KOCHI: Nobody can miss the sign outside the white-washed three BHK apartment at Fort Kochi. The letters are bold and inviting and reads - ‘Home Sweet Home’. Intrigued, visitors step in and find themselves in a world of colours.
The entire house - the living room, bedrooms, kitchen and toilet have been converted into spaces for art. The concept, which is catching up in cities like Bangalore, is almost new to Kochi. Nihaal Faizal, a Malayalee artist based in Bangalore, explains how he and seven other artists converted the interiors of the house into a space to display art. “Most of us purchase art pieces to pep up our homes. However, they are only seen as decorative pieces with no artistic value. Our mission is to tell people that art can be critically viewed and also be part of our daily lives,” Nihaal says.
At the entrance there is an installation of a bone sans a dog in chains. It interprets the existence of man’s loyal bodyguard in chains.
The 3BHK
Bangalore-based artist Chinar Shah, who founded the ‘Home Sweet Home’ concept, has filled the living room shelf with trophies and certificates which explores the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ rule in Europe. Nihaal’s work is quite unique too. He has framed computer desktop images and created postcards using the same. The idea projects how important the presence of computers have become at our homes,” he says.
The first bedroom has two TV sets which continuously run the video art by Scandinavian artist Eva Koch. She has filmed the situation of a mother- Augusta- who moves to Denmark in the 1980’s. The second video shows how the rest of the family, decide to rehabilitate to Greenland, their home. The second video was created for Augusta, who sees her family relocating to a different climatic condition. The videos also explore the radical modernisation process which took place in Greenland.
The second bedroom, by Smriti Mehra and Siddhanth Shetty collectively known as Famous Artist, is a treat to the eyes. The bed, created using flexible plywood, has been covered with cloth.
The bedroom, has neatly captured the spirit of an economy with hangings of ‘House for sale’ boards. The artists have also made use of the bathroom space to set up portraits of the waterfalls.The kitchen, which consists of mini cabinets and work area tables, also houses a TV set, which plays video art by Irene Westholm. The artist, in various frames made using a cardboard, has captured videos of people in different situations inside a home. Artist Leslie Johnson has also made quite the mark through her work.Italian artist Franco Leidi’s etching work, created using copper plates in the 1970’s also depict the life of people in homes.