The Urban Indian city is a collection of dreams that get muddled with the chaos of day to day survival. Skyscrapers tower over every tall dream, noise permeates through every thought and the heat sticks to you like an angry aunt. What we dismiss as a daily occurrence, Indian artist Jitish Kallat translates into masterpieces that prod and question. His artwork addresses the contrasting ideas of the urban fabric through symbols and imagery that are not afraid to be molded by various media. Through renders that seem to search for the self within the city and the city within oneself, Jitish Kallat has made the world sit up and take notice. FWD met with the artist in Fort Kochi to talk about art and his role as the curator of the upcoming Kochi Biennale.

It was a typical Kochi monsoon day with the rain beating a fervent rhythm on the windows of the Kochi Biennale office. All fears of the imminent interview vanished as Jitish Kallat walked into the room with a big smile on his face. Over steaming cups of tea on the kitchen table, with the rain soaked green outside, the conversation flowed freely. Dressed as casually as the conversation in a polo-tee and shorts, Jitesh Kallat was easy to talk to and had none of the airs associated with a world renowned artist. From childhood memories of Kerala to the impending collision of our Galaxy, nothing was out of Kallat’s radar. The artist was an interviewer’s delight.

Discovery

“How is my Malayalam?” Jitish Kallat surprises me with the question and explains his connection with God’s own country. Though born and brought up in Mumbai, summer vacations were almost always at his grandparent’s house in Kerala. That was a time for discovering a part of himself that was denied to him in Mumbai; ancestry. Our lives are a series of discoveries that is passed on from generation to generation. His discoveries and enquiries have led him to be the artist that he is today. Inspiration for his art could come from anywhere, explains the artist. It could be anything from a chance experience on the street, recognizing that two very divergent historical occurrences have taken place on the same date but 108 years apart and maybe even realizing that the moon looks like a roti. Every moment in time, everything we see, taste, touch or think of is germinal for the future and is an artistic statement in itself. “The fundamental singular thought would be to stay open to any stimuli (not just information) that could transform ones understanding of the world.”

Would he then define his art? Kallat is quick to respond that the word ‘define’ means to confine. “There could be a new definition every morning for something that is provisional for the day.” To define all of one’s work is like creating boundaries which limits its possibilities. This receptiveness and openness shines through his usage of mixed media. When you talk, you pick the words you use instinctively. Likewise a certain experience can only be articulated through a certain form, be it a video, photograph or a drawing. “The idea decides the media to a certain extent as in its own germination there lies the secret of its realization”.

The creative process differs from person to person. Jitish Kallat strongly believes in the power of observation and questioning. As his thoughts take form in his studio there is only one thing that he needs; a calm breath. The external world has no hold on his creative process: a tree could fall or something could collapse, as long as he is centered. Jitish Kallat recognizes that his previous works are still alive when starting on a new project. “Each canvas is a nibble of a much larger work. The new project sometimes is the awakened ghost of a previous work or the baby delivered by one. “He does not have any favorites among his productions but
there are works of his that still continue to hold so much promise of reinterpretation that they remain close to his heart like Public Notice 3, Epilogue or Artist Making a Local Call.

Dabbling in different media and addressing a million thoughts, one does wonder how an artist realizes when an art work is complete.” Some artwork will clearly tell you,” claims Kallat. It is an instinctive response. In a sense all creative processes are not meant to end. They are not destined to closure. But we close it when there is nothing more to be said. Jitish Kallat seems to be in constant conversation with his art.

Art today

We live in an age where every moment is an experience which is being archived by millions of people. “Information is being generated out of every experience. A reason why mediums or disciplines don’t remain isolated anymore is because information traffics all boundaries. No idea can travel on its own today. In today’s world an experience that harnesses off many experiences is often the only way to articulate. In fact even the field of visual arts is enriched by its relationship to a whole range of disciplines. Movements in art are normally described after like ten years and if the same is to be said of the art today, it is a legacy of modernism where the richness of an idea is not in itself but in its relationship to other ideas.” Jitish Kallat is not the average twitter-facebook-instagram guy but he understands that social media is bringing about a great change. He believes that the internet and social media is creating a new brain, a single library. “It is creating what one might call a single reference bank but also a global neural network” says Kallat.

So who is a true artist I ask Kallat. “You mean an interesting artist. An interesting artist is somebody who asks interesting questions at the risk of the art work not seeming interesting and yet subtly possessing the potential to subtly transform the perception of the viewer. The word artist is such an ornamental category it should be soon taken out of the dictionary,” he says with a smile. Followed by that subtle smile he mentions that anybody is an artist and the most important tool of an artist is the question mark. Every moment of questioning is a moment of art. In your journey through life, those ideas become your coordinates. Even if it’s a scientist exploring or a tennis player trying to figure out a complex movement in the air, that is a moment of artistic epiphany. “You have questions all the time and if it stays with you, it has the potential to generate something. When a productive state of uncertainty can prolong itself into a larger enquiry is when art happens. “

The Kochi Biennale

Jitish Kallat was in his studio when he got the call from the eight member advisory committee to the Kochi Biennale, many of whom are artists he deeply respects. The call was totally unexpected and his instinctive response was to say yes. “The message must have gone through my brain, touched my heart and returned as my reply” says the artist. In the next one day he did think back and forth about his decision. He would have to make a seismic shift to his yearly plans. There would be an almost complete closing of any commitments and exhibitions. But instinct has more power than analysis because he is in Kochi now without a single regret.

His days are now busy with meeting artists and organizing the event. Jitish Kallat believes that the Biennale is a tool to look at the potential of art in a scenario where the community is unfamiliar but extremely interested and much focused. I must have had a quizzical look as he said, “Absolutely! Even more focused than the audience at conventional centres”. He recites a baffling experience from the first Kochi Biennale when watching a twenty six minute long video. There were around four artists in the room and twelve non artists. Nobody left the room in the duration and was totally rooted in the show. “I didn’t know whether to look at the video or watch the people. That was very important to me.” He understood that the Biennale had the potential to be the space to ask and resolve large questions.

What does he expect and want to achieve from the upcoming Biennale? Jitish Kallat is frank, “I don’t think there is a nuts and bolts answer for that. I’m not working with those questions. I’m not thinking in those terms. One thing I would like to do is have the memory of the last biennale as a resource. It should develop to create dialogue within the community”. One should look at the Biennale as a process and not as an end in itself. Biennale 2014 means a lot of different things to the artist. On one level it is the fantastic potential to explore the prospects of the unfamiliar. On another it is a great platform to address big questions. Of course then there is all that art to enjoy. It is not all about instantly recognizing and admiring art or doing the gallery walk. It is the bewilderment of non recognition that is an exciting part of viewing. The Kochi Biennale is the ideal ground for that.

Jitish Kallat is a flaneur who believes he has a responsibility towards society as an artist. The Kochi Biennale is close to his heart and his enthusiasm is infectious. He is just about to meet an artist at a venue. The rain has eased for the moment and I walk out with him. We are still talking and the conversation has now reached the Andromeda galaxy that is going to collide with the Milkyway. Jitish Kallat brings a lot to the Biennale especially his openness and readiness to take life as it comes. As the interview started, it ends with a big smile.