This is something I wrote on the request of Aastha Gandhi, for Studio 155 Artist Collaborative, in Delhi.
Note to Self.
What (the f***)?
We have discussed ad-nauseam the positives and the negatives of this pandemic, the social distancing and the isolation. An international tour is cancelled (boo!), a webinar with folks from remote parts of the world is attended (yay!). We all take a moment to acknowledge the hectic pace of our lives and appreciate this enforced break. We dutifully do some inner work, some journaling, and make some meaningful comments on the nature of our life, or if we are feeling slightly more generous, on life in general.
Then what?
We try to reinvent ourselves for the current times, make our work relevant, explore the digital space. Do the dishes. Go for a walk, try to stay away from social media (because it’s toxic, duh!) but can’t. Post. Check. Wash a few more dishes. Check again. Am I still relevant? Is the world still interested in me?
So what?
We realise we are stuck. Stuck in this weird time-space. In limbo. Unable to do the things we used to do. The things we love. The things we were good at and known for.
Now what?
Now I have to say something meaningful, cool yet off hand. Something so simple it was obvious all along, and yet changes lives profoundly, because I’m an artist who continues to be relevant in the pandemic after all.
Here it is – I try not to disappoint!
Is art really relevant? Are we as artists relevant? Do we have to take on this burden of making a difference? What if we give ourselves a break? A real break. And stop trying to prove that we matter. And instead we wait. Without knowing what we wait for. When it will appear. What it will feel like. But wait anyway, until we are sure. Sure in our bones, in our blood, that it is time, and we are ready, to act again.