Class of 2021: Aashna Arora
BA Fine Art (with a minor in French), Lancaster University.
Aashna Arora discusses a 3-part performance installation, created into a video project.
“In the first part called Potato Clock I decided to do an 18-hour long performance where I chop potatoes and after every 60 chops I snap a photo. This resulted in 500+ photos which were then created into a time lapse video which I further edited to incorporate ideas about my Indian background and feminist themes. The idea is inspired by the philosophy of being in time, present in the moment, doing nothing, just ‘being’ and ‘chopping’.
“In this second part, after the idea of being present in time, I have moved on to a level deeper, into self exploration which is the exploration of beliefs and how those beliefs shaped my reality. This project was more research based where and 3 months I did social experiments with myself via meditation and confrontation of relationships (with love, family, society) and diving deep into the guidance videos of Teal Swan to explore core beliefs. After which I did 3-4 abstract explanatory performances, all related to confronting emotions and exploring how my beliefs led to the relationships that I have today and how all the things of the past created some core beliefs that shape my life today. Again this work explores feminist ideals that I wish womxn all around the world can relate to.
“In the final part, the idea is to use different elements of my Indian culture to create a sense of purity and an almost meditative stage. I am in a tub of milk and flowers for 2 hours in which again there is this loop element that was present in the Potato Clock. Here after 10 minutes roughly my body jerks out of the meditative state to reality and then again back into the calm silence until in the end I fade away/drown. The idea is to explore Nihilist theory. If we strip all beliefs away and just be, the idea is that consciousness is the freedom of our being, and perhaps consciousness is nothingness. In other words – at one moment I was being and the second I wasn’t, and nothing in the world changed”.
Instagram: @a_hipster_soul @art_byarora
Degree Show: Lancaster University degree show launches online 24 June 2021 at y-ourperspective.art or follow @y_ourperspective2021/ on Instagram for more details
Images:
1. Aashna Arora, Potato Clock, 2020.
2. Aashna Arora, In the flow of knowing and unlearning, 2021.
3, 4, 5, 6. Aashna Arora, Untitled, 2021.
