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KANSAN.COM
ARTS & CULTURE
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New Delhi-based artist fuses science and art
COURTNEY BIERMAN
@KansanNews
Rohini Devasher, an artist based in New Delhi, is a self-professed science fiction lover. In her spare time, she studies astronomy and other areas of the natural sciences, which has made impressions on her works.
"It's my way of trying to understand what's going on and why I'm interested in these things," Devasher said at an artist talk at the Spooner Hall Commons last week.
The Spencer Museum of Art purchased one of Devasher's video feedback works, "Bloodlines," in 2009, which is currently on display. The 45-minute projected video depicts 63 forms, one after the other, developing amongst one another in an organic pattern that "exists at the boundary between science and art."
"What's cool is then you get these forms that start to mimic biological life," Davasar said. "They look like plants, they look like trees, they look like cells, and that's what I'm really fascinated by: the fact that you start to have this mirroring between the digital."
Devasher is a multidisciplinary artist who has ventured into digital and audio art in the decades following her edu
ZOE LARSON/KANSAN Rohini Devasher explores the boundaries of art and science through her work.
Her various projects include video, audio, prints and etching. Her work is a blend of hypnotic visual feedback pieces and fantastic etchings superimposed over satellite images of mountains and deserts all of which were inspired by and sought to find meaning in natural phenomena.
cation at the College of Art in New Delhi. Multidisciplinary art may include performance art, interactive works, multimedia performance and collaborations between art and science that push past the boundaries of traditional art.
to produce complex, looping images, similar to placing two mirrors face-to-face. Hours of footage are cut and layered to form the final artwork. One video feedback piece may take months of editing and layering "Bloodlines" took Devasher a year-and-a-half to complete.
Visual feedback art involves plugging a hand-held camera into a television and then recording the television screen. The camera picks up a point of light on the screen, and begins
Although Devasher's latest projects have mostly been digital, she is an accomplished painter and printmaker. Devasher received a Bachelor's degree in painting from the College of Art in New Delhi and Master's in Printmaking from the Winchester School of Art in England. Her art can be found in galleries all over the world.
"Where we grew up, there was lots of green," she said. "Delhi's a very green city. My favorite time used to be going up on the roof and just chilling, watching the sky and the trees and that sort of stuff."
As Devasher's presentation during her site visit to the University was mostly limited to pictures and short clips of her work, first-year art history graduate student Emily Smith said she is looking forward to seeing "Temporal Turn" as a whole.
"I feel like [Devasher's] work should be experienced in person," Smith said.
Some viewers have asked her
about an implied spirituality in her work, but Devasher answered that she doesn't see her work as being religious in nature. Rather, she wants to express the ways she is "equally humbled but also [...] really empowered" by the natural world.
["My work] also gives you a little bit of like 'get over yourself," she said. "You're one small part of something much, much bigger than yourself. We're a tiny speck in this massive universe."
COURTESY OF THE SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART Rohini Devasher's video depicts arranged organic forms, inspired by the artist's interest in science.
Kris Ercums is the curator of Asian Art at the Spencer Museum and curator of "Temporal Turn". He and Devasher first met in 2008 at Khoj, an artist-led organization based in New Delhi.
Devasher will return to the University in fall of 2016 to contribute to the Spencer Art Museums's exhibition "Temporal Turn: Art and Speculation in Contemporary Asia," which will include pieces from artists all over Asia. The exhibit will explore how artists from Turkey to Tokyo are contemplating the future.
"Khoj is located in a kind of municipal limbo in Delhi across from a luxury mall, so it's an example of the range of wealth and poverty in India," Ercums said.
"Initially, I was intrigued by
Rohini's work, and when I saw 'Bloodlines' again in Hong Kong in 2010, I was convinced that the Spencer should acquire one her works."
In addition to Devasher's installations, "Temporal Turn" will include pieces from three other artists that will also be visiting the University within the semester.
In the midst of these exhibitions, Spencer continues to undergo a massive renovation project scheduled for completion this spring.
However, Ercums hopes patrons of the exhibition next summer will be more than just a novelty to those with limited knowledge of art.
"I think that art's a really great way also for students to access the world beyond Kansas, and this will help them to realize that there's this whole interesting world and there's all these artists and they're all working in different locations," he said. "It will incite curiosity."
Edited by Abby Stuke
A pizza bakes in the oven at Genovese, a restaurant in downtown Lawrence.
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
awrence
RYAN WRIGHT
@ryanwaynewright
The second annual Downtown Lawrence Restaurant Week is currently going on around several Lawrence eateries.
The event includes 18 restaurants and encompasses some local favorites, including the Burger Stand and The Mad Greek. Each restaurant will have exclusive menu items throughout the week, like a four-course dinner at a discounted price at 715, or waffle hot dogs at the Burger Stand.
"[We're] very into being part of downtown Lawrence and food in general. We were
happy to join in," said Beaux Bruns, the Burger Stand general manager.
He said the owners, Simon and Codi Bates, got the idea for waffle hot dogs after they tried a version of it on a trip to Seattle. Then they thought to put their own spin on it.
"We crank out a lot of food, but it's really fun to think outside of the box and do whatever we want," he said. "Dork burger is something I actually saw on 'Diners Drive-ins and Dives.' There's a really cool idea of it, [but we] made ours the Burger Stand way."
For Ryan Swift, Mad Greek manager, Downtown Lawrence Restaurant Week was
an opportunity to showcase best-selling menu items and introduce newer plates.
"[Restaurant Week] requires that you already have a certain repertoire of recipes," Swift said. "The preparation is on developing the menus and typing them out."
This year Mad Greek will have lamb souvlaki, a popular choice. Another of their popular plates is Santorini-style shrimp pasta.
Aside from fun food menu items and insane deals, the event will also act as a charity. This year's beneficiary is the Sunrise Project — a nonprofit organization focusing on food and its relationship with
Downtown Lawrence Restaurant Week wraps up this weekend
the environment. Participating restaurants are also giving gift cards to the organization for use in future fundraising events.
Downtown Lawrence Restaurant week began Sept. 13, and will run until its last day this Saturday, Sept. 19.
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