Where does it go?

An initiative between iamgurgaon, The Municipal Corporation and Art Incept

Waste is a problem – it poisons our water, our air and the food we eat. We see a lot of data on pollution levels, per capita waste, number of animals dying because of plastic etc. We care but we are very immune to the data. Life carries on! How then can we get people to stop, pay attention and think? Art is an effective medium to create awareness and influence change. Art connects with the viewer both visually and emotionally. “Where does it go?” was designed to build awareness around the mounting problem of waste through the medium of art.
13 artists worked over 10 days with waste that we generated and collected. Each artist reflected their thoughts and individual experiences in their work. This is what makes the space so thought-provoking and special.

The TOXIC CHAMBER
Artist statement by Arunkumar HG
The speed of new inventions for our own convenience has caused colossal damage on Earth and our own existence. We create “permanent junk” from simple tasks like sipping water! Each of us contribute to the problem bit by bit and don’t realize the enormity of it. It seems that our responsibility ends at the bin, we don’t think beyond.
We need to imagine and visualize the amount of waste we generate! This is possible in an artistic way if we can make people “feel the waste”. The toxic chamber is a functional space that allows people to experience, observe and feel the waste that they have generated.

CORPORATE PLEASE कृपया सहयोग करें
Birender Yadav
The material Birender worked with is used in corporate buildings and cannot be recycled. Often you see this dumped in heaps on the side of roads in Gurgaon. The artist has cleverly created the well-known corporate pyramid structure using the unrecyclable material generated from corporate buildings! As you enter the installation you get an uncomfortable feeling created by the material itself.

THE POWER TO TRASH
Shubhangi Tyagi and Harinder

The throne is a symbol of power! The artists have created a throne out of trash to depict that we have become so irresponsible that we have given the power and the throne to our trash which is quickly taking over. The seat is made of glass and plastic bottles which seems to be comfortable for a while, but in the long term will cause severe ecological damage.

WASTE DETECTOR
Pinaki R Mohanty

The waste pickers, mostly children, segregate our waste under hazardous conditions from landfills. E-waste is the most harmful of them all. The artist has depicted a garbage man with a plastic detector (vs a metal detector) appealing to the view the need to segregate so that our waste pickers have a safer livelihood.

LEFT OVER
Arnav Chandra
Debi Prasad Bhunia

More than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped in the oceans each year. Plastic waste kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals, marine turtles and countless fish. The artists wish to being attention to this problem. While plastic was created to make our lives more convenient, today it threatens the health of humans and all other creatures.

IN THE FRAME
Pawan Vishwakarma

The artist wishes to bring to light the problem of mixed waste being dumped and left untreated. The frame is made out of garbage that we dispose off without thinking. We as waste generators are in the frame. The artist hopes we look at ourselves in that frame and not turn a blind eye to the problem .

WAVE POOL
Neeraj Patel

We are immune to the toxic waste we see around us. It does not move us. The bridge is a simple functional space which puts this permanent waste right in front of our eyes. It helps them visualise the amount of waste each of us generates each day. The bridge also leads you to the other art installations that talk about waste.

THE POND
Rinku Chauhan

The installation shows a pond at a height that is not balanced. The artist wants to show that excessive development and waste dumping has resulted in the drying up of many ponds around us. Ponds that have survived are also at risk as the toxins in the water due to plastic and waste dumping threaten all life that depends on them for their existence.

STEAL THE TREASURE OF NATURE
Ramkumar Kannadasn

When trees are grown on landfills only 20% of them survive. This is because the plastic prevents them from spreading their roots and growing. The hand of plastic reaching out for the tree is a way for the artist to show how the plastic we use will slowly suffocate life and take over.

दूब
Muskaan Singh

The artist’s work talks about the condition of time. The values that we as human beings have adopted, our self-inflicted suffering that not only impacts us but innocent animals. This is a unmovable animal form with no identity. It does not symbolize anyone but talks about the plurality of this condition.

BEAUTIFICATION
Santanu Dey

Today people build walls around themselves to create order or a divide. A high demand for construction destroys our natural resource and environment. In developing countries the change to modern ways creates huge problems. My work focuses on the constant construction and deconstruction by us. It bring attention to the need for greater environmental awareness as we develop.

ABODE
Ritwik Mondal

The human figure is nested within this architectural form. The artist has created an interactive installation that requires us to walk through the artwork and experience and “feel” the waste from up close. He believes it is important for us to come face to face with the waste we generate.
Come visit the installations at Sector 43 Gurgaon. It has changed the way I look at waste, I am sure it will change you too!