Green wields art for a cause

Green wields art for a cause

A video clip of a tree being axed forms a perfect
backdrop to the several logs lying around

Vaishalli Chandra. Bangalore

Despite several protests and counter-protests, metro tracks running across the city, replacing some of the most beautiful canopies Bangalore ever possessed, will soon become a reality. Taking stock of the current situation in the city, a Baroda-based artist, Girjesh Kumar Singh, is displaying his creations that speak of his perception of the Metro vis-a-vis Lalbagh situation
"T-transformation is about vertical base and horizontal growth," said Girjesh, explaining how he arrived at the title of his show. The word 'T', he said, reflects the basic structure of a tree as well as that of a pillar. A first-time visitor to the city, the Lalbagh protests struck a chord in him. Working closely with nature, he says that he is often torn between the two worlds — one of development and the other of pristine nature. "Development is inevitable and so is the destruction that is necessary to move ahead," he said.
Several logs of different shapes, sculpted as pillars were placed in a room. Along with this, a video clip of a log being axed was being played; the room also housed a charcoal sketch of a tree, a faint outline of a pillar and a set of six photographs of a Gulmohar tree in bloom.
"Not many people can relate to the felling of trees as it is usually done at night. So people don't get to witness the entire process of trees being chopped. By morning there is vague awareness of the emptiness left by the missing tree," he said. But a lot of people feel glad as they think that this would help in increasing the road width. Happy at the thought of a probable traffic-free street, they forget the greater loss.
To sensitise people, Girjesh has incorporated the video. "When they look at the heap of logs and listen to the sound of felling of trees, people can be actually made sensitive about loosing the precious green cover. Once aware, they can take the next step to prevent such actions," he said. The audio-visual, the artist said, is aimed at "reviving people's senses."
Pillars are similar to tree trunks — this is a point Girjesh depicts through the charcoal sketch. Drawing a connection between the old and the new, trees in his creation stands for the old and traditional lifestyle. Pillars that will bear the weight of a passenger rail, symbolises the fast-paced city life. Interestingly, it shows how the pensioner's paradise is changing to accommodate a growing population.
Metro may be the solution for the city's traffic woes, but there is a need to find ways to accommodate both the metro and the trees. The artist said the felling of trees also signified the loss of those memories, of not being able to quantify childhood memories or of time spent in the shade of those trees.