Acceleration

Ghungroos, fabric, wood & steel 2" x 117", 2017

The work Acceleration, is based on Professor Will Steffen’s climate change graph “The Great Acceleration”, which shows the changes in Earth’s ecosystem and atmosphere owing to changing economic patterns of production and consumption, the latter especially gaining momentum post the 1950s.

The immersive installation titled Acceleration takes a direct reference from scientific research date, to argue the change of our epoch in our lifetimes, by presenting the deteriorating atmosphere. While the history of the planet presents evidence of atmospheric changes, the graphs presented by Prof. Will Steffen demonstrate the rapid changes due to capitalist human activities. By taking reference from these 24 graphs of changing socio-economic and earth-system trends, Galhotra made this tapestry work by sewing each ghungroo (trinket). This work was done in the artist’s Delhi studio with a team of women over a period of 6 months.

Ghungroos, which have been a trademark of Galhotra’s artistic oeuvre, embody a sense of fluidity, which is tactfully employed to deconstruct the anthropogenic trends of Steffen’s graph and artistically reconstruct them. The soft lustre or sheen of the metallic surface makes the graphical representation ambiguous, while the shiny surface draws the viewers in, making them confront the scientific reality. The peaking curve of Steffen’s research finds a new lease of life in Galhotra’s aesthetic imagination, as the ghungroos create a surreal graphical landscape, which evokes awe as well as serious contemplation.