Gigi Scaria’s upcoming installation at the upcoming Kochi Muziris Biennale will only add another edge to the artist’s impressive line of work

Meeting Gigi Scaria is an interesting experience. That is because much like his work, his personality has layers. He might be witty and jovial on the outside but a conversation with him reveals the deeper layers that make him think the way he does. Be it his take on how homeopathic doctors make money, or his reflection on a satirical forward from a friend, Scaria is a man who is always aware of the many layers that exist in the lives around us.

Little surprise then, that his work can be viewed as plain stunning on the outside, but delve into it and Scaria lets you see the dark undertones beneath. What makes this visual artist a favourite with the international crowd is the fact that he not just understands subtleties but also knows how to cleverly underplay them. It’s completely up to the person seeing it to decipher it. “You should let people think for themselves. Shouldn’t you?” he quips.

What is occupying a big chunk of the artist’s time right now is “Chronicle of the shores foretold”. His installation proposal for the Kochi Muziris Biennale 2014, this one proposes to be another of Scaria’s awe inspiring, 18 feet tall, installation art.

Ask him what he is doing and he explains. “It’s a large-size bell made of steel, suspended on bamboos. The bell will be pierced all over and will have water jetting out from every hole. The water pumped up from the backwaters against which the performance will take place, will be channelled back to the backwaters when it flows down to the ground,” says Scaria, putting it simply.

But like most of his works, this one too has undercurrents, ones that are as deep, if not more, as what appears on the outside. Scaria smiles as he explains , “If we imagine the bell symbolically representing time, the flow of water from it could be caused by the intention of puncturing time. When we puncture time, we lose history. When we lose history, the act of suspension becomes meaningless.” Suspending a bell from the ground is an activity exercised by civilisations throughout the world.

The act of suspension, in this case, also draws attention to mappila khalasis, a group of people traditionally employed at ports and dockyards. Khalasis drew ships and boats on shore for maintenance and also pushed them back into the sea. With no machines, they relied solely on their raw physical strength.

During the act, they will keep the humungous bell suspended on bamboos with their local technique and support systems. And although Scaria is deep into the project, it’s not unusual for him to be able to come out of it and get into something else. “I can work on a number of things together. I guess that is what keeps it all interesting.”

Of course, Scaria’s definition of “interesting” can also reflect the greys of the world rather starkly at times, beautifully under layered, at others. So be it his “City unclaimed” at Smart Museum in the US, or “elevator from the subcontinent” at the Venice Biennale 2011 (the first time that India participated) his traveller’s enthusiasm, his eye for detail always bring an edge to his work.

Over the years, Scaria has showed his work in countries such as the US, the UK, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Trinidad and Dubai.

But ask him what the turning point really was and he feels it is his residency programme at Cittadellarte, Foundation Pistoletto, Biella, Italy, in 2002. “It broadened my horizons. It changed how I looked at things, made me think of how there is so much more to anything than what appears.”

A philosophy that clearly reflects in his work.