Happy New Year, 2013

Anant Joshi, decides to traverse time via the television, and serialises a year-long calendar of emblematic moments, real-life stories, and media events. Dystopia and surveillance, watching and being watched – this is compacted into 12 dioramas with everyday travesties performed in the style of pantomime theatrics.

Each of these dioramas look at January to December 2013 - not only was it a dramatic year as build up to the most decisive elections to be fought in 2014, but also the fact that events came and went - catching the limelight until that time and then at most times disappearing from public memory until the "next big thing".

Anant Joshi became somewhat of a "couch potato" - cutting newspaper stories, switching channels on the television and in some way becoming a chronicler of these events that zipped by us through the year. Much like looking into an idiot box - laden with unfolding events, the dioramas with their hybrid antennas on the top, and a  rear-view mirror at the bottom - which metaphorically looks back at that year gone by.

The events become a trigger from day to day, month to month and translated into this staged narrative. If the act of looking into the world is considered voyeuristic, there is also a poignant reminder we are being looked back at, watched.

This experience resulted in a year long project.