Creativity from waste

Shafia Parveen, TT, Feb. 8: What does it mean to be a minimalist in the age of excesses? This is the first question that comes to mind when one watches the slides of Swiss artist and industrial designer, Adrien Rovero, whose work springs from the fundamental question: what is the minimum that you need?

At the CIMA International Symposium, while talking to curator Suresh Jayaram, Rovero presented his works in a series of slideshows that reflected his love for innovation, problem-solving and no frills.

There are certain rules that he plays by, for instance his dislike for wastage gets reflected in his desire to create reusable systems. He created structures out of aluminium profiles for an exhibition of research in Monaco which were later reused in another exhibition.

It would be a mistake to dismiss Rovero's work as simple because his uncluttered designs show a complex thinking and an eye for detail. For an exhibition of ceramics, he plays with lights and not only the size of the display, but also the distance between the ceiling and the display were taken into account. His other experiments would include designing exhibitions to give the impression of a panorama, an attempt to collapse the difference between exhibition catalogues and the exhibition itself, so that they can be experienced together and designing travel-friendly exhibitions for those exhibitions that are held in two different places.

Rovero's works and his experiments with spaces brought to light what Indian museums and art spaces need the most: innovation. The talk on "cultures of display" showed a West boldly experimenting while the East continuing to fear bending the rules.

Jayaram humorously commented that Rovero would be unemployed in India and it is telling about India's artistic culture. Here students of museology are more interested in theory and getting a job.

"Indian museums are like dinosaurs," concluded Jayaram. He underlined why a poor country like India especially needs people like Rovero, not only because there is a lack of art designers but also because he experiments with cheap, common, reusable and recyclable items. For him there is nothing that cannot be used to create art.