Event 2 -Making Strange

                       

 Making Strange is an exhibit at the Fowler Museum that includes two bodies of work by Vivan Sundaram. He is one of the leading artists working in India today. The first portion of the exhibit was Gagawaka, which consisted of clothes and outfits made out of recycled materials and medical supplies. The garments he made included surgical masks, bandages, pill wrappings, and many more. The clothing was my favorite part about the exhibit because I thought he had an interesting take on fashion and adding “going green” to his work was inspiring. One interesting garment that caught my eye was a dress made out of ties, especially because traditionally men usually wear ties. Gender roles and sexuality have been a hot talk in the media lately and I think that this particular dress is his way of expressing his opinion about these issues.

Medical supplies were a common theme throughout the exhibit. Sundaram had multiple garments made out of surgical masks and bandages, and he also used anatomy and medical diagrams in Postmortem. This portion of the exhibit included a collection of manikins and sculptures made of wooden props and anatomical models. He had many hollow manikins that he stuffed medical props in. During this portion of the exhibit I got the sense that he was conveying concerns about illness and aging. To me, I think Sundaram is in support of the medicine and believes that it can help people as they grow old or become sick. Having the makinins be hollow stuffed with medical supplies suggest that our body is just a shell and only medical professionals can understand what is going on inside.

Making Strange fits perfectly into our Medicine + Art theme this quarter. Sundaram utilizes medical models, props, and clothing to create art with a message.