︎︎︎ Research and Analysis. Collaboration with “Thoughtattic”

The idea was that the three of us (prashant, aseem and me) as a collective (Thoughtattic), along with those who join, will discuss three paintings every month. Each one of us will be preparing, studying in detail, analysing and presenting their own reading of one painting each, every month. In this process, there is hope to come across new artworks, discover and understand different artists, techniques and their styles throughout history. The idea is to meet at least once every month to discuss art, understand it, learn from it and if possible even critique it. Apart from our inexplicable desire to learn and see new things and create a productive discourse, there is no other agenda or intention as such for this exercise. This amusement is just for the sake of producing a discourse and then seeing what emerges out of it
We three are like the X, Y and the Z axis, the three geometric axes that construct all cartographic space. Aseem being the X, Vinit being the Y and Prashant being the Z axis. We carry with our self our own dimension and together can define, map or even produce a space. All 3 of us, we possess different amounts and kinds of energies and capacities which hold a potentiality to produce our own coordinates. We have our own different values which position our own self. These positions are in many ways quite distinct from each other. Like how even the 3 axes, X,Y and Z, face 3 different directions, perpendicular to each other, each maintaining their own individuality. The only point where all the axes meet, is at zero and zero is just a point, not a space. So instead of adamantly trying to find an intersection between us and going at the point of origin, where there is not much to find, we aim at performing our own individualities and extending and stretching our coordinates as far as possible, in our own direction. When we are brought together, we create a 3 dimensional space of discourse. And that would be something.

X (Aseem) in a broader sense is interested in understanding Art as a construct, and incessantly distinguishing the act of Painting from that of Art as such. Through his selection of paintings, he will be evoking the questions of authorship / autonomy and analysing mechanisms of Painting as documentary, propaganda, service, activism, indulgence, catharsis or merely pleasure seeking.

Y (Vinit) is keen on investigating how certain paintings transcend or betray ‘Representation’. Being interested in ‘Reading; the paintings, and going through surrealism, magical realism, expressionism, abstraction, symbolism, etc, He is interested in excavating devices (such as excess, symbolism, assemblage, transfiguration, recontextualisation, automatism, diagramming, sketching, etc) that facilitate in their specific ways a transcendence, thus problematizing the Image.

Z (Prashant) speaks of the relationships between Architecture and Society, the Built scape and the people inhabiting it, represented in Paintings. He will be working on various scales (City, Landscape, Building, Interiority, etc) and exploring the spatiality in relation to the human body or the subject present in the painting by placing emphasis on techniques such as one point perspective, framing, light and shadow, layering and patterns.
So, we will bring to the board 12 paintings each, which we find most interesting or closest to our own self, our ideas, intuitions or interest. Every month 3 paintings, 1 from each of us will collide together to form an object in space, which our public can introspect upon, over some coffees and cigarettes.