Year - 2013, Selling ourselves for some change

I have always wondered, what is it with the word 'more' that people get attracted to since ages. All the development that I see around me, is aimed at getting 'more'. And in the language of currency 'more' translates to 'expensive'. Everyone wants to move from 'economical or cheap' to 'expensive'. Buy expensive, eat expensive and live expensive. My last work was based on this very concept.

My work comprises of chiefly two genres; Black & White acrylic paintings and Character Portraits done in ink. So far I have always put up my paintings in shows and exhibitions. It has earned me my share of appreciation from the viewers and buyers alike.

There is an undefined bond between me and my character portraits. I always feel emotionally connected with my drawings in a very special way. However, I never had an opportunity to display my drawings for the people to enjoy. This year I wanted to exhibit some of them along with my paintings at the Kanoria show in Ahmedabad.

The story began with my wish to give away my drawings for free to the people; Sort of pick-it-up-if-you-like-it.  I wanted them to keep it as a memoir, a priced possession. But people usually don’t value what they get for free. So I decided pricing the drawings for 5 rupees or 10 rupees. The second stage of the process came in when I wanted to keep some of the drawings with a ‘not for sale’ tag.  Instead, I decided to price them in such a way that it would be impossible to buy. For e.g. ‘1 Rupee 3 paise’ is a rather impossible amount to be paid if asked in exact denomination and in cash. My concept was ready. 1 Rupee 3 paise, although 'less' than 10 rupees, but was would turn out to be 'expensive' for anyone who would want to buy my work.

I also wanted people to feel that these portraits were alive, so I put up mirrors in between artworks. Whenever anyone would come in front of the display, they would see their own living image, and hence, every character in artworks came to life.

I decided to price every work for less than 10 rupees. The idea was to give a new meaning to the words ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’. Cheap prices were round figures like 4 rupees, 6 rupees, 9 rupees, etc. And the most expensive ones were 1 Rupee 3 paise, 3 Rupees 1 paise, etc. Oscar Wilde once said,  “Nowadays everybody knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” That also helped me give the pricing tag to the mirrors. “Look into it. Price it. Buy it”, which was finally reduced to “Look. Price. Buy”.

I selected the title for this work; “Selling Ourselves for Some Change”. To make the idea work and reach more and more people, I had to impose some restrictions in the buying process. One person can buy only one work, he/she has to pay in cash (in the exact amount represented with the work), the buyer has to get a picture taken with the work and collect the work on the last day of the show.

All of the thirty nice works were sold in the show and I gathered some great experiences from the experiment.

·         A child like smile would appear on everyone’s face immediately after they saw the work.

·         They would inquire if the prices were for real, will the work be given with the frame, what is the catch, etc. There was an immediate communication between me and my audience.

·         They would communicate with each other in order to get the ‘exact’ amount to be able to buy the artwork. Some of them called friends to come over with their ’25 paise coins’. Some even went to the old city to get the coins needed to buy the work, came in the next day and proudly bought the work.

·         In one interesting incident, a mother came in with her 5-6 year old son. She wanted to buy one of the works.She fiddled with her purse for a while and then asked her son if she could borrow some loose change from his piggy bank and buy the work. Here, I could see that the son was wealthier than his mother.He could lend money to his mother to buy the artwork.

·         In another incident, a wealthy looking viewer brought out his wallet full of cash. He wanted to buy everything. I politely refused as it was not possible. He then offered a hundred rupees note and asked for one of the works. I had to refuse again. He persuaded that I should keep rest of the money and need not give him change in return. After being turned down, I could see the frustration on his face that he has got thousands of rupees in his wallet and still is unable to buy something that costs about 2 rupees 50 paise. He took the pains of going out to the security guard, the canteen and ask for change. He came back, but by that time the 50 paise work was sold and only 25 paise works (expensive ones) were available for buying. Finally he could not buy it and left unsatisfied.

·         Most of the buyers were ‘first time art buyers’.

·         As they could not buy ‘twice’, they would call their friends or family to come and buy the art work on their behalf.

I could actually feel that the art was not hanging on the wall, but was happening in front of it.  It is very rare when I get such satisfaction after finishing a display. I am also making a short film on the experiment.

It turned out to be possible to redefine the terms 'cheap' and 'expensive'. I have seen people enjoying "Selling ourselves for some change" immensely and participating in the process with full enthusiasm. People who dreamed of buying an artwork from a gallery some day, could realize it in the show.

To take the concept further, to make it reach more people in various cities, I am looking for someone to sponsor the works and the shows.