KOCHI: It was the converging of science and art within a room. Movements, lights, sound, artists and viewers — all collaborating to create something majestic — the life and death of a star.
It is a series of six performances by Instytut B61, an international anti-disciplinary collective created by Polish artist, curator, and researcher Jan Swierowski in 2009. The interactive exhibition set up with curator Aleksandra Bednarz and researcher Aishwarya Kumar offers a fascinating blend of technology and art.
While the exhibition, ‘Experiments with Imagination’, will be held from 10.07 am to 7.07 pm at Mattancherry Mohamed Ali Warehouse, the raison d’etre is the art and science performance that begins at 7.37 pm.
The group was invited to the Biennale to present their cosmic magic to Malayalis. Jan says B61 is inspired by the name of the planet in Antoine de Saint-Exuprey’s book ‘The Little Prince’. The group consists of scientists, artists, singers, musicians and anybody with an interest in science as an art.
“I wanted to share philosophical ideas about the cosmos — the stars, planets, and the idea that maybe there is life in space,” he explains. “But astrophysics is all about complicated equations without any storytelling. I wanted to change that. So we create art performances — something for you to feel and not study.”
The music, the rhythmic beating of the drums, the videos, the lights, the man shouting and singing in an unknown language, probably lamenting about the impending doom, the drums rising in tempo as death nears... it is a surreal, sublime experience.
Everything is executed seamlessly, transporting one to the stars.“We wanted the people to experience untouchable moments, evoke emotional responses, metaphorically transport everyone inside a star and be surrounded by the energy within,” says Jan. The exhibition will conclude on April 10.