Temporary Homes Cast Temporary Shadows

Inevitably perhaps, while viewing Ayessha Quraishi’s works, one is reminded primarily of the ethos and methodology of Indian modernist Nasreen Mohammedi. It would be appropriate at the outset to point out that in Mohammedi’s times, modernity was not challenged in the same way as, say, by certain writers during the very last few decades of the Twentieth century. Also, the discourse about the failures of modernity as discussed in the book ‘Architecture and Politics in the Twentieth Century – Studies in Modernity and National Identity ( Editor : Kishwar Rizvi, Co-editor: Sandy Isenstad), seems indicative of a sharper dialogue elsewhere than within the relational discourse in art – we may speak at length of colonialism and its ills, but at the end of the day, it would be hard to completely dis-intricate modernity from themes of human (capitalist?) discourse. Suffice it to say that, for the moment, there are similarities between the works of Quraishi and Mohammedi; and, equally, differences – of which, more later.

In reality, concepts of modernity began to appear much earlier than we normally imagine, and were directly related to economic theory – the rise of industry was in fact a Eighteenth-century phenomenon and art per se had no place except, perhaps, as an activity relegated to the ‘sterile’ classes. Of course, accounting for modernity in art in any great detail, at this point in time, would be a formidable and complex task. However, in order to make a departure, we can say that modernity emerged as a transformative force during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, challenging traditional artistic conventions and reflecting the profound changes in society, technology, and culture. This period witnessed a radical shift from the established norms of representation, leading to the birth of various avant-garde movements.

One of the key characteristics of Twentieth-century modern art is a break from realism and a shift towards abstraction. Artists sought new ways to express the complexity of the modern world, often abandoning realistic depictions in favor of distorted forms, bold colors, and innovative techniques. Cubism, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, fragmented and reassembled images, challenging the viewer to perceive multiple perspectives simultaneously.

The exploration of the subconscious mind and the embrace of chance also marked the modernist movement. Surrealism, spearheaded by artists like Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Paul Klee along with many others, delved into the irrational and dreamlike, questioning the boundaries between reality and imagination. Meanwhile, the Dada movement, with its anti-establishment ethos, rejected conventional art altogether, embracing absurdity and chaos.
Photography, for instance, not only influenced the subject matter of paintings but also prompted artists to question the very nature of visual representation. The advent of film further expanded artistic possibilities, enabling the exploration of time, movement, and narrative in ways previously unimaginable.

Modern art was also deeply entwined with societal changes. The tumultuous events of the 20th century, including World Wars and social upheavals, influenced artists to respond to the challenges of their time. Political and social commentary became integral to artistic expression, as seen in works like Picasso’s “Guernica,” a powerful condemnation of the horrors of war.

Thus, modernity in art was characterized by a departure from tradition, an embrace of abstraction and experimentation, and a reflection of the profound shifts in society and technology. If we consider that it was a dynamic and transformative period that laid the foundation for the diverse artistic expressions we continue to witness today, we may have to qualify the statement somewhat.

Needless to say, Quraishi is a practitioner of modern techniques by way of the fact that her oeuvre thus far also includes photography and videography. This becomes apparent in her previous usage, for instance, of photographs of dilapidated billboards, but again, it would be important to understand that these have less to do with pure photography and moving-image than their being acts of recording the built environment, and squarely placing the object at which the lens is pointed as a resource for contemplation and carrier of the artist’s personal concerns. This observation permits us to segue into a more detailed investigation of Quraishi’s presentations of temporality as it is processed in her ethos, via poetry and mark-making while also at the same time returning to our mention of both Quraishi and Mohammedi as modernists. Here, we must immediately recognise the play of certain ‘values’ involved.
Very briefly, Mohammedi’s works owed nothing to the optimisms and overheated debate that characterised the baroque dynamism of the works of futurists such as Marinetti et al. Thus, with Mohammedi modernity is quite simply a state of affairs and she held in abeyance the ferocity of movement that was so much a central theme in the early modernists. On the contrary, her approach was far more a delicate exploration of deliberation itself.

It is also said that Mohammedi was intrigued by the gray space that results at certain times, due to particular technical situations. This is accomplished at certain times, in a more experimental approach by Quraishi, especially in the silver-on-black pieces that give the distinct impression of architectonic verticality.
The exhibition contained works spanning two timeframes seemingly of two years each.
Works: 2021-2022 :”Poet Mererid Hopwood and I spent a summer in conversations about water. How it flows from and with memories that have sometimes personal, sometimes national and sometimes global meanings. Works: 2023-2024: “In the wake of the human condition in crisis, a reminder of communities displaced and their changing relationship with their natural environments”.(Artist’s statement courtesy of the artist/Koel Gallery.)

A familiarity with Quraishi’s oeuvre is required in order to interpret or decode her statements – both Zen and Sufism are apparent throughout, as evinced in her rather cryptic expressions that may seem introrse to some, but the keys to Quraishi’s works lie in Formalist theory as well as in the plainly poetic. This means that Quraishi’s work can be approached at other levels than the visual.

The Russian Formalists, including Mikhail Bakhtin, were a group of literary theorists who emerged in the early 20th century and focused on the formal aspects of literature. Formalist analysis, as proposed by the Russian Formalists, emphasized the intrinsic structure of literary texts, considering them as self-contained entities with their own rules and devices. In poetry, formalist analysis involves studying the elements of a poem, such as meter, rhyme, syntax, and structure, independent of the historical or social context. The goal is to identify the unique qualities and artistic techniques that contribute to the poem’s meaning and aesthetic experience. Russian Formalists like Viktor Shklovsky and Roman Jakobson were particularly influential in developing these ideas.

Mikhail Bakhtin, although associated with the Formalists, is also recognized for his distinct contributions. He focused on the dialogic nature of language, suggesting that meaning arises from the interplay of different voices and perspectives within a text. Bakhtin’s ideas go beyond strict formalism, emphasizing the dynamic interaction between language and social context.

Regarding the link to linguistics, Russian Formalism, in general, drew inspiration from structural linguistics. The Formalists adopted the idea that just as the structure of language can be studied independently of its content, the structure of literary works can be analyzed independently of their socio-historical context. Russian Formalist analysis primarily focused on aspects like rhythm, sound patterns, and syntactic structures, aligning with some linguistic elements such as phonology, syntax, and, to an extent, semantics. However, while linguistic theory often has a broader scope encompassing language use in various contexts, formalist analysis in literature tends to be more specific, concentrating on the formal features within the confines of a particular work.

Thus, the artist proposes a question: What is home? And she answers: In a broader sense, it extends beyond a physical place to include spiritual connotations. Again, she asks: What is home when it is lost? And she answers: The one drowning sees a different picture than the one at shore though they face the same water. This may factually be true but the idea of separateness is an illusion. We are all connected energetically. We are walking one another home. As within, so without.

The foregoing discussion about Formalist theory and linguistics now finds its placeholders in Quraishi’s work. Time is examined in it’s very essence in the holding up to view, aging and yellowing paper, and plus meditations and deliberations executed as explorations and experiments in sketchbooks and the transfiguration of photographic images – all these are presented in a visual reverse-engineering, as it were, as virtual phonemes, morphemes and finally, at the level of the ultimate figure of linguistic study – the sentence.

The sentence is often considered the final irreducible focus of linguistic studies because it represents a fundamental unit of meaning and communication. Linguists often analyze language at different levels, including phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Among these levels, syntax, which deals with the structure of sentences, is particularly crucial.

Sentences convey complete thoughts and units of meaning. By analyzing sentences, linguists can understand how words and phrases come together to create meaningful expressions. While linguistic studies also delve into other levels of language structure and meaning, the sentence provides a comprehensive and intricate unit of analysis that captures essential aspects of human language. By understanding the structure and functioning of sentences, linguists can gain insights into the systematic and rule-governed nature of language, contributing to a deeper comprehension of linguistic diversity and the principles underlying poetic and lyrical communication.

In conclusion, sentences are everywhere to be found in Quraishi’s works, more so than in Nasreen Mohammedi’s work. In juxtaposing these two modernists across geophysical spans in fact makes for a rewarding journey – an adventure that is at base much like a seeking out of common and unique features across different languages while enhancing our understanding of the astounding variety in artistic languages which are themselves underscored by the fundamentals that drive human communication.