shilpa gupta: singing cloud

‘singing cloud’, 2008 – 2009, by shilpa gupta all images courtesy of arnolfini and shilpa gupta

shilpa gupta: someone else arnolfini, bristol, UK from march 3 until april 22, 2012

mumbai-based artist shilpa gupta has compiled several of her notable works in an installation entitled ‘someone else’ displayed at arnolfini. the collection of surrealist, mixed-media pieces explore the development of modern politics by examining notions of technology, human rights, militarism, and security and the development of these fields upon contemporary artistic reality. gupta’s exhibition launches the series ‘a parallel universe-alternative realities and co-existing worlds’, a year long series of installations within arnolfini’s gallery space.

one of the artist’s central pieces to the exhibition is the ‘singing cloud’, 2008-2009. the 180 x 24 x 60in amoebic shape is a suspended sculpture built from 4,000 reverse-wired black microphones. the static mass emits from the microphones a jumbled sound created by the reconfiguration of responses given by several individuals as they process images aloud. a nine minute and thirty second audio channel produced by the piece is played on repeat as the sound rhythmically flutters across the surface of the piece, moving from one side of the cloud to the other. the abstracted quality of the psychological testing sound-bites echo the strangeness of the hovering dark creature-cloud. the cluster seems to be an ominous floating object representative of modern notions of anxiety, surveillance and security, softly singing to itself in the echoing gallery space.

‘i want to fly, high above in the sky

don’t push me away

we shall all fly high above in the sky

i want to fly high above in your sky

can you let it be only your power and not your greed

a part of me will die by your side taking you with me

high high above in the sky

while you sleep i shall wake up and fly‘ – an excerpt from the audio produced by the singing cloud

detailed views of ‘singing cloud’

‘untitled (there is no border here)’, 2005-2006 wall drawing with self adhesive tapes

the wall drawing made from self adhesive tape in which ‘there is no border here’ has been written on the yellow strips, spelling out a sentiment written by the artist in block lettering which reads:

‘I tried very hard to cut the sky in half, one for my lover and one for me, but the sky kept moving and the clouds from his territory came into mine. I tried pushing it away, with both my hands, harder and harder but the sky kept moving and clouds from my territory went into his. I brought a sofa and placed it in the middle, but the clouds kept floating over it. i built a wall in the middle, but the sky started to flow through it. I dug a trench, and then it rained and the sky made clouds over the trench. I tried very hard to cut…‘

detailed view of ‘untitled (there is no border here)’

‘untitled’, 2006 from the ‘don’t see don’t hear don’t speak’ series digital photograph on archival paper printed on flex 120×72 in

installation view of ‘untitled (flapboard)’, 2008 – 2009 motion flapboard 70.77 x 8.29 x 9.98 in

detailed view of ‘untitled (flapboard)’