![]() ![]() In exploring the aesthetics of the ‘scam’, Niwa also seems to be commenting on the idea of the ‘claim’ and the promise of capitalism and legal language that supposes a resolutory structure of (terms of) exchange. A few of the themes being explored are the myth and fetishisation of the ‘product’, the alienating quality of products and their manifestation, besides viewing capitalism as a set of rituals in itself. Other works in the exhibition lay out a similar set of logics, where the artworks are in dialogue and the titles of Niwa’s works are self-explanatory in their stark, wordy compositions, that invite comparative readings of viral videos and how they circulate online. Through subverting this language, Niwa creates a differently possible site that troubles the logic of an all-encompassing capitalist system.Įxhibition view with video works Purchasing My Own Belongings Again In The Downtown (2011) and Celebrating Karl Marx’s Birthday With The Japanese Communist Party (2013), video installations Image: Courtesy of Prameya Art Foundation ![]() ![]() In conversation about the artist’s own engagement with the ethics of such an exchange that, on face value, replicates the vocabulary of the fraud or scam, Rajendran emphasises the “human element” as primary to the conversations and interactions. As a point of reflection, Rajendran also mentions that the exercise altered Niwa’s initial preconceptions about the value people, especially in a metropolis like Delhi, would ascribe to their ‘material’ possessions, saying that many of the candidates were comfortable parting with their credit cards or ID cards, but were more hesitant to lend objects of personal or emotional value. This month-long exchange and series of gestures brings together a tongue-in-cheek critique of the idea of a person’s belongings being symbolic of their identity, a logic that consumerist culture would have us believe. The cluster of objects are digitally photographed and reproduced as a print placed on a table as well as the walls, as if for examination at customs. Eventually Niwa went on to select applicant and artist, Kapil Jangid, as the ‘winner’ or the one who would be able to take part in this experimental exchange.Īs part of this exhibition, the work, titled Living in Someone’s Possessions is presented through a contract as signed between Jangid and Niwa, a video work, and photographs of Jangid's possessions as neat clusters of objects, all of which fit within a suitcase that Niwa is also pictured alongside. In conversation with STIR, curator Anushka Rajendran speaks about a temporary, but diverse community that the artist was able to engage with, that included people from different walks of life including printing professionals, vegetable sellers, and cab drivers. Once the candidates got in touch with the artist through the phone number supplied in the advertisement, they participated in an 'audition' with Niwa, where they engaged in individual hour-long conversations with him about themselves, their possessions, and what they would or would not be okay parting with, if even for a month. Applauding The Products, 2022, Single channel video (34 min 34 sec) Video: Courtesy of Yoshinori Niwa ![]()
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