcohol is a metaphor for the illusion, memorization, and ignorance in which the whole world dwells.
The Black Book Screen printing on fabric, 21.5x15x6 cm
The book contains the inverted text of Vivah Paddhati & Mantras (procedure of Hindu marriage in Sanskrit), a metaphor for undoing and an account of the performance Chapter Close, dedicated to the spirit of women. The book opens with a postface and closes with a preface.
Vandana 