Can we talk for a bit about some of your other work? There’s a piece, which is called ‘Me. No, Not Me, Buy Me. Eat Me. Wear Me. Have Me.’ Me, you know, not me, which I found to be just great. It’s a three-dimensional series of sculptures?
SHETTAR: I made this piece for Sharjah Biennial. I had a chance to visit the site before I could start on anything. Whenever there is an opportunity like that, I like to make use of it. Places and people are inspiring and stimulating. I looked at various things while I was there, heritage houses, people, street markets, industrial areas, gold souks, malls etc. One image stuck with me, a huge pile of car bumpers, rather a wall of bumpers. A month later we figured that it had come all of the way to India to be recycled, probably raw material that came from here originally! I had seen heritage housed in Sharjah that belonged to rich business men of that area in seventeenth and eighteenth century. They were big, but not really luxurious. Walls were all made of coral, just because that was the only solid material available and suitable for construction. Objects displayed in these houses– that are museums today– are humble, practical, purposeful and beautiful because of their simplicity. Today it is so different, even a small family has thousands of possessions. Buildings around the heritage houses were in contrast to them in every way. Another thing that struck my mind was excessive consumer trend of today, which is not exceptional to Sharjah, it is a trend allover in every country. Cars, especially junked cars, represented the peak of consumerism to me. I decided to go into my own city’s junk yard and pick up car bodies to put this piece together for the show. In some cultures recycling comes naturally, in some it is an elite habit. In a country like India objects live many lives, they do not retire fast, there is always a use for an old object, although it is fast changing, after all, it is a fast changing society. It was an awakening going into these junkyards. There is a huge economy out there, many lives are supported by the economy of junk yards. It was a huge learning experience for me. I had to always have a male escort with me not because I needed protection or help buying old car bodies, just because I wanted the men there to take me seriously and know that I really wanted to buy those old car bodies. They were always skeptical about me and my intention of buying old car bodies, they wondered what would I do with them. Sometimes they did not want to sell them to me. I collected junked car bodies which ranged from cars that had served their lifetime to new accident cars junked. I wanted to make sculpture and place them in the old heritage house in the vicinity of other functional objects. My sculptures looked like objects that could have some function, however had no function other than being art. I look at the ancient craft of basketry as a reference to start with, as baskets and pottery are the most essential things in any household if you went back in time by a couple of hundred of years in any culture. By doing so, I was weaving stories of these many cars together. I have chosen to keep the original colors of the cars here.

So I went to my own junkyard to where they ripped apart old cars. It was an interesting journey for me. I went there and then I started buying all these old car bodies, and then putting them together in this form. So there are cars which are really, really old, which have served their term. It’s done, so you have to break it apart. But there are the cars which are junk because it was an accident car, or just an old car. Every car has its own history, and it brings the story of its owners, so I cut them into strips and made them into these organic-looking forms. I was trying to make something that looks very organic, but at the same time had all this– which represents continualism and recycling.

Image courtesy of the artist and the Talwar Gallery
So is the title a request from the car parts? Somewhat calling out?
SHETTAR: It may not be the cars, cars are only a metaphor here for consumerism. It is about smart packaging of goods and marketing. Every object is crying out and saying buy me, eat me, wear me, have me, it is about that.

There’s another work that I looked at, entitled “I Am No One to Tell You What Not to Do.” I found that to be very interesting. That, too, is a sculpture installation?
SHETTAR: Yes. I made this sculpture in San Antonio at Artpace, residency. Here again I had a chance to visit the site much before my residency. I looked at various things while I was there. I went to a wood dump that was like a city dump. They had huge tree logs out there that were from roadside, fallen, road widening, trees cut for several other reasons. I went back home with this image.

I was looking at a possibility of using a local material. I figured mesquite is a very hard local wood. It is considered a pest as it grows deep roots and draws a lot of ground water. It is hard, grainy and polishes very well, however it does not grow straight and is infested with worms. So, it has no other use than barbecuing, due to its fragrance, and flooring. I have already worked with the idea of pests in my earlier work ‘Red breeze, green breeze.’ I took it further in this work by addressing the relationship between pest and host in various symbiotic relationships. I was looking at algae and fungus coming together in lichens – one produces food while the other brings moisture, it is a mutual dependency there. I was also questioning the difference between were pesticide, herbicide and genocide.

I used two contrasting materials here, mesquite a natural material to make forms that looked like mushrooms– a form of fungus and silicone rubber a man-made material to make algae like structures. Basically I got the forms of wood by cutting and throwing away worm infested portion. My forms were guided by what was left untouched by worms. By taking the idea of symbiosis I was not trying to preach anything, so I called it ‘I am no one to tell you what not to do.’

I did want to ask you about your travels as well. You’ve exhibited in various places of the world and traveled extensively. Tell me what is your impression of the U.S.— its people, government, and its standing in the world?
SHETTAR: My interactions have always been with artists, museum people and generally people connected with the art world. My interaction with the general public has been very minimal. I felt like connecting with people in general, people who are majority. While in San Antonio, I chose to work with teenage moms, who were all half my age and had kids.

I wanted to engage with them, learn about them, share my experiences. It was really interesting. We all made some traditional drawings together, it was fun. At the same time I got to know them. They were not much different from people I know from other places. Human feelings are all the same. Everyone wants a better living, all are vulnerable.

Where in the U.S. was this?
SHETTAR: In San Antonio.

Why is Indian art expected to look Indian?

How would you describe India’s presence in the world. How do you think it’s viewed by other countries and the U.S.?
SHETTAR: I think it is a growing economy a place for big businesses to flourish. I think it is looked upon as an interesting and important place. It is looked upon as destination for new ventures. However, it is uncomfortable when people look at it as exotic. Sometimes there is an expectation to see Indian qualities in the art works coming from India. I think it is unfair; one does not expect to see German qualities in a German artist’s work, one does not look for Canadian qualities in Canadian artist’s work, why is Indian art expected to look Indian? Every culture is different I agree, there are things that are universal too. Human feelings are the same allover, expressions could be a little different. A culture is exotic to a foreigner, not to one who belongs.

What are you working on now? And what has influenced that?
SHETTAR: Right now I am wrapping up some of my old projects. I am doing a piece which I have called ‘Touch Me Not 2.’ After that I am going to be starting with some new works and that is exciting for me.

Ranjani Shettar is represented by Talwar Gallery