Kata by Priyanka Sarkar

KATA ISSUE 1 I VOL 1

DECâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;16 I INR 599/-

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CONTENTS

FASHION

25 Ugly is the norm 29 Normcore and Post Modernism 45 Godmother of Punk 49 Bhootsavaar 57 Gender Neutral Fashion

ART

67 Influence of Surrealism in Indian Art 69 The Violent Aesthetics 85 Double Tap 91 Art Rebels of Catacombs

LIFESTYLE

99 Underground 101 Delhi Underground 103 Artist Alert 107 Cryptic Sessions 113 The inititation media in Subculture 115 Berlin Underground 119 Parallel Films 123 Frank - Donnie Darko

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Credits Editor in chief Deeptika Murali Priyanka Sarkar Conceptualisation Priyanka Sarkar Deeptika Murali Head of Photography Deeptika Murali Priyanka Sarkar Assistant Photography Ananya Singh Krishti Khound Makeup and Styling Priyanka Sarkar Deeptika Murali Head writers Deeptika Murali Priyanka Sarkar Layouts Priyanka Sarkar Krishti Khound Ananya Singh Models Krishti Khound Swasti Jain Suchita Arhi Pallavi Sen Special Thanks Nitin Bal Chauhan Sebastian Lezcano Vinny Bhagat Neha Das Mirei Birginia Ankit Aggarwal Lavanya Kapoor Shriya Zamindar 13

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EDITOR’S NOTE

A rebellion, a movement, a culture. The power of Anti is a stronger force day by day. Our magazine KATA is just that; an Anti movement. We are about the people, who are a part of this revolution with us. From artists to muscisians, in this issue we talk about Indian art inspired by surrealism and the fast life of underground culture while going back to parallel Indian cinema experiencing the neutrality of “Gender Fluid Fashion” ; the underground art scenario in the catacombs of Paris and the new revolution of normcore fashion that wants you to look normal in a hardcore way. We bring you the first issue of what it means to live and breathe a revolution. Deeptika Murali Priyanka Sarkar

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CONTRAIRE

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UGLY IS the norw By Deeptika Murali

How beauty standards in the industry are changing for the good

It really feels like we are living in an age where fashion is becoming unattractive by day. The kind of fashion which people will eventually start hating just like it happened in the 80s.

started questioning the beliefs that beauty was the fundamental purpose of art. The art depicted diseases ridden prostitutes and the poor who were affected and cornered by the effects of urbanisation. Art which depicted the plight of the common people became “beautiful and real”.

Art Ilustration by Deeptika Murali

The brand Vetements has recently started to become the top layer of high fashion as it peddles out fashion that up until now only goth and grunge teens could wear. But isn’t fashion supposed to make you look good? The internet in today’s age has democratized all the information which was previously accessible to only a handful of experts. This has eventually lead to changing phases of aesthetics. The time where professional makeup artists were considered a big deal because only they had knowledge about certain techniques confined to their jobs are long gone. Vloggers are teaching children as young as 12 year olds to doll themselves up through YouTube. Designer brands are collaborating with brands like H&M and offering clothes at throwaway prices to the common people. Looking good is hardly a challenge in the world anymore, It’s become more of a standard.

Then comes the 80s classic hardcore scene where bands like Black Flag produced music which was simplistic and fast in nature as compared to the 70s reggae and happy go lucky sort of music. The music reflected the crisis going during those days and are still remembered as the most significant of the last century. Coming back to fashion, agencies like Ugly Models have built their entire business on this understanding. Brands like Diesel and Calvin Klein have been their clients for years. Models in their agencies are all branded unattractive by the mainstream media but they are certainly a huge hit in the industry now. With their stretch marks and cellulites showing these models are not afraid of showing off their bodies to the world and everyone now seems to suddenly love this concept.

In a world which is more visually satisfied than ever and where everything looks good, the most simple way to stand out is to draw out a degree of repulsion. Karl Rosenkranz, a German philosopher was the man behind the term,” aesthetics of ugliness” way back in the 18th century. By the start of 20th century many artists and expressionists

The brand Vetements which works on ill fitted drapes and wonky outfits which are completely devoid of the principles of aesthetics are fast becoming the cream layer haute couture. It is true that a lot of people buy clothes from 26

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brands like these but then it depends more on the prestigious price tags and the desirability related to the brands rather than likeliness. There is irrefutable artistry in the clothes of brands such as Philip Plein and other anti-fashion designers but you will hardly see people wear such clothes on the street. The designer behind the brand Vetements has also proclaimed by saying, “At Vetements it’s always, If its ugly then we like it.” Art Ilustration by Deeptika Murali

Maybe fashion in today’s world is trying too hard to become memorable. Ugliness has the power to destabilize and is often the niche of the more progressive crowd that has emerged in recent years. It has the energy to shift opinions and transform tastes - and that is much more attractive than mere beauty. 27

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NORMCORE AND POST MORDENISM By Deeptika Murali

The evolution of post-mordern anti-fashion

othing can be more anti than a phenomenon that rejects its own self-expression. The term is only a few years old and was something of a joke but it has swept through the world and has become a phenomenon. Normcore is a trend to end all other trends. It embraces sadness over individuality with a sense of blending in but at the same time standing out. The term was first defined by the K-Hole, a trend forecasting agency. “ Normcore means you pursue every activity like you’re a fanatic of the form,” they wrote. “It doesn’t really make sense to identify Normcore as a fashion trend, the point of Normcore is that you could dress like a NASCAR mascot for a big race and then switch to raver wear for a long druggy night at the club. It’s about infinitely flexible, sunny appropriation.” It is not a phase, it’s a lifestyle.

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar Clothes by Phoolwati

of the century was more focused on glitter, colors and gimmick. Nu Rave as it was called was taking over the fashion scene with an extreme sense of self-expression. But then over the years the flamboyance of Nu Rave became repulsive and people started getting tired of it. They craved more blandness and calmness in the way they were dressing. With the recession also hitting most of the counties around the world, fashion started to become more serious. This was the start of normcore. Now almost 3 years since the trend started, Normcore has undergone a lot of changes in itself. The new form of normcore is now referred to as Post Modest. It is more intelligent than normcore Wearing a sweatshirt with a rocket on it because you like rockets won’t cut the deal. You need to be prepared to justify your choice of clothes. The clothes are more intellectually designed without being pretentious. They are more interactive with the world we live in. Rejecting the concept of brand symbolism and logos, the designs are more dystopian.

Normcore is a simple coloured shirt, a plain pair of jeans and an everyday trainer which are all probably unbranded and mildly monotone. It is an ordinary haircut, an asexual dress which is devoid of any personality. Big brands also took up this trend like Chanel’s supermarket everyday set and the travel lounge by Louis Vuitton. The counterculture that has given rise to such trends has been twisted in a cat and mouse game with the more commercialized fashion market. Whenever a particular anti trend becomes mainstream, the counterculture will just move on to invent something more unexpected and new. Somewhere along this looking very fashionable became hard work and in comes the trend of intentionally looking bland and safe. The earlier half

Of course the mainstream will catch up with this too in no time which will start looking suspiciously staged and uncomfortable. Anything that becomes too popular is bound to become mainstream. Post modest fashion has its roots back in the 1960s. Which is suffice to say that something incredibly old is again trying to look new. Fashion has been doing this for a long time. In a world tat couldn’t produce an original idea since punk and grunge revolution, pseudo newness is just plain cruel. 30

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Photography by Priyanka Sarkar Clothes by Phoolwati Photography by Priyanka Sarkar Clothes by Phoolwati

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Photography by Deeptika Murali Clothes by Phoolwati

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar Clothes by Phoolwati

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Photography by Deeptika Murali Clothes by Phoolwati

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Photography by PDeeptika Murali Pullover by Phoolwati

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar Pullover by Phoolwati

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Photography by Deeptika Murali Pullover by Phoolwati

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar Pullover by Phoolwati

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Photography by Deeptika Muralir Pullover by Phoolwati

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar Pullover by Phoolwati

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THE GODMOTHER OF PUNK By Deeptika

An ode to Nina Hagen whose presence in the punk scene during the 1970s caused enough scandals and admirations alike

A risk taker since her career started, the German singer Nina Hagen has represented many characters over the last four or more decades. After her early hopes for an acting career were foiled by the Communist state, Hagen took a musical turn, that shaped her namesake Nina Hagen Band in West Berlin’s Kreuzberg region in mid-1977 and shocking people with her screams and snarls about taboo subjects. Along with her music, she also experimented a lot with her on stage looks, never shying away from looking eccentric or frightening in front of her audiences. Hagen became a very influential figure in Germany’s early punk scene, in the end going to New York for a solo career and then towards Paris to team up with fellow rebel, Jean-Paul Gaultier. In this edition of our magazine we summon this godmother of punk and celebrates her lasting marks on music, fashion and much more.

English, to visiting and performing in festivals around the world, and showing up on an Austrian network show (amid which she taught scandalised viewers on the craft of self-pleasure) Hagen drummed up some excitement wherever she went. Her unparalleled style: Unpredictability marks her every look. Whether wearing electric red hair strewn with flower petals, thick eyeliner and metal studs, or an out of this world highlighter-yellow ponytail, red lipstick and a white fur leather jacket, Hagen frequently walked on the lines of feminine and grotesque. Every now and then, she personified as the Mistress of the Dark – with a delicate side to it. In 1989, Hagen collaborated with the equally eccentric designer , Jean-Paul Gaultier. For her album Street, she even appointed Gaultier, alongside British punk designer Vivienne Westwood, to plan the three different outfits she wears on the cover. Regardless of how she modified her body, the common factor all through Hagen’s style lay in her openness to endless fashion potential. She used clothes as a way to channel characters outside of herself, whether lively, arousing, royal, or hairraising.

Beginning of a Revolution Born in 1955 East Berlin and raised by her mom, a film actress named EvaMaria Hagen, and stepfather, vocalistmusician Wolf Biermann, Hagen defied her Communist surroundings from an early age. By 1974, she was singing with a group called Automobil, and released her hit single with them in 1974, Du Hast den Farbfilm Vergessen (“You forgot the colour film”). The song’s apparently safe lyrics – focused on a sweetheart irritated at her beau for neglecting to pack colour film for their vacation – hid a politically charged meaning aimed at the sterility of the Communist state. Hagen kept on sharpening her intense musical style. After connecting with three likeminded artists in 1977 – Manfred Preaker, Herwig Mitteregger, and Bernhard Potschka of the band “Lokomotive Kreuzberg” and author Reinhold Heil – Nina Hagen Band was. The band became famous in the following years, mainly because of its exceptionally charming front-woman, before going their different ways in 1979. Hagen, obviously, had more dreams to fulfil. From moving to the United States to record her music in

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In 1981, Hagen assumed another part: mother to Cosma Shiva Hagen, whose name was taken by an alleged UFO sighting by her, and in 1990, to her child, Otis. Since becoming a mother, Hagen’s politically mindful and challenging approach to her music and activism has always been solid, whether it shows in her boycotting a fur fashion show, or standing up for the homeless. She’s always exhibited her personification of the punk culture by declining to wear fur ,studs, and dark eyeliner. Or maybe, it’s her daring approach to deal with making art in her own way that has kept her fans watching eagerly for her next move. 46

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By Krishti Khound

itin Bal Chauhan,a graduate from NIFT,Delhi in the year 2002 with the best design award collection in hand then says “I managed money somehow to make my graduating collection though I won the best designer award by collection was just made in 8k bucks”. Coming from a working class strong beaurocratic family in Himachal, fashion happened by accident to him. Father being an IAS officer desired his son to be a civil servant too. The diligent student got through IIT Roorkee and that then dropped out to take up economic honours but “I told them what I wanted in my life and i will do it”,says Nitin whose fate had already been framed.” When I look at a person and see the way he is dressed I sense the kind of personality he has I think the role of fashion is to project yourself in the way you are, my vision is to restore Indian fashion to how it used to be. There was a time the world looked at us for luxury whereas now people look at the west and see luxury for someone maybe a Gucci bag is luxury and a Raj Pratab bag might not be in the same level”, says Chauhan.

database of artisans in the area and associated them to mold understudies and architects the nation over suddenly villagers amidst no place were a piece of standard design. It worked. Until the administration changed and familiar appearances were substituted by suspicious new ones who thought about whether he wasn’t doing this “social work” for political reasons. The time had come to separate and dispatch his studio in Delhi. Be that as it may, the ties remain. “Fashion to me is something very basic. The way we clothe ourselves is influenced by tribal fashion. The concept of volume, cuts, weaves, dyeing all come from an existing heritage.”

He didn’t hope to lurch onto crafts that were vanishing. Bringing those experts out of indefinite quality turned into a need. So he began the NGO SEWA Himalayas that made manageable business answers for tribal weavers and tailors in a joint effort with government work programs. He additionally made a

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With the start of his alternative clothing Bhoot Sawar, The Himachal based designer, Nitin Bal Chauhan is ready to start a new chapter in his life.

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COLLECTION BY BHOOTSAVAAR

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STORE AT HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

Launch of Bhootsavaar in Escape Music Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;13

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M O N O Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

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GENDER FLUID FASHION By Deeptika Murali

Saying goodbye to gender clothing as we know it

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

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lexible legs, cheekbones that could chop right through glass and long hair – most would agree that male models nowadays don’t fit in with the old thoughts regarding masculineness, and, nowadays, nor do the fashion they’re paid to flaunt. Female models are less diverse when compared to their male counterparts, there’s surely a feeling that the line amongst male and female dress codes are turning out to be blurred.

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tone and we saw men going down the runway in skirts. The Dover Street Market store is a proof of this too. All the floors don’t have any definitive section for men and women, rather there are common floors for both genders in an open space. Another concept store called Selfridges, which calls itself the Best Departmental store in the world has teamed up with artists and designers to open a genderless pop up shop. The concept of the shop is “an environment in which you have freedom to transcend notions of ‘his’ and ‘hers’ according to your desired color, fit and style” selfridges.com.

Inequality that exists between the genders is a major issue, and has a significant part in the society. These gendered ideas are all over the place, even while conversing with people, with expressions like “be a man” and “don’t be so girly”. Society has made certain set of rules for both men and woman in the way they should be dressing up.

On the home front designers like designers like bodice and Love birds are both into creating androgynous designs with minimalistic separates. Gender fluid fashion started slow in India in 2013 Lakme Fashion week. The designer Druv Kapur of DRVV introduced this concept and carved a niche for himself by interpreting feminine masculinity to audience fashion. He says, “For me it is more of an expression of power rather than gender. It is also an empowering gesture.”

In the fashion sense, women were supposed to follow the idea of wearing clothes that are more prettier and darker masculine colours were confined to the male gender. Any female that went against this was termed as tomboyish or outdoorsy. In the 19th century, society had determined that wearing pants and jeans was solely for the male gender. As an act of defiance, women started wearing trousers which in turn became a revolutionary decision. By the following century, traditional gender roles became blurry.

Fashion industry has always been accepting about other peoples styles and dressing sense. So the designers have the liberty of doing androgynous collections. Back in the 80s people thought the future will probably be filled with bodysuits and spacesuits. But how wrong were we. A man in a free flowing dress is the future. Or a woman in a suit with hair gelled back is the future. But we have a long way to go in this field too as this type of clothing is still a part of a subculture rather than going full on mainstream.

Gender blending is an old concept which has come out as new recently. It is getting harder to tell the women department from mens. In 2009 Comme des Garçons set the

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

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Illustrated by Priyanka Sarkar

Gender neutral fashion is more than fashion itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a resistance

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IL CASO

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INFLUENCE OF SURREALISM IN INDIAN ART By Deeptika Murali

Illustration by Neha Das

urrealism, in contrast to the art movement in Europe, certainly showed influence on Indian visual-arts contemplation since the time immemorial. Iconography in Indian art epitomises an inimitable panorama of surrealistic metaphors. Indian epics, folklores, ceremonies and the wide selection of different folk arts which proliferate as an incarnate practice, depict unusual imagination of the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind. Over past few decades, an effort has been made by various distinguished and upcoming artists to track the influence of surrealism in the contemporary Indian art. The artists who

have created surreal Indian paintings are Sanat Kar, Ganesh Pyne. Nehaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings comes with an infusion of a blissful surrealism revolving around her instant and cherished world, looking to switch identities and realign the accustomed, and making them even more desired. Her exhibition of realism often reflected dream-like elements. A whole realm of imaginary is unleashed in her principally elated art. The painter perfectly blends the elements of romanticism, imaginary and free form in conjunction with an innovative use of light and shade to create a realm of poetic surrealism in her paintings. 67

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

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The Violent Aesthetic By Priyanka Sarkar

Featuring Neha Das, an upcoming surreal transgressive artist from Delhi as she explains what exacty inspires her unique art

Neha acts on that the creation of modern art reveals mind and soul that surprises every time she portrays on to the canvas. But, her personal favorite is stippling form of sketching on paper with a black micro-tip pen. She also thinks that people viewing the art connect it with different perceptions and viewings.

The reflection of feelings gets on to the endearing part of the artwork that inversely effects on the better form of expression, rather than speaking about. She quotes on the art as a form of expressing the feelings without being restricted. Her inspiration is nothing specific, she gets inspired by day to day life, be it a new place she is visiting, meeting or talking to new people, walking by the road or boarding a metro. Moreover, she doesn’t have a favorite artist also whose artwork inspires her. But, then again comes her creativity which she puts into her art and gets eyes hooked on it.

Her art is not meant for everyone as it has a certain shock value to it. Not many artists in India do such kind of paintings. She has painted walls in cafes in Himachal Pradesh and has been actively promoting her artwork on social media. But, the kind of art she does definitely requires a bigger platform.

Modern and psychedelic art is a creator of an unrevealed world that surprises with its blissful appearance.

‘I speak better through art than just speaking’

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“You have no idea what a mind can think”.

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Are you expanding your mind? Or are you just going crazy?

Illustration by Neha Das

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Well Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m so sorry I fu*ked your reality

Youth and bizarre world Illustration by Neha Das

Illustration by Neha Das

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Illustration by Neha Das

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Keep Looking

Illustration by Neha Das

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Look Around Illustration by Neha Das

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DOUBLE TAP By Deeptika Murali

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n the sea of inspiration pages and re-grammed references that we call Instagram, it can be hard to find something that’s unique. Cue: @nightflesh, a blog-turned-Instagramaccount run by a pretty anonymous Brit with a penchant for horror movies, music, art, BDSM, the occult and the unusual. Fuelled by the curator’s wildly imaginative streak and his desire to unearth lesser-known visuals from the past, the account broadcasts everything from BDSM artworks to 80s horror movie VHS graphics and the

pages from 70s books and magazines that centred around witchcraft and the occult. His account can be described as a predominantly an image collection for the realms of film, music, art, fashion design, BDSM, the occult and the unusual, while acknowledging the absurdity of it all. Exploring and giving exposure to, what’s out there now and is lesser known from the past. Things that aren’t restricted by mainstream limits or formulaic repetition. 85

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Art Rebels by Catacombs By Deeptika Murali

An exclusive peek inside the world of the secretive underground artworks done amongst the ossuaries of Paris

challenges and complications for me. It’s a privilege that I am capable of doing this down here. If i can do it here then I am capable of drawing and painting anywhere.”

eneath the city of lights lies the city of darkness. As above so below, the catacombs of Paris are more than 180 miles of tunnels which snake through the entire city of Paris. It has almost 6 million dead bodies arranged in different patterns by architects and art enthusiasts. Most of the tunnels are off limits to general public.

Graffiti also has a long history in the catacombs. There is a group of highly secretive artists called collectively as UX who are responsible for most of the art works done in the catacomb. They don’t charge any subsidies nor do they have any intention of consulting or informing the authorities about their work. Jon Lackman, one of the first journalists to write about this group compared them to ‘computer hackers who run without any governance’.

Back in the 18th century the catacombs used to be a limestone quarry but as the city graveyards began to overflow, the dead were exhumed and placed inside these tunnels. Now it is part of a guided tour for people to see these bones piled decoratively side by side.

Graffti art has been dated back to the 18th century in the catacombs. The capuchin monks used to do religious artworks on these walls. Now to uphold the tradition, cataphiles leave such artworks on the walls for other fellow cataphiles to find and collect. They also have a habit of leaving their mark on the walls using spray paints. Painting is not the only form of art that is found here. Performance art and bone sculptures are frequently showcased here. There is even a word to describe this : “Kata-art”

But the restricted part of these tunnels are visited illegally by people called the cataphiles, who’s members sometimes spend days below the city. These cataphiles enter the tunnels through secret entrances that they have mapped out for themselves. As the catacombs go deeper there is an entire network of tunnels and rooms filled with artworks, graffiti scrawls and murals that have an almost professional finish. At a ‘grand opening’ in 2004 - which included waffles and wine savoured deep underground - Mirei Birginia, 58, a well known cataphile artist, unveiled her fourth mural to ten friends at an intimate gathering. It was a seven feet tall, dreamy surreal scene with folklore creatures and old village scenes. Birginia said: “ There are a lot of

The darkness beneath Paris is not as dark as people think. It is a vibrant life that casts its allure on anyone who visits. They might run parallel to streets or maybe they dive into holes which have no end. The cool, still freedom of these underground tunnels with all its possibilities doesn’t fail to overwhelm.

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ALTERNIEREND

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UNDERGROUND By Priyanka Sarkar

You need to go underground to see what’s happening

hat are those thoughts that fly through your head when you’re in a new and unique place? Excitement? Fear? Apprehension? The vast multitude of emotions that could overwhelm you are infinite. But there are some things you just can’t be prepared for. Not by movies, TV shows or even second hand information from trustworthy friends.

parking, subways, art galleries and what not. These are all obscure places. The contrast between underground and mainstream is more directly related to the process of visualizing social worlds and discriminating between social groups. The crowd includes only those who have a different taste and mind-set and are more open to adopt new ideologies in the aspect of party culture. The mass included in this are concerned more for rebellion and resistance and this tradition as a result gave little consideration to social change.

So your older friends convince you to join them for a party on the outskirts of the city. You drive through barren land, then forests to find a clearing. And everything seems surreal. Giant bonfires, colourful clothes, trading/ barter systems, neon lights, goblins, you name it. Well, actually you wouldn’t be able to. Even the grass was covered in neon confetti. It was a night spent in a uniquely harmonious but cosmically intense state of mind, albeit with people we didn’t know. A day, a night, a simple breakaway from the dull clunk and monotony of the city.

Photography by Deeptika Murali

The term ‘subculture’ can be used to identify those taste cultures which are labelled by media as subcultures and the word ‘subcultural’ as a synonym for those practices that clubbers called ‘underground.’ The entire industry is based on trust and is not in any way mainstream and commercial. Subculture is beautiful, goodwill and trust.

So what is underground? Underground is more independent rather than being sold out, pure versus corrupted and exclusive versus accessible, in other words underground doesn’t comes to you like mainstream, you have to go to the underground.

The mainstream is criticized for being superficial and unimaginative

Underground parties often take place in abandoned buildings, basements,

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

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Delhi Underground

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Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

By Priyanka Sarkar

Beginning of a new alternative cult

elhi is known for its night life and it’s party scenes. So, it comes as no surprise that Delhi has started embracing the underground culture getting inspired by European alternative party scenes.Talking to an underground party organizer and rapper, Moulik Siddharth, we came to know his side of the whole subculture. He tells us about an incident once when we went to a party and all of a sudden the lingerie was decoratively placed all across the house. It turned out that two French girls who were roommates, were launching a secret pop-up lingerie line at a private party of theirs. The first thought that came to his head was how Delhi guys would react at a party like this and he shivered. While he pondered that thought, his friend arrived being trailed by 3 others guys. Suffice it to say, they weren’t allowed inside. Moulik even mentioned the private parties socialites, businessmen and politicians hold. They’re an odd mix of boasting, drinking and letting loose. But these parties usually leave a bitter after taste in the mouth for a variety

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of reasons. Whether it’s the lewd, drunken and aggressive behaviour with each other, or the misbehaviour with their respective escorts. None of it is a fun topic so let’s move on. But I’ll end this with a story about a relatively balanced scene, one without any fire dancers or Israelis. These are the pseudo-commercial, yuppie, rich kid, BYOB parties that happen in large residencies and cater to a limited crowd. The age group is strict, and everybody knows everybody either through work, industry and/or music. In essence it’s almost a private party, but not exactly. All narcotics are to be consumed outside the venue to avoid liability. The organizers are also people you know, so you’re more likely to respect these rules. To summarise, we have many kinds of underground scenes in the city. Many we haven’t even come close to covering. Moreover, even skipping over coldplay, BDSM and orgies... Never mind. You get the point. Explore and be aware sure as hell don’t scare that easily.

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ARTIST ALERT

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SHIVNAKAUN

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Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

KATU

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

By Priyanka Sarka

A little chat with music producer, Vinny Bhagat

elhi based music producer, currently 34 started his music career as a drummer in a fusion electronic band called Envison. Later, he went to Australia for eight years to study music technology in University of Adelene and that is when he started experimenting with noise and sound. His music career took a turn when radio Adelene offered a gig and the birth of Shivnakon took place, his very own venture. It was the starting point to his new phase in his career. After the first gig, he didn’t stop and endless gigs took place. It was all about playing live with improvising sound; it was more like a conversation. It was beyond music, it was uplifting one’s spirit in order to know how one feels. Though, he came back for frequent visits to India for Electronic Empowerment Creativity, a music festival. He was invited specially for this event. Finally, after returning to India in 2011, he decided not to depend on anyone and started another interesting session called the live room – online space for artists. His main subject was “distributed music”,

like musicians meeting on online platform, exchanging audios and visuals. Core part of his research was based on live room sessions. “I lived on the beach in Australia for a long time. So when i came back to Delhi I needed the sea” He started shooting a project called Monsoon Sunset which entered around the river Yamuna which he stumbled upon while searching for water bodies in Delhi. “Yamuna is amazing and wanted to show people that it is not some sort of Trash River they think it is” he says. Right now he is developing his own brand of music and therapy products for holistic living. He plans on making music which has specific frequencies that provide calmness and therapy to the brain when heard. He wants to remain in India and educate people here about his genre of music and hopes to big through this.

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A little chat with music producer, Sebastein Lezcano

J/artist/music producer a.k.a. Katu(artist name) is an international artist from Brazil residing in Delhi, India. He has been an electronic music fan and highlights the change in the electronic music and how it has become a culture. He is currently 27 and started with his music career five years ago in Paraguay. He totally loves minimal techno and Katu says, “I feel minimal has more warmth and a soul to it.” Being a graphic designer as well, he has been designing flyers for his own gigs as well. His international tours include playing in Brazil, Argentina and Romania. His knowledge in the change in techno music includes the motor companies getting closed during recession back then and the cities became poor and violent as a result. The youth started to explore with machines, factory and industrial machines specifically and they didn’t know to pay any particular musical instruments so they started experimenting with the above machines and it became a culture and helped progressive bands. There were parties

playing this kind of music and one could actually be himself or herself be it gay, lesbian or a transgender. Music joined people and it became a community. Katu is not very pleased with the commercial artists because he feels that they don’t do it from the heart and just do it for their own benefits and it is totally commercial. This led to the underground movement in 2015 in Brazil started by him called the “Music Nerds.” People ran away from clubs because of overcharging and the shitty music. He says, “ people like us who are not very famous had no space to showcase our talent because in clubs we were forced to play commercial.” Music Nerds includes 7 members including 2 girls, out of which 3 of them being producers including Katu and promotes and manages artists and is an agency too. They have not been on the playing business much because they highly support the idea of just playing in quality places where the art is actually appreciated and the money doesn’t matter.

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CRYPTiC SESSiONS By Priyanka Sarkar

Secluded parties around the city

o when you hear art gallery, what can you think of except paintings, exhibitions? Ever thought of secret underground oarties happening in a freaking art gallery? Muisicians playing ive music of music genres never heard before, visual artists showcasing visuals and what not. Music genres like underground music, electronic, ambient, glitch, noise, experimental, etc. These music genres are not mainstream and one canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get to hear them in clubs or pubs. A niche audience is there in these kind of gigs, who are actually interested in the art form and appreciate it.

Photography by Deeptika Murali

Experimental and noise gig at Khoj gallery

These gigs not only take place in art galleries but, in abandoned buildings, living rooms of people, basements, parking lots, stables, and where not. Places you have never imagined can have crazy scenes like this going on. Usually, these parties are invite only and they have a minimum amount of donation like about 200 to 300 INR and bring your own booze concept. The best part about these gigs is that only people who are a lover of the art form are there and can interact too with like minded people. One can be oneself in these places, without any social barriers experimenting their taste. 107

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1 After320 Art Gallery

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

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EXPERIMENTAL NOISE GIG AT KHOJ ART GALLERY

Photography by Deeptika Murali

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The media initiation of subcultures By Priyanka Sarkar

Ways in which the media shaped subculture

he idea that authentic culture is somehow outside media and commerce is a flexible one. In context of fully fledged form, the belief suggests that grassroots cultures resist and struggle with a colonizing mass-mediated corporate world. The distinctions of youth subcultures are, in many cases, happening of the media.

than anything else, then, undergrounds define themselves against the mass media. Their main antagonist is not the law which might suppress but the media who continually threaten to release their knowledge to others. Thousands of years back, human race comprised of naked animals wandering wild without a worry in the world. Fast forward to the 21st Century and we have lifts, government, and Instagram. In spite of all these changes in our “modern” society, nudity has been avoided and still is is a taboo. But despite the general dislike towards the subject, a lot of people have embraced it in their own ways. Be it for art or maybe to keep up with fashion’s cyclical nature, nudity has reached a new level of liberation in the past decade as compared to the last hundreds of years together.

Every music scene has its own specific set of media relations. For example, ‘Acid house’, a dance club culture which evolved into ‘rave’ after scandalous media coverage about drug use, is particularly revealing of the cultural logics involved. There is no opposition between subcultures and the media, except for a determined ideological one. I do not uncover pure origins of sound, style and ritual, nor criticize a vague standing stone called ‘the media’. Rather, I look at how various media are integral to youth’s social and ideological formations. The organizers usually convey the message at a local level through local micro-media like flyers and listings to bring the crowd together. Niche media like the music press construct subcultures as much as they document them. National mass media, such as the tabloids, develop youth movements as much as they distort them. Contrary to youth subcultural ideologies, ‘subcultures’ do not germinate from a seed and grow by force of their own energy into mysterious ‘movements’ only to be belatedly digested by the media. Instead, media and other culture industries are there and effective right from the start. They are central to the process of subcultural formation, integral to the way we create groups with words.

The question now is why do people practice nudism? The reality is that there are many reasons why we shouldn’t wander around in our surroundings naked day in and day out? nudity is often seen as signals of sexual availability and many believe that your privates should to be held for your partner or yourself. Combining these reasons with all the badly directed publicity, it isn’t a surprise that many seem too shocked by the subject. It is important to take note of the setting of the nudity. We see nude subjects in art which are considered aesthetic. Real life sketching is an important part of figuring out how to draw and naked models are displayed in public. But take designer Rick Owens A/W 15 collection in which the clothes were cut in a way that the models’ genitalia was subtly visible. This caused an uproar in the media. People started saying that it was a simple and cheap tactic to gain media attention. But if this nudity is commonplace in art then why is it unexpected or considered outrageous in the fashion and lifestyle industry?

The term ‘underground’ is the expression by which clubbers refer to things subcultural. More than fashionable and trendy, ‘underground’ sounds and styles are ‘authentic’ and dented against the mass-produced and mass-consumed. Underground denotes exclusive worlds whose main point may not be elitism but whose parameters often relate to particular crowds. They delight in parental incomprehension, negative newspaper coverage and the best blessing in disguise. More

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Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

Neo Naturists were quite the sensation because of one plain fact. They would turn up to events in nothing but body paint. They were a big part of the London underground scene and certainly livened it up a lot. The group consists of three sisters, Christine, Jennifer and Wilma Johnson, who took performance arts to another level. They mixed songs and used audience provocation which got a very mixed response from people. Nowadays, the group has come together for a project at Studio Voltaire in South London. It is an amalgamation of eight grainy films of their performances and shows as well as figurative paintings, flyers and press cuttings of their events. 114

The point is by removing their clothes they were celebrating the human body in its naked glory and it was in noway pornographic. Now in their 60s, Jennifer still continuous to paint Christine while Wilma moved to a village in France and has become a surfer. But they are definitely not letting the age stop them as they are still active in underground clubs and events just as they were 36 years back. In a way there is nothing more confident than nudity. Nudists are people who are rarely ashamed of who they are. They seem to have learnt the fact that everyone is the same and there is hardly any reason in being ashamed of what others think of as “imperfections.” They are not hiding behind clothing because they don’t see need to do so.

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BERLIN UNDERGROUND By Priyanka Sarkar

The base of underground music

Photography by Priyanka Sarkar

In this way, the undeniable decision was to use Berlin as the image for this act to create the soul of the scene, as it is outstanding as the origin of Techno in Europe. The self-development of “Berlin Underground” can best be perceived as a stage for the combined show of most particular artists, with the endeavour of coursing them transnationally. “It’s our firm conviction that exclusive by standing together these disturbing advancements of the scene can be battled,” Katu says after playing in and around Europe. Since its advancement, Techno remained for the solidarity, love, and excitement of people who united in support of this exceptional music - the Techno-Movement.

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erlin is an energetic, dynamic city, and the nearby art scene mirrors its remarkable history and beautiful present. From painters to performers, Berlin is home to probably the most inventive figures on the universal stage. Various specialists from over the globe have taken the full favourable position of Berlin’s move period all through the 2000s to discover exhibition and execution spaces in the most startling spots. “I think there is both a feeling of individual opportunity and insubordination,” Katu said, a minimal techno music producer from Paraguay due to the verifiable and not very far off past of the city. The Wall has fallen, and alongside it, hindrances to imagination and self-expression.

To guarantee and protect these qualities through yield also, we moreover chose in 2015 on establishing a record name by the name of “Berlin Underground”. We are completely aware of the duty towards the scene this choice suggests. Due to that we are open for and need to energize both fair feedback and positive input. Tastes contrast, as everyone knows, and since the introduction of the expression “Techno” there’s a savage verbal confrontation about what “Techno” really implies; Through the method for “Berlin Underground” we need to spread our elucidation and thought of “Techno”.

“This is Berlin Underground” was a series of happenings beginning in 2010 with the desire of advancing Berlin Underground Techno and spreading it to different areas all over Europe. This system thrived quick, transforming into a cross-visitor wander, associating different artists in various nations in order to strengthen by their love for this sort of music. Katu believes that, “We consider ourselves to be an antipole to the expanding commercialization and sellout of electronic move music, while we attempt our best to keep away from to be restricted to one site or city, so far as that is concerned.” 115

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PARALLEL CINEMA By Krshti Khound

An alternative to the mainstream Indian films, exploring parallel cinema which thrived in the late 60s in India

sweeping term assigned to specific sorts of movies delivered in India that stray far from the traditions of well known standard silver screen. Despite the fact that it obliges minor film developments inside, Parallel Cinema is not a film development in itself and has no hypothetical system institutionalizing it. The movies and producers connected with this tag frequently have little to do with each other ideologically or elaborately. Parallel Cinema in India has expected different structures as the years progressed, beginning from the Neorealism-affected movies of Nehruvian India, through the all the more politically radical movies of the Seventies and the liberal humanist movies that are called autonomous film.

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Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, M S Sathyu, Adoor Gopalkrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli and G.Aravindan are few names affiliated with Parallel Cinema. These unbelievable producers had set such points of reference in film making that it is extremely troublesome nut to open and touch that sparkling line of their accomplishments not to mention breaking them, it is exceptionally intense and holy way of accommodation, commitment and energy about motion pictures that they have outlasted. “The work of Satyajith Ray exhibits a strikingly smart comprehension of exhibits a strikingly smart comprehension of the connection between societies, his thoughts stay relevant to the immense social level headed discussions in the contemporary world, not minimum in India.” Says Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate Economics. Satyajith Ray was the principal Indian to get Honorary Academic Award. He centered motion pictures fundamentally in Bengali. His first film “Pather Panchali” won eleven international awards. His work is perceived and acknowledged around the world.” Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s The Rat Trap (1981) fixates on a sit still, even useful to no end, man who takes 121

his special position in the patriarchy and primitive framework for without a doubt, until everything descends like a pack of cards. The course is scholarly, with a sharp eye towards surrounding, shading and piece. This quintessential Parallel film manages topics that are seldom gone up against in standard silver screen. The line between Parallel Cinema and standard silver screen has dynamically been obscuring as we witness certain standard movie producers exploring different avenues regarding structure and thoughts and with socially-drew in film lessening itself to a recipe. In any case, the apparition of what has been known as Parallel Cinema has dependably been revived to name, contain, market or reject formally or mentally difficult movies. “With the time we have developed richly, we have better procedures, world class offices however this had made us a conspicuous and visually impaired a portion of material culture. Bollywood have lost the commitment and makers and patrons are indiscriminately pursuing cash! It’s all cash diversion, what matter is the film a hit or flop! Surprisingly, motion pictures with such free script made crore. If Director need to give an attempt to something off class it is practically difficult to persuade creation and patrons.” Parallel movies are portrayed by their dismissal of well known structures, particularly the melody and battle groupings, their fondness for provincial settings or average workers, utilization of technique performing artists, an affinity for closeups and long shots, an extra utilization of melodic score, conditioned down shading palettes, their oftentimes formalist way to deal with sythesis and, here and there, even test altering designs. As the years progressed, these movies have quite often been financed by state-claimed establishments.

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FRANK THE ULTIMATE SYMBOL OF DESTRUCTION By Deeptika Murali

An in debt analysis and symbolism of the character Frank in the cult hit Donnie Darko

1000 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds ago, Donnie Darko flopped. In the sensitive aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, out came a film who’s main plot concerned a jet engine falling out of the sky which eventually leads to bizarre events. The film managed only half a million at the box office. But three years later the movie became a cult classic with countless dedicated fan pages across the internet. The once confusing failure had turned into a now confusing cult hit. Donnie Darko was a low budget film originally released in 2001. The basic storyline goes like this: A jet engine falls through the house of the Darko’s which spontaneously creates a new universe. In this parallel world which mimics earth, threatens life on the real earth. It is on a different space time dimension and is connected to earth via a wormhole, a passage between parallel worlds. Only one person can keep the universe from getting destroyed in 28 days. That person is Donnie Darko, a disturbed teenager who has hallucinations/ visions of a demonic bunny called Frank. In order to save the world Donnie will have to go back in time to stop the original jet engine from falling on his house. Frank has to make sure that Donnie destroys the new universe and saves the original earth. He manipulates Donnie into doing illegal things so that he is prepared for the main assignment. Frank arranges the murder of Donnie’s girlfriend which eventually pushes him to reverse time. The rabbit: What does Frank signify? One perspective is that if the

movie is seen as a serious exploration of metaphysical reality, then frank can be interpreted as an angel. His main job is to guide Donnie towards saving the planet. Frank’s ugly appearance can be explained as the destructive part of salvation. His appearance seems to suggest that Donnie himself must become both victim and a sort of spiritual ruler. Another theory is that Frank is simply a parallel to the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Just as the rabbit leads Alice down an alternative world, Frank does the same with Donnie. In short, the rabid hole in Alice in Wonderland is a wormhole for Donnie Darko, both access new realities. On one side Donnie as a very disturbed teenager, then Frank is more on the malicious side. He embodies the destructive and dark side of Donnie, imagined as the opposite of a rabbit: grotesque instead of cute, eerie instead of familiar, destructive instead of reproductive. Richard Kelly, the director of the film has produced a very intriguing yet engaging movie. His concepts of parallel universes relates a lot with string theory which is the latest in the world of physics. The film also conveys a sort of message about humankind: We imagine animals in a much uninspired way. Even in the parallel world, humans are the centre of importance yet again. It is sort of ironic that the real animals amongst us live in parallel universes we miss by chance every day. In today’s world people carefully scan for new life forms, by which we generally mean versions of consciousness like our own. But these animals are there in alternative universes right in front of us. Source - https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/61/73/ab/6173ab683ae1f05888af017104fe5f95.jpg

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