Shilpa Gupta
There is No Explosive in This, 2007
Interactive Installation and photographs
Installation: Dimensions variable
Photographs:
42 x 28 inches
106.7 x 71 cm
Photographs:
42 x 28 inches
106.7 x 71 cm
Copyright The Artist
Further images
In this work, 100 bags stood in a flat on Pont Street, in London, each of which was covered in fabric, on which marked with the text, 'There is no...
In this work, 100 bags stood in a flat on Pont Street, in London, each of which was covered in fabric, on which marked with the text, "There is no explosive here". The visitors were invited to choose any bag, take it for a walk, stand at the bus stop, or travel the tube. Writes Leila Hasham, "The issue of authorship is key to Gupta's practice, resonating clearly in the performance work 'There is no explosive here, 2007'. The viewer is encouraged to exit the gallery and enter the public domain carrying a bag with the printed statement "There is no explosive here'. Suspicion and uncertainty are raised by this 'true' statement, not only for the person carrying the bag but also by those she encounters who read the text in a public space. Gupta blurs the boundary between artist, viewer and the work to create a fluid interaction in which all contributors share responsibility, thereby challenging embedded racial and social stereotypes and drawing attention to anxieties within society."
Exhibitions
SELECTED | 2012 | ‘Of Places and Journeys’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi | 2010 | ‘Half A Sky’, Solo Show, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz | 2009 | ‘Solo Show’, Lalit Kala Akademi with Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi | 2008 | ‘BlindStars StarsBlind’, Bodhi Kala Ghoda and Bodhi Wadi Bunder, Mumbai | ‘BlindStars StarsBlind’, Galerie Volker Diehl and BodhiBerlin, Berlin | 2007 | ‘Solo Show’, Artists’ Studio, London (Interactive Installation)