He came to Mumbai with no clear intent. A few collaborative opportunities materialised and he decided to stay in Mumbai. Presenting German artist Mario Pfeifer’s first solo exhibition of video art in India is the Khoj Studios.
Titled, A Formal Film in Nine Episodes, Prologue and Epilogue (2010), the German artist captures Mumbai and its myriad hues. To be shown at Khoj Studios from May 3 to 24, it was shot extensively all over Mumbai. “My approach was observing situations, materials and actions unknown or interesting to me. I then conducted research on the societal, urban, cultural, religious information that these situations and objects carry. Interestingly, there was no reluctance from the subjects of these episodes as we approached people and situations quite carefully, and I collaborated with local co-workers, translators and researchers,” he says.
There were many high points of Pfeifer’s shoots and recalling one of them, he says, “Shooting for the episode in an ice factory was a stunning experience—to look at manual labour for ephemeral good, as the ice melted immediately was awesome,’’ he says, adding, it was difficult for him to be present while shooting the episodes with the Eunuchs community as being a ‘white’ artist, he wouldn’t have had easy access. But he hopes to break that barrier too and perhaps one day be able to strike a comfort zone so he can shoot their story for another project.
Throughout the shooting of the film, he was educated about societal issues of class, religious, cultural and symbolic customs and manual and digital production. ‘‘My projects offers an open space for spectators to actively and critically engage with the ‘visible’ on an individual basis, acknowledging there may be diverse possible readings for audiences,’’ says Pfeifer.