Thukral & Tagra｜考虑移民的现实 Contemplating Realities of Migration
Thukral & Tagra. Diminus Aeris- Coleus XI, 2016
Social change, a reflection of past states, and enriching the thought process are some of the things that art does for these two Indian artists, albeit in the form of mega-spectacle sensory and visual experience. For them, art is seen as an attempt to captivate, fathom, and find alternative thoughts to further narrate a subject matter.
对于这两位印度艺术家来说，艺术可以激发社会变化，反映过去的状态，并丰富思想过程。它以大规模的感官和视觉体验的形式完成。对他们而言，艺术被视为一种试图吸收，理解和寻找替代思想以进一步叙述主题的尝试。
“What does an artist do in volatile situations? There is a lot to say, and through an artistic voice, we can respond to urgency and take risks to make things more empathetic and humble. We are interested in commentary that is informed and brings knowledge.”
“艺术家在动荡的情况下会做什么？他们有很多想要表达。通过艺术的声音，我们可以应对紧迫感，冒险让我们变得更加谦逊及多一份同理心。我们热衷于诠释，因为这可以组成新的信息，传递新的知识”
- Thurkal and Tagra
About Thukral & Tagra |关于艺术家
Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, also known as T&T, are a pair of Indian artists working collaboratively since 2000 that works with painting, sculpture, installations, interactive games, and more. They work to push the boundaries of the engagement of art. Through their multi-medium worlds, they explore the Indian identity as well as the tropes of migration and the motifs of global consumer culture. In recent iterations, they have been exploring the mythological and religious realms within India. With an abstract visual pop style and enlightened philosophy, their works offer sociopolitical commentary while also expanding the thought process and relations between the audience and the artworks they create.
Jiten Thukral和Sumir Tagra（又称T＆T）是一对印度艺术家，他们自2000年以来便开始合作，从事绘画，雕塑，装置，互动游戏等工作。他们致力于突破公众参与艺术的界限。通过他们的多维世界，他们探索了印度的身份，迁移的趋向和全球消费文化的主题。在最近的作品迭代中，他们一直在探索印度境内的神话和宗教领域。他们的作品具有抽象的视觉流行风格和开明的哲学内核，作品涉及社会政治评论，同时扩大了思考过程，扩展了观众与他们创作的艺术品之间的关系。
What is the generally accepted view of success in your country?
在你们国家里，对成功的普遍定义是什么？
For Thukral and Tagra, many Indians perceive the act of living abroad and coming back a sign of success. Another major factor to success is highlighted by behaviors upon returning to India. How does one show success and how do the society and surrounding environment get affected by it? These are some of the themes touched upon in their Escape series, which takes a closer look into the dreams of the Punjabi youth in the country’s north, dreams that involve emigrating to other countries, often at great cost to themselves and their families. The works traverse the tensions between aspiration and reality through paintings, sculpture, video, and consumer objects.
对于Thukral和Tagra而言，许多印度年轻人认为，拥有海外的生活经验后回国是成功的标志。另一个标志则是回国后的行为举止。一个人如何显示成功，社会和周围环境如何受其影响？这些是他们的“逃生系列”中涉及的一些主题，该系列深入研究了该印度北部旁遮普青年的梦想，这些梦想包括移民到其他国家，这个梦想常常需要自己和家庭的大量付出。这些作品通过绘画，雕塑，视频和消费品来探索理想与现实之间的冲突。
View of “Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra: Windows of Opportunity,” 2013.
The series reflects a chaotic and contained aesthetic that is diverse yet full of contradictions. The narrative of the Escape series is the artists’ visual reinterpretation of the real life experiences and stories of over 200 people developed through an expanded interaction and revaluation of knowledge. Thukral and Tagra have been evolving each iteration up to this day since 2007.
该系列作品反映了一种混乱而克制的美学，它饱含多样性却充满了矛盾。《逃亡》系列是艺术家对200余人的真实生活经历和故事的视觉重新诠释。他们通过扩大的互动和知识的重组而得到发展。2007年至今，Thukral和Tagra一直在不断发展该系列。
Part of this series, “Window of Opportunity” is redisplayed in Singapore, this body of work was appropriately prepared as more than sixty percent of people in the city were migrants. Through the space, they present portraits encased into the shape of a plane’s window, marking the beginning, where the image is manipulated and changed over the viewing process or rather, the migrant’s journey. Tracks are painted onto the floor alluding to the competitive environment that many migrants face and eventually, they are encased into pinball machines where the viewer can join the “ game” being played by the artists and the subject. In a sense, the subjects are now pushed around into globalization, forced to move from one situation to another without much control.
该系列的一部分，“机会之窗”在新加坡重新展出。该系列的准备工作已正确完成，因为这座城市60％以上的人口是外来移民。在整个展览空间中，展览以飞机舷窗的形式包裹人物肖像。它标志着旅程的开始。在观看过程中，图像不断被操纵和更改，反映了移民的旅程。跑道涂在地板上，暗示着许多移民面临的竞争环境。最终，这些肖像被装入弹球机中，观众可以参加由艺术家和这些肖像玩的“游戏”。从某种意义上说，现在这些肖像中人被推向全球化，被迫从一种情况转移到另一种情况而不受控制。
Thukral & Tagra, ‘Pinball – Windows of Opportunity’, 2013, oil on canvas, 12 diptychs – 24 canvases each 71 x 46 cm.
Thukral & Tagra, ‘Pinball 1– Windows of Opportunity’, 2012, oil on canvas, 71 x 46 cm
Thukral & Tagra, ‘Pinball - Manjot 1, 2013, oil on canvas, 122 x 238 cm
Although derived from an Indian perspective, the works are highly relatable for any culture in the modern context where travel and studying abroad had peaked. This type of cross-cultural interaction spreads and assimilates into our very own. Thukral and Tagra recount their talks with other Punjab people that have gone abroad and come back, who use their name-place destination as a signifier for success.
尽管是从印度的角度出发，但在目前出国留学和旅行的趋势已达到顶峰的现代环境背景下，这些作品与任何文化都息息相关。这种类型的跨文化互动得以传播，并同化了我们自身。Thukral 和Tagra展现了他们与其他海外归来的旁遮普邦人的谈话，他们使用自己的名字加目的地作为成功的象征。
“ It’s like a degree for them.”
“这对他们来说就像一个学位。”
They also recount how the works in this series also outline what is brought back culturally, the fashion, architecture, lifestyle that has no roots in Punjab culture but suddenly manifests into reality, especially in architecture. A mix of Roman pillars, a hybrid of French Chateau and Mughal architecture, foreign concepts that build a whole new aesthetic as seen in “ Dominus Aeris” - the flying houses.
他们还叙述了该系列作品是如何描绘那些同时从海外带回来的文化，即那些不根基于旁遮普文化，但突然在现实生活中出现的时尚，音乐，生活方式，特别是在建筑领域。那些混杂了罗马柱，法式城堡和莫卧儿建筑的融合，以及在飞行家“ Dominus Aeris”中看到的国外的概念，这些一并构建起了全新的美学。
Thukral & Tagra. Dominus Aeris, Escape: Twilight series 4. 2014. 365 x 244 cm
Thukral & Tagra. Dominus Aeris Escape 6. Oil on canvas. 213×297×5cm
Thukral & Tagra. Dominus Aeris -Facies. Oil on canvas. 182×182x7cm
Thukral & Tagra. Dominus Aeris -lux 1.Oil on canvas. 122×96x8cm
While Thukral and Tagra’s works heavily reference the state of India in the social and political sense from their own experiences, a lot of their works resonate with the youth of other countries and cultures. The works not only give an understanding of broad cultural phenomena at glance, but also offer rich history on the evolution from global interactions. Immersing into their other works like, “Farmer is a Wrestler” or “Diaspora in a Bottle”, viewers will come to understand the never-ending process that allows for the scale and depth of the pair’s works.
虽然Thukral和Tagra的作品在自身经历，以及社会和政治意义上都大量涉及印度题材，但他们的许多作品却引起了其他国家和文化的年轻人的共鸣。这些作品使人们一目了然地了解了广泛的文化现象，同时也为全球互动的演变提供了丰富的历史。观众将沉浸在他们的其他作品中，例如“农夫是摔跤手”或“瓶中的散居者”，观众将了解到无止境的过程，使他们的作品具有规模和深度。
For more information on Thukral and Tagra, click here
如果你想关于Thukral和Tagra知道更多信息，请单击此处
Translation 翻译 Rona Xia
FOR MORE RELATED CONTENT