AirSpace Gallery

Samit Das challenges the ideas of development and growth within our cities and societies. The term ‘developed’ suggests the sense of being at the cutting edge or having made a successful transition from one stage to the next. Das demonstrates what impact development and growth has upon our surroundings and therefore affecting our lives. Multilayered and focusing strongly on architecture, Samit Das’s work incorporates collage and laser engraving techniques, and could even be considered sculptural as some pieces are three dimensional due to the layering process that is used. Images of buildings and architecture are numerously layered creating a dynamic expansion across the surface of the piece mimicking the movements of construction in cities such as Bombay and Delhi. Das plays with the idea of the new waves of development consuming the old and traditional. With the constant drive for capital gain and expansion, Das highlights how we could be creating our own downfall through the motion of continually striving for more. His work can appear apocalyptic and this is clear in a photographic piece entitled ‘Goddess’, where what appears to be a sculpture of a Hindu goddess is left smashed on the ground surrounded by rubble. Whether this relates to the infrastructure of Asia, or how religion has been adapted to meet people’s needs in a new society is debatable and could even refer to both. However what is clear is the emphasis on fast change and how constant development does not remove all traces of what was there before. It questions whether this trend in development is just a spurt or whether people no longer feel attached and precious towards their traditions and heritage despite being seen as valuable for such considerable time.