The Re/View: Magic Processors: Jehangir Jani’s Work at Studio 1ShanthiRoad

Jehangir Jani has until recently been known for his works that tackled religious-erotic themes with wit, subversion and dark humor. His most profound works have dealt with gender, politics and religion. His significant bodies of work like ‘Faerie Tales…A Re-Look’, ‘Stories’, ‘The Dancer in the Tomb’, ‘Peers’ and ‘Great Expectations’ revealed his concern about the struggle between the individual and the hegemonic orders of religion and politics. But of late, his work has become increasingly light hearted and has taken a completely different trajectory that is equally engaging and relevant.

This September, when I went to studio 1ShanthiRoad at Bangalore to check in on how Jani’s upcoming show Magic Processors was shaping up, I was taken in by surprise. As I am wont to do, all I had expected to see was a collection of routine art objects. But what we had here was pure magic. A scooter on its onward motion leaving behind an evanescent streak of gossamer wings; a trail of butterflies. An office briefcase exploding and spewing around desirable objects from everyone’s wish list. Well, here is your chance. What is your wish? In a fantastic world with Magic Processors, everything is possible. You name it, and you got it.

Jani has earlier been called a maverick artist because of his impulsive and changeable affiliations towards various media. Just when he was neck deep into sculptures and installations, he would suddenly chuck it all and go on to create watercolors or paintings or videos. Or it could be the other way round. But with Magic Processors, we have in Jani a maverick in the true sense of the word. He lends his nonconformity to the objects he creates as well. With this recent work, which Jani produced during his residency at studio 1ShanthiRoad, he questions the dynamics of what we call ‘rationality’. In his concept note to the exhibition, Jani writes:

“Rational belief has made ordinary human lives one of drudge, and unfair circumstances have converted them to one of want, seemingly without respite.

But…if there was magic???

If a briefcase was filled with cars, bikes and Blackberrys: a thief’s loot or a common man’s dream.

If pressure cookers could conjure washing machines, mixers and fridges, or toasters could pop up televisions, the kitchen would become the fabled cave of treasures and the mundane would acquire a marvelous dimension.

If scooters emitted butterflies instead of exhaust, and mincers converted guns into animals, and travelling in auto rickshaws became a cricket match, and so on, perhaps the world would be a wholesome place to inhabit.

If it was simpler to lead a fulfilling life, perhaps we would not be on the brink of disaster as we are now.”

Touché.