Architect and artist Martand Khosla’s latest exhibition the ‘MesoDomain’ at the Nature Morte deals with the process of construction and dilemmas of urban India, which emerges in the spaces between the structures that regulate society and individual lives. The macro-domain is intended to create order, yet often layered upon an infinitely more complex reality.MesoDomain brings together installations and sculptures which are fluid, it emerges within the cracks laid bare by the formal. It is incremental, need-based building in place of architectural planning-it is oral traditions that record a people’s non-linear histories.Speaking about his creations and what really inspires him, Martand says, “I have practiced as an architect for over a decade and a half, this time has coincided with a rapid urbanisation in India. The result of the economic conditions of the past two decades has led to a profound shift in the nature of our cities and subsequently, the relationship of the citizens with the state. My interactions with the city has allowed me to have a unique insight in to this shifting landscape; I have been able to interact at a very microscopic scale with the production of the city while also having had the tools to be able to critically look at the larger trajectories of the 21st century urbanism in India. My artistic practice emerges out of these interactions with our cities.”“Equally important to my practice is the creative freedom that art affords me – I have studied art through school and college and there has always been a great desire to subvert materials, to use construction materials in unexpected ways. This formal and material break also allows ideas to be considered completely differently, ” he adds.The sculptures at the MesoDomain has its own logic and order. It employs multiple modes of communication, interpretativeof many truths and realities. It is not chaos that opposes an orderly macro. It is the logic of realities, of those things that don’t fit within neatly planned structures. “In some of my earlier shows, I have concerned myself with the idea of labour, the relationship of migrant workers to the state as well as classification of labour using classical taxonomy structures. In this particular show at Nature Morte, I continue my investigation of the negotiation between the MesoDomain and the MacroDomain. I propose the idea of the MacroDomain as a space that is defined by the State and its institutions that regulate the nation. This idea is countered by the idea of the MesoDomain. The MesoDomain emerges in the spaces between the structures that regulate society and individual lives. The macro-domain is intended to create order, yet often layered upon an infinitely more complex reality. The MesoDomain is fluid; it emerges within the cracks laid bare by the formal. It is incremental, need-based building in place of architectural planning; it is oral traditions that record a people’s non-linear histories. The MesoDomain has its own logic and order. It employs multiple modes of communication, interpretative of many truths and realities. It is not chaos that opposes an orderly macro. It is the logic of realities, of those things that don’t fit within neatly planned structures. The MesoDomain in many ways is the reality of urban India – the predominance of self-built architecture, the contribution of the informal labour economy and the permanence of transience,” Martand says while talking about the idea behind his concepts at various galleries and shows.The MesoDomain in many ways the reality of urban India – the predominance of self-built architecture, the contribution of the informal labour economy and the permanence of transience.Martand was born in New Delhi in 1975, where he continues to live and work. He holds a Diploma from the Architectural Association of London and is a partner in Romi Khosla Design Studio, which develops a wide range of architectural projects. Khosla’s art works have been featured in two solo exhibitions in New Delhi (at Seven Art Ltd and the School of Art and Aesthetics, JNU, both in 2012) as well as in group shows at venues including GallerySKE , Bangalore; Exhibit 320, Delhi; and Hangar Bicocca, Milan.When asked about what really fasinates him when he is giving shape to his imagiation, Martand says, “My concerns primarily remain driven by the urban landscape (and at times the rural landscape as a counter to the urban) and its contemporary evolution in India and the global south. The forms that emerge from these investigations sometimes arrive out of a period of researching similar forms of representation historically or scientifically. Sometimes, the work derives its logic from architectural processes and construction methods. At other moments, the beginning of the formal journey does not envision a final outcome, but emerges out of a lengthy iterative process of making and unmaking until the final form is arrived at. A large part of the present show has emerged out of this iterative process. This has also been a very engaging process for me personally as it pushes me into unknown territories materially and formally. The form equally emerges out of this materially and formally engaging process.”“I am continuing to explore the idea of the meeting ground of the Mesodomain and the Macrodomain. This relationship has occupied me for over twenty years now. As such, this show is not a singular or independent conception; it is a progression of thought and interpretations of the MesoDomain using a range of materials and forms. Moving forward, what interests me at the present moment is to try and attempt to explore this fluid edge condition firstly by mapping it and then by inserting sculptural interventions at these junctions in a manner that they may attempt to alter existing terrains,” Martand concludes talking about his future plans and upcoming events.Follow@ARTINFOIndia
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