Innovative, thoughtful observations at India Art Fair

Engaging visitors through performances, interactive media like sound and videos, or addressing social and environment issues, the sixth edition of the India Art Fair that began here Thursday offers generous portions of contemporary and modern art along with an assortment of interactive art as well.

IANS picks a few must-see engaging art forms.

1. Original May Also Be A Reflection: Artist Narendra Yadav hasn't used any object for this creation. Neither has he used any sound or visual. All he is offering is a dark, closed room where you have to enter alone. Scary, it might be for a second, standing alone in a dark room with one white light on the top of your head. But, the experience is worth the dare.

"It is all about confronting yourself and see how your egos multiply, and evaporate in the end. Its meaning can be different for different people," Yadav told IANS.

Not revealing how you can confront the egos, find out for yourself!

2. P.O. Box: It won't take much time to spot a big mustard closed box which is in the shape of a geodesic structure. This is the home of Princess Pea - an artist's alter ego - who has disguised herself as an abnormal human being, and has a big pea-shaped head on her petite frame.

The house is such that viewers can greet and share objects or postcards with her through peep holes and small openings from where they can start a dialogue with her and see her world.

Go meet and interact with Princess Pea.

3. The Mermaid's Mirror: This is another room in another corner of the fair with distorted, moving images and blurring sounds lending eeriness to senses. A loop of moving images is continuously playing on 24 TV-like boxes that have been designed by artist Sheba Chhachhi.

What Chhachhi has done is used 29 film clippings of legendary Bollywood actress Meena Kumari and set them inside those TVs, in which a fan moves with the heat of bulb, allowing images to rotate at a steady pace.

Chhachhi said the project stemmed from the story of a mermaid's mirror that never shows the true image, but always an obscured one, meant to be "insight through distortion".

See if you can figure out any of Meena Kumari's movies from the distorted stills!

4. How Green Is My Future: There are happy, playful children playing on green grass, but are sculptures coloured in green and made of pointed pins! Artist Nantu Behari Das has tried to address grave environmental concerns through his work using innocence of a child to make us "think" about their future.

"If we don't save our environment now, we won't be able to do it ever. The whole idea is to make people think about the future of their children, not career-wise but nature-wise," Das said.

"If they ask us how green is my future? What will we be able to tell them? It is just another attempt to make people think about environment. Let's hope they get the message," he added.

Touch those pins to feel the environment pinch!