Indian Altar

Using the idea of connection I created an installation that refers to certain places and situations in India where people are perceived as individuals without distinction between different social and economic classes.

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An important point was trying to create an immersive experience where the observers were able shape a space in their minds thanks to the use of sound, smells, sight and maybe even taste and touch. The audio is meant to change the feeling of the environment where spectators find themselves by recreating and insinuating different situations where food is connected with religion in India (a lunch in a Sikh temple and an improvised altar with different offerings). The installation was also accompanied with real Indian food, fruits, plants, flowers, species, and candles.

 

I reinvented the idea of altar, hanging the “sacred element” instead of using something beneath (as altars usually do) to raise it. The sacred element in this case is a hand. The hand is used as a symbol of connection as it is the tool that everyone in India uses both to eat and pray regardless of class or gender. Hanging it upside down reminds of someone who is about to grab or eat some food, but at the same time its gesture resembles to a pray or to a religious act.