Palash Bhattacharjee: Open Door

Friday, May 10, 2024

Open Door

Ephemeral and mixed media installation, 2023
Materials: A Bangla to English dictionary, electronics fan, a microphone with sound, a single- channel video
Solo Exhibition: Of Fragments
Curated by Sharmillie Rahman
Kalakendra, Lalmatia, Dhaka

Open Door, single- channel video

Open Door, video still

Installation view

As our lives continue to be governed by forces of nature or power, this dynamic is reflected in the physical installation that accompanies 'Open Door.' The ephemerality of the installation forms embodies the interplay between multiple power structures, highlighting how these forces shape our daily existence. By incorporating materials and motifs that represent phenomena connected to memory, the work evokes a profound sense of nostalgia and personal history.

Installation view

'Palash Bhattacharjee entered the scene armed with an array of performative arsenals. Alongside photo-video installations developed from his performances and site-specific installations, he inserted another crucial element, namely sound. From his early works based on photo and video installations in 2009 to that of his more recent near-absurd performances and video installations, he articulates the neural through the experiential. Since 2011, he set in motion a practice that forked into two divergent and also overlapping strands – video and performance. His single or multi-channel videos and performances are the result of his meditations on body's communion with spatial reality often set in a temporal framework. His reorganizes multiple approaches as he sets out to restore an event from life, which is at once overwhelming and abstract. Muted and distant in their articulation, his works seem to test the water at the edge. Still, Palash's 'reality' leaves no room for illusion.'

-New Media the locus of rebirth, Shahman Moishan with Sharmillie Rahman and Mustafa Zaman, page 36-37, 22th Issue, Depart Magazine, ISSN 2310-6832