2019

One drop Paradox
Mosquito buzzes in my ear
Shall I kill it or not?
Is it liberation for the Mosquito Will it give me Moksha... ever

The quest continues with the paradox of sharing one drop of our blood with the mosquito. Is it a big deal? Is it right to kill a mosquito? Today a billion dollar business revolves around killing mosquitoes for better sleep. Is this good karma?

As an installation artist, I wanted to highlight multi-dimensional thought processes and artworks for this project.

The room was partially lit representing the silence of the night with sound art of varied effects of the imminent presence of mosquitoes. The walls were dark and illustrated digital art strategically colored with red and black ink but purposely torn to express the physical and emotional after-effects of a mosquito.

Pillared on bricks were many blood-stained pillows entangled along with the mosquito net and a unique sculpture of a mosquito with a mouth in the shape of a vehicle horn and many tentacles coming out of it.

The one drop paradox is simply whether we should kill mosquitoes or not for sucking a drop of our blood... I ponder.

The installation on the floor was pillared on abstract painted bricks, accentuating the rawness and representing the stings of the mosquitoes through the rough edges throughout. The blood art on top of the white pillow denoted the sufferings of human sleep and reminded us of the presence of the necessary evil. The use of a mosquito net was just to express its uselessness of it as the mosquito sculpture with a vehicle horn-type face quietly sat on top of it with its many golden tentacles symbolizing the amount of misery it can cause. The reverberations in the room accentuated with the sound art of the combination of mosquito and human voice in the partially lit environment recreated a perfect scenario for viewers to ponder over the paradox.

The project enriched me with profound insights into the human brain and the syllogistic logic attributed to it. The project studied the impact of the present-day socio-political scenario and its effect on the human soul.

Throughout the assignment, the paradox remained. I finally looked at Hindu scriptures for answers.

Ishopanishad Verse 1

The material world is full of things that appear and disappear in the present, past, and future. One should perceive and understand that even such worldly transitory things are filled in with the presence of the Lord. Nothing exists separate from God, because God is present everywhere.

By so perceiving and feeling that one can protect him from the, otherwise never-relieving, bond of karma. One should also convince him that he has been provided by the Lord with all the things necessary for his existence. With that sort of contentment, one should try to avoid being greedy or jealous about others or others’ riches.
"If all the Upanishads and all the other Scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only the first verse in the Ishopanishad were left in the memory of the Hindus, Hinduism would live forever" -- Mahatma Gandhi

The Quest continues....

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