PICK MY DIRT....the meaning of art...

It is with much deliberation and a whole lot more introspection that i sit down to write my first proper blog in about...ummm....i dont know....about six months.And in these six months,much has come to pass,much has changed,including myself.And I have changed only as much as the society has forced me to(after all,we are all social creatures).And apart from the paradigm shifts in my artistic persuasions,not much has changed in me either.In these six months,I have tried my hand at poetry (and daresay,I have miserably failed),at directing movies(until I realized I am no Kubrick),at being a musician (until all my composed tunes started sounding the same),and finally,at being a playwright.And it is precisely in the pursuit of this last of my interests that I have won some acclaim,and a few accolades as well.

And it is precisely from that point of time that I stopped being an artist,the instant I started to evaluate my creations from the perspective of others.Picasso,in an interview,had once said – ‘An artist cannot fail, it is a success to be one.’So while his art form changed from the exquisitely elegant to extravagantly hideous,he cared little for others appreciation of his art,that his creation could satiate his urge for personal expression was enough for him.And it is for this very reason that I today disown the most appreciated of all my plays,Nabaramayan,not because the message it conveyed (power of media to shape public opinion) is not something close to my heart,it is.The reason I disown it today is because it was written for the wrong purpose,to entertain an audience,rather than gratify my own need of personal expression.And it is for this very reason that ‘Pick My Dirt’ remains a personal favourite.True,its central act is hugely inspired,but not the concept, the concept remains as original as any,the thoughts,hugely personal.The thought gave direction and meaning to an otherwise imbecile and meaningless pantomime act.And in that,it remains hugely original.

Ever since I performed ‘Pick My Dirt’ at Recstacy,I have come across many praising the act for its wonderful acting,and for the hilarious mime act,while completely overlooking the subject of the play.It was never meant to be mere entertainment for the audience,never intended to attract the claps of the judges,neither was it intended for all the prizes that it won,but rather convey the central concept of ‘remove the cause of evil,remove evil’.The inlying humour was merely a support,not the reason.Its sad that it won so many prizes without any body understanding the real meaning of the act.Nothing hurts an artist more than his creation being taken out of perspective,its almost like watching ones own son being depredated before his own eyes.

P.S : For those who have little or no idea about what ‘Pick My Dirt actually is,it is a pantomime act performed by the drama group of Chayanika at Recstacy 2kx.It starts with a person entering the stage dressed in charlie Chaplin attire,feasting on bananas and throwing the peeled off skins around.It is precisely at this point of time that a sweeper enters the stage and slips one one of the banana skins,after which an altercation ensues,ending with the sweeper rendering Chaplin unconscious and carrying him off on his shoulder instead of the garbage filled sac that he had previously been carrying.

P.S:I remember once reading about a famous American painter who had been asked to paint the walls of one of the plushest restaurants in New York .But the painter,feeling aggrieved that his creativity could be evaluated in simple materialistic terms,drew on the walls of the restaurant,his greatest,and most ghastly and hideous piece of work,so that anybody dining in that restaurant would instantly lose their appetite.Ironically,the first person to be invited to that restaurant for an honorary dinner was he himself,the day after which,he committed suicide in his studio.