Shilpa Gupta, For, in your tongue, I cannot fit, 2017-2018
Over the last two and a half decades, Shilpa Gupta has developed a powerful interdisciplinary approach to challenging prevailing notions of individual and collective cultural identity. Gupta examines the role of perception and subjectivity in the status of objects, places, people and experiences, and the way value is defined and impacted by nationalism, trade, religion and notions of security.
Incorporating sculpture, text, sound, light and ephemera, Gupta explores the psychology of different media forms by reversing their traditional roles and encouraging viewer participation to create meaning. Subverting the way audio and visual technologies typically present information — such as flapboards displaying fragmented words and phrases rather than train departure times, playfully projecting the shadows of unseen objects interacting with the shadow of the viewer, or microphones embedded with hidden speakers amplifying the voices of poets incarcerated for their beliefs, political speeches, or a plurality of thoughts and opinions, prompts the viewer to listen in. The artist highlights the subjective nature of reality reinforced through media and objects, and challenges the authority and autonomy of their means of dissemination.
Gupta’s works often requires the viewer to spend time, watching or listening for meaning to unfold, or revaluate their initial impression shift upon closer inspection. Audience participation plays a crucial role in the formation and evolution of Gupta’s work, as viewers are often invited to take an object with them, activating a change in context both individually and publicly.
Long interested in the divisive systems prioritized by nationalism, religious fundamentalism, social identity and the effects on individuals and the collective within South Asia and globally, Gupta’s work communicates across cultures. Often involving many languages, perspectives and subjectivities, Gupta necessarily leaves room for the perception of the work to change, depending on where or when it is encountered, and encourages viewers to project and reflect on their own associations.