Contemporary Art and the Perceived Self-sufficiency of Urban Life

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Art - Art Theory, General, grade: A, , course: Issues in Contemporary Art, language: English, abstract: Seventeenth century scientists (Descartes, Bacon, and Newton) made discoveries that brought us scientific method and a vision of secular progress through technological achievement. But in this vision the purpose of knowledge was proposed as utilitarian, the domination of nature. The world we live in today is based on this vision of technological achievement. Art, because it is not shackled by the purposes of science, has an important role to play in enhancing our awareness of the true nature of things. Its negotiations with the natural world are intuitive and imaginative and this can enable it to bring to light much that is concealed from our everyday perception.

Nandita Mukand is a Singapore-based artist whose practice deals with the relationship with Nature and spirituality from within the contemporary urban context. Materiality becomes a tool for investigating the natural world and questioning the impact urban life has on our experience of time and the meaning we give to our own existence. In 2008, Nandita quit her corporate career of eight years with MNCs like Proctor and Gamble to devote herself fulltime to art making. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) from the LASALLE College of the Arts in partnership with Goldsmiths, College of London in 2014. Upon graduation she was awarded the most outstanding student in her class. In the same year she was invited by the Bilpin International Ground for Creative Initiatives (BigCi), Australia to develop her research and practice through their residency program. In 2015 she held her debut solo exhibition curated by the celebrated artist Kumari Nahappan. Recently she was invited by the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Australia to be their first international artist-in-residence and to develop site specific work for their exhibition "Exploring BigCi". Nandita is an alumna of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and has a degree in Electronics Engineering from Lucknow University.