Page 27 - MASALA LITE ISSUE 83 | AUGUST 2017

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Physical!

Aparna at her TED Talk ‘Art that craves your attention’, in August 2013 at the
TED Fellows Retreat

‘Space Filler’, an expanding cube
and these days we do care about authorship, and we protect our idea ownership. We
are working with the best of the best engineers, so it isn’t easy to copy us.
Have you ever, like other artists on occasion, found yourself all out of ideas?
I actually get ideas all the time — but they have to be good ideas, ones that work
(because they take so many years to perfect) — and they just tug at me until I put them
to work. I think this is one of the reasons I do this — to get them out of my system!

Do you get requests for installations from galleries?
Oh yes, a few, though we are not yet that well known. Also, I think our problem is that
we take up a lot of time and space, so it doesn’t always work out.

What has been your best sponsored project so far?
The ‘Space Filler’, a cube which keeps expanding, which has certainly captured the
attention of many!
What have been your biggest lessons and challenges?
Coping with constant failure. We’ve been doing this for the last 15 years now, and it is
very hard. We’ve so many ideas that just fail, and others, well they take so long to get
right. It’s a struggle, and eff ects your life, your mind, your fi nances, everything. And
also of course you can’t ever let it show.
I’m sitting in front of a talented
artist, and all you talk about is
failure. When do you think you
will start to see yourself as the
big success you are?
Oh never, that isn’t me at all! I
don’t think I can think of myself
like that. I’m too busy thinking
about how to get the work done.
Success is not important to me.

What does the future look like
for Pors & Rao?
Less stressful, I hope, and our
main goal has to be that the
work funds itself! Actually, Dr.
Philip Wright, who is in charge
of technology, joined our team
a few months ago and he has
already changed my life. He does
a great job, and now I feel I can
relax a bit.

‘Sun Shadow’, a moving sculpture

ALL- A C CESS INT O B ANGK OK ’ S C ONTEMP OR AR Y INDIAN LIFEST YLE