Event 2 | Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram | @ Fowler Museum

For my second event, I went to Fowler Museum to view "Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem" exhibit by Indian contemporary artist Vivan Sundaram. Unfortunately, I was declined by the staff to take pictures with them so I resorted to taking a picture with the sign instead.

Figure 1 - Me at "Making Strange" at Fowler Museum

As soon as I entered the exhibit, I was reminded of Gunther von Hagens’ “Body Worlds”, except instead of real cadavers, they were thankfully all mannequins. Many of the exhibits involved said mannequins cut in half to reveal the insides and dressed up with seemingly random junk. After watching a short video at the exhibition, I found out that Sundaram used this “trash” as a “starting point of creativity” which also helped create an “anti-aesthetic” feel. While Sundaram admits that these objects are trash, I found that they definitely served some deeper purpose; for example, the dress in Snake-shell is in fact made of X-ray film which connects to his other works which involve looking within the human body.

Figure 2 - Snake-shell, 2011
X-ray film

Another piece that follows this theme is Immunity Cover which consists of fabric surgical masks pieced together. Surgical masks also tie in with the dissecting of bodies; I think it’s really clever that Sundaram designed it like armor since they are supposed to protect you from bacteria and disease.

Figure 3 - Immunity Cover, 2011
Nonwoven,micro-dot fabric surgical masks

As mentioned above, many of these pieces were dissected mannequins, often abstract and not scientifically accurate. Wired Torso attempts to mimic the arteries and veins of a human body albeit not accurately, though it succeeds in showing how grotesque our insides can be. A lot of these works reminds me of Week 4’s topic of “Medicine+Technology+Art”; Sundaram obviously had some prior knowledge of the human anatomy and used his knowledge in medical technologies to his advantage creating unique artworks.

Figure 4 - Wired Torso, 2013
Mannequin, fiberglass, body organs anatomy samples, wire, paint

One piece that I found most interesting is Acrobat because of the way in which the body is distorted. The ballerina wearing a skirt made from cotton fabric seems to be striking a pose, but what’s curious is the fact that she seems to have three breasts in various positions. I think this might symbolize the movement of the mannequin as if Sundaram is trying to capture different frames of the body in motion.

Figure 5 - Acrobat, 2013
Mannequin, fiberglass body organs/anatomy samples, cotton fabric, iron, ceramic, paint, wood

Spine is another piece that shows that without knowledge of anatomy, artists can never “present the human body on a more disquieting stage”. “Making Strange” opens our eyes to not just what is underneath the skin, but the relationships between the human body, clothing, and fashion.

Figure 6 - Spine, 2013
Mannequin, fiberglass body organs/anatomy samples, paint, wood

Figure 7 - Holdall, 2011
Leather handbags, stuffing

Citations

• Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem Description, Fowler Museum. Personal photograph by author. 2015.