Harminder Singh - Judge Artist, Rod Maclachan Lighting Design, Sound design Alex Bradley (2009)
The project drew on one Hindu myth in particular – the tale of how the Devas (gods) and the Asuras (devils) allied to churn the ocean, thereby creating an elixir of life. Vasuki, the King of the Serpents, was employed as a rope and wrapped around Mount Mandaranchal in order to create the elixir. The first attempt failed, but as the mountain began to sink into the ocean, the god Vishnu appeared as a turtle to support the mountain on his back.
Harminder Singh Judge describes himself as an artist trapped in a perpetual love triangle with religion, art and pop culture. Over the last three to four years Judge has developed an interdisciplinary practice obsessed with romanticised fables within religious history, exploring the enduring appeal of spirituality within our postmodern and largely secular society.
He has a deep interest in the visual and conceptual mixing of religious mythologies with personal experience, pop culture and folklore. Judge also has a keen interest in the meeting point of East and West, both in culture and history, and how one can often exoticise and misinterpret the other.
“I always keep one eye on my personal history as a British born Sikh who loves rock music and Red Dwarf whilst also being genuinely fascinated and moved by the epic stories of religious history. I would site religious symbolism, mass conversion and the rituals of cults among my many influences, as well as Madonna, Coca-Cola & Jesus.’’ - Harminder Singh Judge
Harminder Singh Judge describes himself as an artist trapped in a perpetual love triangle with religion, art and pop culture. Over the last three to four years Judge has developed an interdisciplinary practice obsessed with romanticised fables within religious history, exploring the enduring appeal of spirituality within our postmodern and largely secular society.
He has a deep interest in the visual and conceptual mixing of religious mythologies with personal experience, pop culture and folklore. Judge also has a keen interest in the meeting point of East and West, both in culture and history, and how one can often exoticise and misinterpret the other.
“I always keep one eye on my personal history as a British born Sikh who loves rock music and Red Dwarf whilst also being genuinely fascinated and moved by the epic stories of religious history. I would site religious symbolism, mass conversion and the rituals of cults among my many influences, as well as Madonna, Coca-Cola & Jesus.’’ - Harminder Singh Judge
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The Modes of Al-lkseer formed the opening performance of the Small World Exhibition September 2009 curated by Simon Poulter for the Digital Exploration Centre inaugural exhibition.
My role was to deliver the complex performance piece to a successful and safe conclusion; namely supporting the artistes and ensuring that the health and safety v integrity of the piece remained a constant, including the use of liquid and live electrics in close proximity to each other, as well as ensuring the artist could be managed if he needed to abandon the performance due to the considerations discussed above. The Modes of Al-Ikseer was funded by the Arts Council England, National Initiatives Fund. Photographic images courtesy of Benedict Johnson Video snippet filmed for IDEA13 by Michaela Freeman |
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