Syed Taufik Riaz's note on Suman Majumdar's ''Toilet in the Temple/ The Temple Toilet'
Suman Majumdar started working in the toilet since the morning on the final day at TENT.
Sanjay,Arni,Milton,Suman Ka,Amon et.al.collaborated to install a temple in the toilet by pasting cheap postcards of idols all over the walls(effecting towards the highly adorned interiors of indian temples)and the small place was well bedecked with plastic garlands & flowers,that sort of embellishment that is commonly found in the small shops & shacks on pavements(foot-paths)in kolkata.The glitz up was perfectly illuminated by popular music video projections that would fall on the person sitting on the commode.the videos were mostly of religious/devotional songs but often had strong physiological/sensual even erotic layers furnished within since they referred to 'dehatatya',i.e.the 'study of the body and its ways',the basis of tantric or baul/sufi practice very popular in east.the way in which the collage of pictures or the total furbishing done carried a strong air of humour or 'joke' that might seem quite sacrilegious to many but again has been a character of the culture of the place for long.the topping was done and the sense of smell obliged by 250grams of beef being boiled in an clay pot on a clay stove on the threshold of the entrance.the tang cleared the usual toilet smell.
The installation slowly initiated a day long durational performance with people coming in and settling for quite some time in the 'temple'/'toilet' or 'joint',whatever one may call it.so interestingly the toilet became the hang-out place.
No comments:
Post a Comment