In July 203, we were excited to announce Sampad’s Digital Arts Bursary, an opportunity for a South Asian artist from any field interested in exploring and using creative digital technology in producing new work. The bursary aimed to support artists to foster innovation in South Asian arts.
One of the winners was Tarla, who we spoke to about her use of the bursary. Tarla is interested in memory and heritage, incorporating lens-based media, new technology, and sound to create innovative pieces.
At the beginning of this project, how did you envision this opportunity would impact your artistic journey? And was this different to the actual outcome?
This was an exciting opportunity to work using electrical components to make a digital interactive art piece. After seeing similar work which I admired, I wanted to make something that people would interact with as part of the experience. I wanted to use this technology to build on my arts practice as a socially engaged artist, creating the opportunity for conversation and reflection. From this project I also wanted to devise how I would use this in a workshop setting, and was able to do this with Sampad’s Create and Change group where participants were able to touch objects that were connected by electrical paint and circuits to a speaker that played various audio of interviews and nature sounds. This was great as it prompted people to speak of their own memories. My project did change from the original, as I was expecting to make something that could be left for an exhibition, however the artwork does require supervision. In that way it did not meet its expectation but it has been a good way of changing how people interact with the project and made it more personal.
How did you incorporate digital technology into your art practice? Could you share insights into the specific aspects or elements you explored?
My art is shaped through conversations and interactions, I use sound as part of the short films I have made. The project changed how sound can be heard through physical interaction. I was able to experiment using electrical paint, conductive thread and copper tape, on organic material such as dried leaves, flowers and bark and on manmade objects of a camera and a wooden fan, to create a conductive surface that once touched or moved would play a sound. I had to understand the code, to check how sensitive I needed the surface area to be. I had to learn some basic coding to ammend the code to work with people.
How do you perceive the role of digital technology in reshaping or preserving traditional art forms while fostering innovation?
I think digital technology gives artists another avenue to create work, it expands different ways people access art and where from. It can change the way we view art, bring in a modern perspective that opens up work to different generations. It can preserve digital art forms in greater access and storage. It can be accessed from all over the globe, opening up to different ways of interpretation. It also shifts the thinking that you have to have a programming background to make this type of work.
Could you elaborate on how you utilised the £1500 bursary to experiment with new mediums or technologies in your artistic practice?
The bursary gave me the time and space to experiment and prepare a new piece of work. It gave me the time to learn how to adjust the preprogrammed components, and learn through online resources on what I could do, and how I could develop the technology on a larger scale. I was able to think on a wider scale of how I can apply this through workshops, sharing how art and technology can be combined. It gave me the chance to secure a month-long studio space with Steamhouse Birmingham, to create and develop protype pieces that could be used with a group. I was also able to secure separate funding through CuratorSpace to buy materials to run workshop sessions, using the technology for the project.
Looking back, how do you envision the impact of this bursary on your artistic growth and the broader South Asian arts landscape?
As the custodian of my father’s photography archive, a collection of photographs which have been recognised as providing a social documentary of migrants coming to Coventry, UK from the Indian Sub-continent during the post war era to the millennium, I have grown up with the stories of South Asian people making a life in the UK. I have been looking at how these stories can be reimagined and experienced by different generations and people from different backgrounds. How these stories can be related to what is happening now in the world and people’s understanding of one another. The technology that I have used gives me the impetus to make work that people can experience in different ways.
What do you feel you achieved or contributed as a result of this opportunity?
I have really enjoyed the opportunity to make something new, explore the different potentials, work through problems. I have learnt new skills, that have enhanced my arts practice and career development.
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