The fluxus within public spaces

21 Commercial Zone was transformed into a living work of art through artistic interventions reviving it as a public art space for the three days

The idea that the nature of time can be experienced in reverse when exploring spatial history has become a medium of expression for artists. Through the exploration of collective stories, memories, and community, a window into the archives can be drawn into the past that leads to the evolution of shared spaces. The pop-up exhibition “Allomorphs of an Antecedent” by Roadside curates public spaces to reveal their multiplicity that can generate a fluxus of immersive experiences through installations and artworks that have been created in response to the building 21 Commercial Zone located in Liberty Market, Lahore. The unoccupied building that currently stands vacant and unnoticed by thousands of visitors who frequent the market daily. The exhibition creates an artistic intervention within the abandoned building transforming it into an emblem of urban decay. 

Participating artists included Aun Raza, Ayaz Jokhio & Zainab J. Khawaja, Hafsa Nauman, Jahanzeb Haroon, Laila Rahman, MALIK, Meena, Mohsin Shafi, Nisha Hassan, Nisha Ghani, Sahyr Sayed, Sajid Khan, Tehreem Mela, Wajeeha Batoo and Zainab Hussain. The pop-up was spread across two floors of the building and curated in a way that artworks are transformed into inhabitants coexisting with the labyrinth of water stains, peeling paint and debris that had been collecting on the walls over the years. The walkthrough’s atmospheric quality is set to the sound installation by Ayaz Jokhio & Zainab J. Khawaja titled “Megh” which was created through the layering haunting melodies of classical eastern vocalisations. Through these heavy reverberations, visitors go onwards into the exhibition space stepping into the photography installation by Aun Raza, the encounter transports the viewer into the scenery depicted in the black & white “Mongolia” series that features sparsely scattered buildings and stray street dogs. The textured dirt grounds in the photographs begin to resemble the dusty floors of the building creating a mirroring effect as they begin to merge into one site. This transportative quality of the work is achieved by connecting the desolate imagery of the “Mongolia” series with the present state of the 21 Commercial Zone by bringing the bright sunlight exteriors captured in the photographs into the vacant dark interiors of the building. Similarly, Wajeeha Batool distorts viewers’ perceptions of naturalistic forms through technology interventions using television screens in “Rhyme”, her digital imagery has been deliberately dislodged from its original context becoming sporadic visualisations that merge and align with the gallery space. Another instance of creating visual parallels can be seen in Mohsin Shafi’s “Arahant” which positions the direction of the projection directly onto the floor reenacting an entombment within the concrete floor. The figure seen lying peacefully on a patch of grass according to the title of the work has reached the state of enlightenment.    

In the lineup of exhibits, there was a video documentation of “Allomorphs of an Antecedent” taking place in a public marketplace courtyard located in Konya, Turkey featuring works of Tehreem Mela, Nisha Ghani, Sahyr Sayed and Meena. Viewers are offered this simultaneously happening roadside public display bridging a gap of 5000 km between the two cities. Sahyr Sayed displayed her work in the Konya pop-up, hung on the front door entrance of the building signaling an invitation to the viewer to commence their journey anchored to her larger 3 feet by 5 feet “Untitled” piece displayed in Lahore. The artist has broken away from her sculptural object paintings onto a large canvas hosting an explosion of forms in a plethora of details. The jubilation of the central form commands the attention of the viewer as they descend or ascend the staircase opposite the work. The emotive quality lies in the densely packed miniature forms creating a magnetic field orbiting through space. Another celestial presence can be seen in Laila Rahman’s “Junoon” where the artist has used stainless steel to create a sphere shape covered in graphite. The ominous form glimmers with details of gold leaf, its industrial weight is further amplified with the sound installation “Sar Dard” across the hall by MALIK where the materiality of urbanism is interpreted through the layering of chaotic shattering and collision echoing in a dark room. Exploring the subliminal communications behind broadcasted imagery, Zainab Hussain references video clips originally used as innuendos to curtail certain subject matter that she reinterprets as a visual experience liberated from censorship. 

The tactility of mark-making can become a lived experience as the process of repeating forms, showing restraint and resulting patterns map emotional responses in real-time. Such a process can be seen in Hafsa Nauman’s series where she uses embossing as a technique to create delicate impressions revealing a sense of longing and desire for a place. The works capture the internal world of the artist that is echoed throughout the infrastructure of the building, the gentility with which the artist has created these works reflects back to the lived histories of the space. Familial lived experiences that are an integral part of the building’s history are captured by Nisha Hassan in her series of photo transfer paintings titled “Melancholia Hypothesis” these fragile renditions are directly created on the surface of the walls and evoke a sense of forgotten memories. The artist pairs her creations with the older residual marks on the walls creating associations with our memory of childhood drawings and a longing for the communality that once inhabited the room. The classical technique of using egg tempera brings a naturalistic quality to the imagery that revives hidden layers of paint excavating traces of colour that had been buried under. Signs of aging and weathering on the walls have a constant presence in the exhibition, which lends itself as an active backdrop to works by Sajid Khan. The intimate postcard-sized paintings are resting on a delicate ledge nailed into the walls, “Remnants” depicts otherworldly rock formations that mimic the excavated edges of unfinished construction while “Intrusion” has smoke formations that are interrupted by a nest of broken linework reflecting the decrepit nature of the building. Jahanzeb Haroon’s installation is shaped as a totem  showcasing unlikely materials such as sponges, wood, cotton, rubber, broken slate, pebbles, street objects & fragments assembled into elegant tableaus of still life compositions. The miniature series of images are guarded by a single wooden drawer exaggerating the preciousness of their scale. 

Roadside has brought together a caravan of artists to work in collaboration with June Collection along with Assistant Curator, Ghazala Raees creating a unique artist-led exhibition that explored the minutia of personal and collective experiences. Such opportunities allow artists to transcend the limitations of traditional art explorations venturing into the ephemeral and multisensory experiences of their individual art practices bringing them into the public space. 21 Commercial Zone was transformed into a living work of art through these artistic interventions reviving it as a public art space for the three days. The pop-up exhibition started on 17th March and ended on 19th March 2023.