Preeti Chandrakant
Encyclopedia
Preeti Chandrakant is a Zürich
based Swiss Indian artist, and film maker, who was born in Mumbai
, and educated in film and ethnology in the United States and Switzerland.
Chandrakant's work explores the interrelationship between experience and transformation. Her training in mythology and film both play a cardinal role in her frothing edge artistic practice which takes the form of Time Pieces, Time Capsules, and Living Works of Art.
Her work has premiered at the Art Basel, the Palais Palffy in Vienna, the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the Locarno International Film Festival, the Trento International Film Festival, the Festival Max Ophüls Preis, and the Mumbai International Film Festival among others.
, which have sold over ninety million copies worldwide.
Self trained in art, she took her early lessons from the likes of Achille Bonito Oliva, Brion Gysin, Meret Oppenheim, Robert Mapplethorpe and Werner Herzog.
Chandrakant has a son with actor and thinker Romano 'Roma' Fasciati. She lives in Zurich
and Mumbai
.
Chandrakant's ephemeral Time Pieces are framed periods of time in which, according to the artist's oral instructions, human beings referred to as Elements engage the viewer in an experience, often by starting out a conversation. These human Elements may be the Living Works of Art that she 'sculpts' in her studios in Zurich and Mumbai, or simply any collaborator who is available, inspired and ready to participate.
Drawn into and actively engaged in a cerebral as well as an emotional experience, the viewer turns into an Element of the piece, and is empowered to become an artist of the piece.
A recent Time Piece of Chandrakant, shown at the ART Basel 2010, is from a series of six pieces called This Art is Immaterial. This series is based on the mother phrase Everyone is a Potential Work of Art.
The Time Piece called One Veiled Question has a burka clad Element approaching visitors saying, “Excuse me, may I ask you a question? Am I art?”
If, during the resulting conversation, the visitor utters either the word 'object' or the word 'religion' , he or she is interrupted by the Element, who lifts up the veil, removes the burka, and cries out “Oh no! Did you say the word object?” (or, “Oh no! Did you say the word religion?”) “This is the end! It's all Immaterial!”
The Element then pauses for a moment, before declaring, “You have just
been interactive in a Time Piece called One Veiled Question by Preeti Chandrakant.”
Chandrakant says, "In fifty years, maybe sooner, most artists will have stopped creating cumbersome objects. Galleries, museums and private collections will be alive with art that breathes."
As Time Pieces are meant to be a 'real' experience of what transpires, not a virtual one, and no physical object may be produced, there is no documentation of the work. There are no photographs, catalogs or videos.
Chandrakant's 'dematerialized' Time Pieces function fully within the framework of gallery or museum. Time Pieces can be repeated and can be acquired for private and public collections.
A Time Capsule cannot be sold, or passed on. It stays with the collector as a piece of memory, which can be shared with others, or not. It goes with the collector when he or she dies.
Chandrakant's Living Works of Art also participate in her Time Pieces.
As with the Time Pieces, Chandrakant permits no documentation of what transpires during these happennings. They can only be experienced live.
among others.
For her early works, Chandrakant used different names, like Preeti von Roma, Kali, or Preeti C. Kant, in order to delink her identity from her work.
, home to the family of Alberto Giacometti
. Jointly they embarked on what was to be a fourteen year long precise investigation of human consciousness, which culminated in 2001. Chandrakant calls the works of this period Outer Journeys, Inner Odysseys.
A Goat To The Gods (as Preeti von Roma) is a video collage of behind-the-scenes 'found objects' with Klaus Kinski
and Werner Herzog, which depicts "an absurd journey into a jungle of veiled madness" revealing the 'doings' of Kinski and Herzog against the backdrop of real Africa. A Goat To The Gods premiered at the Palais Pallfy in Vienna.
Al Gatun, (as Kali) is a black and white feature film, (with the mesmerizing cinematography of Werner Herzog trained cameramen Rainer Klausmann and Beat Presser and the magical music of Popul Vuh) describing "a journey from the real to the surreal", shot with Roma and the people of his village, Stampa. Chandrakant won an award from the Federal office of Culture of the Swiss Confederation as well as the extremely rare special prize of the jury (headed by Karin Brandauer) for a film d'auteur, at the Trento International Film Festival. Al Gatun premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and the Festival Max Ophüls Preis.
Jesus Goes to India, (as Preeti Chandrakant) is a feature film, describing "a journey from the real, to the surreal, to the abstract, to the absurd", with Roma and family members and friends in India. The film premiered at the Festival Cinéma Tout Ecran in Geneva, the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy and the Mumbai Film Festival. It was broadcasted on various television stations, and sub-titled in different languages. The Hindu
asserted in a 2001 review of the film that it had "been evoking a multifarious response worldwide".
During this period, she was invited to the International Conference on Thinking held in Phoenix, Arizona
titled 'Creating the Future: Paradigm Shifts in all Disciplines'. There she presented a path breaking piece titled ‘The Shift to the New Being’.
She was later invited to the United Nations
, where she presented the concept of a Peace Awakening Force, a forum of the avant-garde of science, art, and spirituality, organized as a complement to the peace-keeping, peace-building, and peace-making efforts of the United Nations.
Her appearance at these two venues was backed by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
, as well as the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and the City Council of Zürich.
Production and presentation of experimental works in Xerox Art, Video-Photography, Body Art, Argolithic Art and Video Art as well as experiments with Brion Gysin’s Dream Machine and Cut-up techniques.
1988:
1990:
1992 to 2000:
2000:
2001:
2002:
2003:
2003–2009:
2010:
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
based Swiss Indian artist, and film maker, who was born in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, and educated in film and ethnology in the United States and Switzerland.
Chandrakant's work explores the interrelationship between experience and transformation. Her training in mythology and film both play a cardinal role in her frothing edge artistic practice which takes the form of Time Pieces, Time Capsules, and Living Works of Art.
Her work has premiered at the Art Basel, the Palais Palffy in Vienna, the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the Locarno International Film Festival, the Trento International Film Festival, the Festival Max Ophüls Preis, and the Mumbai International Film Festival among others.
Life
Preeti Chandrakant's father was a Time–Life photographer in the 1960s. Her mother, Kamala Chandrakant, was a writer of India's mythological comics Amar Chitra KathaAmar Chitra Katha
Amar Chitra Katha Stories") is one of India's largest selling comic book series, with more than 90 million copies sold in 20 Indian languages. Founded in 1967, the imprint has more than 400 titles that retell stories from the great Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables in a comic...
, which have sold over ninety million copies worldwide.
Self trained in art, she took her early lessons from the likes of Achille Bonito Oliva, Brion Gysin, Meret Oppenheim, Robert Mapplethorpe and Werner Herzog.
Chandrakant has a son with actor and thinker Romano 'Roma' Fasciati. She lives in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
and Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
.
Time Pieces
A museum or gallery visitor viewing a piece by Preeti Chandrakant won't see an installation, a photograph, a painting, a video or a performance. Instead, the viewer will be drawn into an interactive experience, a Time Piece.Chandrakant's ephemeral Time Pieces are framed periods of time in which, according to the artist's oral instructions, human beings referred to as Elements engage the viewer in an experience, often by starting out a conversation. These human Elements may be the Living Works of Art that she 'sculpts' in her studios in Zurich and Mumbai, or simply any collaborator who is available, inspired and ready to participate.
Drawn into and actively engaged in a cerebral as well as an emotional experience, the viewer turns into an Element of the piece, and is empowered to become an artist of the piece.
A recent Time Piece of Chandrakant, shown at the ART Basel 2010, is from a series of six pieces called This Art is Immaterial. This series is based on the mother phrase Everyone is a Potential Work of Art.
The Time Piece called One Veiled Question has a burka clad Element approaching visitors saying, “Excuse me, may I ask you a question? Am I art?”
If, during the resulting conversation, the visitor utters either the word 'object' or the word 'religion' , he or she is interrupted by the Element, who lifts up the veil, removes the burka, and cries out “Oh no! Did you say the word object?” (or, “Oh no! Did you say the word religion?”) “This is the end! It's all Immaterial!”
The Element then pauses for a moment, before declaring, “You have just
been interactive in a Time Piece called One Veiled Question by Preeti Chandrakant.”
Chandrakant says, "In fifty years, maybe sooner, most artists will have stopped creating cumbersome objects. Galleries, museums and private collections will be alive with art that breathes."
As Time Pieces are meant to be a 'real' experience of what transpires, not a virtual one, and no physical object may be produced, there is no documentation of the work. There are no photographs, catalogs or videos.
Chandrakant's 'dematerialized' Time Pieces function fully within the framework of gallery or museum. Time Pieces can be repeated and can be acquired for private and public collections.
Time Capsules
A Time Capsule is a predefined period of time during which a private meeting between Preeti Chandrakant and the collector takes place. Time capsules may be purchased. They are numbered and the purchase is registered.A Time Capsule cannot be sold, or passed on. It stays with the collector as a piece of memory, which can be shared with others, or not. It goes with the collector when he or she dies.
Living Works of Art
In interactive happennings, close to a hundred of which have taken place since 2002, Chandrakant ‘sculpts’ Living Works Of Art. These happenings inspired by the mother phrase "Everyone is a Potential Work of Art" have sometimes lasted five days and nights.Chandrakant's Living Works of Art also participate in her Time Pieces.
As with the Time Pieces, Chandrakant permits no documentation of what transpires during these happennings. They can only be experienced live.
Previous work
Preeti Chandrakant's early works have been shown at galleries, museums and cultural institutions in many countries. Her films have premiered at the Palais Palffy in Vienna, the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the Locarno International Film Festival and Trento International Film Festivals, the Festival Max Ophüls Preis, and the Mumbai International Film FestivalMumbai International Film Festival
Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films , is a festival organised in the city of Mumbai by the 'Film Division', Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. It has been organised since 1990, and focuses on documentary, short and animation...
among others.
For her early works, Chandrakant used different names, like Preeti von Roma, Kali, or Preeti C. Kant, in order to delink her identity from her work.
1987 - 2001
In 1987, Chandrakant entered into a full-time collaboration with Swiss author Romano 'Roma' Fasciati who had grown up in the alpine village of StampaStampa
Stampa is a former municipality in the Maloja district of the Swiss canton, Graubünden. It is now part of the municipality of Bregaglia.-Geography:Stampa has an area, , of . Of this area, 14.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.8% is forested...
, home to the family of Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...
. Jointly they embarked on what was to be a fourteen year long precise investigation of human consciousness, which culminated in 2001. Chandrakant calls the works of this period Outer Journeys, Inner Odysseys.
A Goat To The Gods (as Preeti von Roma) is a video collage of behind-the-scenes 'found objects' with Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski , was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered as a leading role actor in Werner Herzog films: Aguirre, the Wrath of God , Nosferatu the Vampyre , Woyzeck , Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde .-Early...
and Werner Herzog, which depicts "an absurd journey into a jungle of veiled madness" revealing the 'doings' of Kinski and Herzog against the backdrop of real Africa. A Goat To The Gods premiered at the Palais Pallfy in Vienna.
Al Gatun, (as Kali) is a black and white feature film, (with the mesmerizing cinematography of Werner Herzog trained cameramen Rainer Klausmann and Beat Presser and the magical music of Popul Vuh) describing "a journey from the real to the surreal", shot with Roma and the people of his village, Stampa. Chandrakant won an award from the Federal office of Culture of the Swiss Confederation as well as the extremely rare special prize of the jury (headed by Karin Brandauer) for a film d'auteur, at the Trento International Film Festival. Al Gatun premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and the Festival Max Ophüls Preis.
Jesus Goes to India, (as Preeti Chandrakant) is a feature film, describing "a journey from the real, to the surreal, to the abstract, to the absurd", with Roma and family members and friends in India. The film premiered at the Festival Cinéma Tout Ecran in Geneva, the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy and the Mumbai Film Festival. It was broadcasted on various television stations, and sub-titled in different languages. The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
asserted in a 2001 review of the film that it had "been evoking a multifarious response worldwide".
2002 to 2009
From 2001 onwards, Preeti Chandrakant collaborated with Romano 'Roma' Fasciati on a body of thought about art, evolution and spirituality and the interrelationship between experience, perception and transformation. It is from this body of thought that arise the impulses for Chandrakant's current work, Time Pieces, Time Capsules, and The Living Works of Art.During this period, she was invited to the International Conference on Thinking held in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
titled 'Creating the Future: Paradigm Shifts in all Disciplines'. There she presented a path breaking piece titled ‘The Shift to the New Being’.
She was later invited to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, where she presented the concept of a Peace Awakening Force, a forum of the avant-garde of science, art, and spirituality, organized as a complement to the peace-keeping, peace-building, and peace-making efforts of the United Nations.
Her appearance at these two venues was backed by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
Pro Helvetia
The foundation Pro Helvetia is a public foundation of Switzerland, held by Confédération Suisse.-Presidents:*From 1939 to 1943, Heinrich Häberlin.*From 1944 to 1952, Paul Lachenal.*From 1952 to 1964, Jean-Rodolphe de Salis....
, as well as the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and the City Council of Zürich.
Grants and awards
- Arts Council of Basel (Kulturfoerderung des Kantons Basel-Stadt)
- Arts Council of the Bregaglia (Società Culturale di Bregaglia)
- Arts Council of Graubünden (Kulturfoerderung Graubuenden)
- Arts Council of Italian Graubünden (Pro Grigioni Italiano)
- Arts Council Pro Helvetia (Pro Helvetia Schweizer Kulturstiftung)
- City Council of Zürich (Stadtrat der Stadt Zürich)
- Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Switzerland (Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten)
- Swiss National Television (German (DRS), Italian (TSI) and French (TSR) stations)
- National film prize – emerging filmmaker(National Arts Council of Switzerland – section Film)
- Special prize of the jury (Trento International Film Festival) Italy. President Karin Brandauer.
- Audience Favorite Film (Trento International Film Festival) Italy
Press extracts
- Mit Al Gatun (Die Grosse Katze) wurde Kali nun von der von Karin Brandauer präsidierten jury des Filmfestivals von Trento mit dem Sonderpreis ausgezeichnet.
- Der Film, in dem östliche Vorstellungen von Wiedergeburt sich mit Bildern wandernder Seelen vermischen, liegt quer in der Schweizer Filmlandschaft.
- Es geht darin um ein Gleichnis eines Mannes, der auf der Suche nach einem verschollenen zu dem wird was er sucht.
- In ebenso faszinierenden wie geheimnisvollen Schwarzweiss-Bildern ...
- Al Gatun wurde am letztjährigen Filmfestival von Locarno gezeigt und von der Jury als 'sehr spezieller Film' qualifiziert.
- Vigore della fotografia in bianco e nero, dialoghi concisi e densi, interpretazione ottima quella di Roma, inquietante senso di frontiera tra realta quotidiana e mistero
- Grande successo.
- Ce film, par son orientation spirituelle est completement hors normes.
- Schlechthin faszinierend ist hier wie sich die Menschen mit Ihren fremdartigen Handlungen, ... wie zu einem exotischen Ritual gruppieren.
- Das kann dann zu so faszinierend dunklen Spielen ... führen.
- Plein de sensibilite.
- Explosively sensitive.
- Un itinerario iniziatico e sapienzale, in un paesaggio ricco di mistero, magia e fascino, sulle tracce di una donna e di un vecchio israelita.
- Il rarissimo premio speciale dela giuria per un film d'autore ad Al Gatun di Kali.
- Auf eine märchenhaft versponnene Art setzt sich (der Film) mit dem Fremdsein auseinander.
- A piece of art, a movie that is intimate and sensitive.
- Decisamente originale
- ... erzählt von Katzenmenschen und von Verschwundenen ... dehnt die Zeit und spielt mit dem Geheimnis.
- Un po' zen un po' dadä .... come un momento di ipnosi.
- Plein de sens et d'interrogations. Il faut voir.
Selected chronology
1983 – 87Production and presentation of experimental works in Xerox Art, Video-Photography, Body Art, Argolithic Art and Video Art as well as experiments with Brion Gysin’s Dream Machine and Cut-up techniques.
- Minas - 1983
- Single Channel Video, 21 mins, Color, Sound
- With Achille Bonito Oliva and the music of Vangelis
- Co-direction, Screenplay, and Editing
- Commission Kennedy Art Foundation
- Various venues and galleries in Europe
- Graffiti - 1984
- Single Channel Video, Length variable, Color, Sound
- Graffiti-esque video vignettes for Keith Häring
- Collaboration, acting
- Art Basel
- Various venues in Europe
1988:
- A Goat To The Gods
- Single Channel Video, 21 minutes, Black and White, Silent
- With Klaus Kinski, Werner Herzog, Bruce Chatwin
- Screenplay and Editing
- Museums and galleries around the world, and Goethe Institutes
1990:
- Al Gatun
- 16mm, 74 minutes, b/w, sound, sub-titled in different languages
- With Roma and the people of Stampa, and the music of Popol Vuh
- Screenplay, Direction, and Editing
- International film festivals, television stations, and galleries.
- Grants and awards from Swiss and Italian cultural institutions
1992 to 2000:
- Numerous Conceptual Works
2000:
- Jesus Goes To India
- 16mm (For 35mm Blow-up), 85 minutes, color, sound, sub-titled in various languages
- With Roma and Chandrakant's family and friends in India
- Screenplay (Co-written), Direction, Female Lead and Editing
- International film festivals, television stations and galleries
- Grants from Swiss cultural institutions
2001:
- Sweet Surrender(It takes two to tango)
- Large format multi-channel video triptych installation with objects and sound.
- Direction, Camera and Editing
- Shedhalle, Zürich
- Salt
- Large format multi-channel video triptych installation with salt, objects and sound.
- Direction, Camera and Editing
- Kunsthalle Arbon
- Step Into My Salt and Water
- Concept and models for Large Format multi channel Video Installation with salt, objects and sound for very large spaces.
2002:
- Now Time Here Space You Matter - Time Piece
- Pyramid of Evolution
- Public Art concept for a post-religious contemplation hot-spot that plays with time, space and matter.
- Global Peace Awakening Force
- At the United Nations General Assembly.
2003:
- Shift To The New Being
- At the International Conference On Thinking’ in Phoenix, Arizona. 'Creating the Future: Paradigm shifts in all disciplines'
- Immersibles
- Six Real Reality Inner-active Environments that are created to combat Virtual Reality Interactive Environments and induce back into the body experiences.
2003–2009:
- Incensestickypoetospiritualfog, Just Living No Life, No Bliss Just This. - Time Pieces
- PRESENCE close to a hundred happenings in Zurich and Mumbai
- Living Works of Art
- Time Capsules
2010:
- This Art Is Immaterial
- A series of six Time Pieces inspired by the maxim “Everyone Is A Potential Work Of Art”
- - One Veiled Question (“Excuse me, may I ask you a question? Am I art?”)
- - One Open Question (“Excuse me, may I ask you a question? Am I a work of art?”)