Phone. Analogue c-type print, 50x60cm Photograph, phone, from The Merry-Go-Round Rug. Analogue c-type print, 50x60cm Photograph, oriental rug, from The Merry-Go-Round Corn. Analogue c-type print, 50x60cm Photograph, dead IKEA plant, from The Merry-Go-Round THE MERRY-GO-ROUND The Merry-Go-Round is an installation consisting of three photographic prints paired with three objects that belong to the exhibition space. The forms depicted in the photographs – a mobile phone, a corn plant and a rug – reference recent disputes in market driven neo-imperialism related to India. The installation was realised as a part of the artist collective Specular Assembly’s exhibition at the India Club in London in 2015. PHONE. The Finland-based company Nokia (its phone company is now part of Microsoft) was sued by the Indian state of Tamil Nadu over alleged unpaid taxes at its Chennai factory. RUG. A 2014 study conducted by FXB Centre for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University found that IKEA, among many other international companies, was selling hand-woven Indian carpets predominantly made by children. CORN. Corn is one of the plants widely cultivated by states accused of land grabbing in African countries. Indian corporations have recently leased 600,000 hectares of land from rural Ethiopia.
2015
Site-specific installation at the India Club, London
Mixed media, dimensions variable
The Merry-Go-Round