Her husband told The Telegraph that she would’ve loved to be on the seventh page of the newspaper as it was her favourite. The last time they had been photographed together was by a journalist at Tate Modern. On the seventh page of The Telegraph, they were seen standing hand-in-hand in front of Three Eggs by Nam June Paik. She had insisted on writing the caption herself – The lady in the photo used to be like the egg on the screen, and the man like the egg placed in the middle. Now she is the yolk, he is the white and they are seen standing inside the camera. Last night Smith wrote in his personal journal – She used to be a fried egg, I used to be boiled and now, we are scrambled beyond recognition.
They were in time, what these eggs were in space.
This choreographic project is an exploration of firstly, how technology mediates memory and further, how memory mediates behaviour and movement. It traverses through phases of remembering, forgetting, recuperating and inventing history. Inspired by experiences of Indians in post-colonial India and post-1950’s Britain, I have attempted to create a narrative that is remembered, edited and invented in the process, using filters of language, numbers and sounds that are intrinsic to memory as mediation. This project proposes the questions of a post-produced reality, which remain unanswered, and open to further exploration.
It was envisioned as a live performance using superimposition and live feed, giving it various levels of interpretation and was presented in such a format at University of Roehampton, London. I took Fawad Khan's endearing and thought-provoking work as the starting point and as a constant inspiration. I am thankful for his wonderful interpretation of Aab-e-Gum and the beautiful lens that he provides to look at partition. However, I did allow the piece to go wherever it needed to, exploring other territories - ones I inhabit at the moment.
Music : Lasya by Anoushka Shankar
Shot and edited at University of Roehampton, London