A different kind of artwork in Kochi

Three currencies, three loudspeakers and three languages will combine to narrate a different tale of the value of numbers at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) exhibition of contemporary art beginning next week.

In a portrayal that promises to enrich the viewers' experience, artist D.Sunoj is ready to mount his drawing and sound installation, titled 'Zero to Right', at the Aspinwall House, one of the major venues of the second edition of the KMB that opens Dec 12.

In two separate works -- drawing and sound -- connected by a common theme, Kerala-born Sunoj will also be dealing with his native state's deep links with the Gulf countries and its historical trade connections with the rest of the world.

In the drawing section, titled 'Zero to the right drawing' spread over three rooms, the 35-year-old artist will present on the walls the value of $2,000, first in its original currency followed by the corresponding exchange value in the UAE currency of Dirham and then in Indian rupees, each currency getting its own space in a separate room.

In the second, sound installation section, titled 'Zero to the right', the same value of the currencies will be spoken in three different languages - the value of the dollars in English, that of Dirham in Arabic and later in Malayalam.

"The idea is to push the value of the numbers to a different level, a performative level when it becomes an experience," says Sunoj, the Bangalore-based artist.

"We deal in these numbers every day, but when we hear it -- the numbers have a chanting, meditative quality."

While the first room housing the art work will represent the drawing of $2,000 (1 to 2,000), the second room will portray the number from 1 to 7,346 (the exchange value of $2,000 in the UAE currency) and the third room will have the drawing of 125,427 dots, representing the exchange value of $2,000 in Indian rupees.

An old-fashioned loudspeaker placed in each room will chant the same figures, separately.

While it takes two-and-a-half hours to chant the value of $2,000, it takes seven hours to do the same for 7,346 dirhams. The time for chanting the value of 125,427 rupees starting with 1 will be 56 hours, according to the artist.

"Kerala and the Gulf countries have a deeper relationship. Also Kochi was a trading centre in early times having commercial transactions with the rest of the world. Long ago, in the same room where my art work is now installed, people may have counted money. That is a significant context for me and my work," said the artist.

While Sunoj himself has given voice to the numbers' chanting in Malayalam, it is done by an American volunteer in English, and a student from the UAE in Arabic.

"Sunoj is a very talented artist. He started as a painter but always had an interest in conceptual art. His projects are very research-oriented. The social responsibility of an artist is reflected in his works," said Kochi Biennale Foundation president Bose Krishnamachari.