03 Saturday Oct 2009
Posted in collage, installations, MTKinstalls, North Oakland
18 Friday May 2007
Posted in Asia, collage, India, installations, MTKinstalls, Tamil Coast
Tags
2007, bar, hotel, m.t. karthik, mtk, mural, pondi, pondicherry, pondy, Pudduchcheri, pudducherri, qualithes, Vous êtes à Pudduchcherri
At 40, in my homeland, I painted, collaged and signed, Vous êtes à Pudduchcheri, M.T. Karthik, on the back of the wood liquor cabinet installed in a wall at Qualithe’s Hotel Bar in Pondicherri, Pudduchcheri, Tamil Nadu, India in three weeks in May, 2007.
The cabinet is 84 x 50 inches, 6.5 inches above the floor, and the wall is perhaps fifteen feet wide. It was immediately interesting to toy with the line dividing the lighter upper from the darker lower layers. The text was decided upon after weeks of discourse with locals and regulars – and translates in English to: “You are in Puduchcheri”
Collaged Elements
The image of the moon is an actual photograph taken in 1971 by telescope from observatory of the University of Montana.
The oil well is from the back of the old,purple Indian 1-rupee note.
I photographed the haliastur indus (brahminy kite), pair, myself, from my studio for nine months, and then printed and selected the images of the two raptors collaged into frame – male and female.
The palm tree was photographed at a local beach as well.
The postage stamp is the a magazine reproduction of the first stamp issued by independent India.
the detritus on the beach includes a matchbook and wrapper from a package of firecrackers, and the tiger from the tiger balm packaging.
art students from the Chitra Kala Parishath art college in Bangalore, were invited to add depth to the waves and a second heavenly body, a single white point representing Venus, over the sea.
mtk, 2007
29 Friday Sep 2006
Posted in artists books, collage, installations, MTKinstalls, NYC
Tags
2006, A.P. Ferrara, arts, book, booklyn, books, center, Found, in, Karthik, m.t. karthik, Mark Wagner, Marshall Weber, mtk, new york, translation
The Discourse on the Polarizing Events of 2001 [MTK with A.P. Ferrara]
installed:
18 Sunday Sep 2005
Posted in Asia, installations, Japan, MTKinstalls, sculpture
11 Wednesday Sep 2002
Posted in artists books, installations, Los Angeles, MTKinstalls, performance, protest, talks
Tags
1984, 2002, 331/3, 9/11, allerslev, aloud, alvarado, anniversary, booklyn, books, brouwer, cyrus, Daullatzai, ferrara, frank, gallery, George, Karthik, L.A., LA, los angeles, m.t., mccabe, mtk, novel, orwell, Parkel, read, Rigo 02, soheil, sosa, spagnuolo, sunset, tactic, us, us equals them, us=them, usa, Wagner, Weber, Wilde, williams
Us = Them, curated and produced by M.T. Karthik, Fifty Foot Pine Tree Press, Wine Hobo Trio, Booklyn Artists Alliance and 33 1/3 Books and Gallery, Sunset at Alvarado, F. Sosa, Proprietor, September 11, 2002
1984, performance by MTK
On September 11th, 2002, beginning at 5:35am Pacific Time, corresponding to the moment the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York City exactly one year before, MTK read George Orwell’s novel 1984, aloud in its entirety at 331/3 Books and Gallery, at the corner of Sunset and Alvarado, in Los Angeles, ending at sunset:
as a performance element on the opening day of the Booklyn Artists exhibition
11 Wednesday Sep 2002
Posted in artists books, installations, Los Angeles, MTKinstalls, performance, protest, talks
Tags
1984, 2002, 331/3, 9/11, allerslev, aloud, alvarado, anniversary, booklyn, books, brouwer, cyrus, Daullatzai, ferrara, frank, gallery, George, Karthik, L.A., LA, los angeles, m.t., mccabe, mtk, novel, orwell, Parkel, read, Rigo 02, soheil, sosa, spagnuolo, sunset, tactic, us, us equals them, us=them, usa, Wagner, Weber, Wilde, williams
Us = Them, curated and produced by M.T. Karthik, Fifty Foot Pine Tree Press, Wine Hobo Trio, Booklyn Artists Alliance and 33 1/3 Books and Gallery, Sunset at Alvarado, F. Sosa, Proprietor, September 11, 2002
1984, performance by MTK
On September 11th, 2002, beginning at 5:35am Pacific Time, corresponding to the moment the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York City exactly one year before, MTK read George Orwell’s novel 1984, aloud in its entirety at 331/3 Books and Gallery, at the corner of Sunset and Alvarado, in Los Angeles, ending at sunset:
as a performance element on the opening day of the Booklyn Artists exhibition
01 Wednesday Mar 2000
Posted in Austin, collage, elections, installations, journalism, MTKinstalls, protest
Tags
1st, 2000, austin, Barnes, Bush, canvas, chamber.movements, currency, death, gallery, George, John, Karthik, killed, logo, m.t., March, McCain, mtk, No, Odell, painting, party, Penalty, primaries, Primary, real, Republican, rights, State, super, texas, the, thyagarajan, timeline, Tuesday, voter, voting, W., wrongly
The Voting Chamber was an art installation at Movements Gallery in Austin, TX, six blocks from Governor George Bush’s Mansion, and the exhibition was open during the Super Tuesday Presidential Primaries of Election 2000 and the South x Southwest (SXSW) Arts and Music Festival of that year.
COMPONENTS:
No Real Choice [2000], 5’ x 3’8”, acrylic, currency on canvas
The Voting Chamber (metal rods, fabric curtain, tabletop, audio component
Civic Dimension (acrylic on stairwell walls; chalk on pavement
Internet Component, including data from State Website and Death Penalty Opponents
I flew into Austin from Brooklyn and immediately went to a local chapter meeting of an anti-death penalty group and introduced myself publicly as an artist planning to do an installation at Movements Gallery on 6th Street:
installed for about ten days:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OPENING RECEPTION: FEBRUARY 22, 2000
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY
6-8 P.M.
MOVEMENTS GALLERY
SIXTH STREET
AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA
“THE VOTING CHAMBER”
FEBRUARY 22-APRIL 22, 2000
A MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION IN PROXIMITY TO THE TEXAS GOVERNOR’S MANSION
THE STATE OF TEXAS EXECUTES MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN THE WESTERN WORLD. THE CURRENT GOVERNOR OF TEXAS (1994-2000) HAS OVERSEEN THE EXECUTION OF MORE PEOPLE THAN ALL FIVE PREVIOUS GOVERNORS TAKEN TOGETHER. HE IS CURRENTLY RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND EXECUTING AT LEAST 18 MORE PEOPLE.
ACCORDING TO A TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY STUDY, MOST TEXANS FAVOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY OR ARE UNDECIDED:
47.5% FAVOR LIFE SENTENCE
39.5% FAVOR EXECUTIONS
13% ARE UNSURE
Source: http://www.lonestar.texas.net/~acohen/tcadp
“THE VOTING CHAMBER” HAS BEEN DESIGNED BY NEW YORK-BASED FORMER TEXAS RESIDENT AND UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS GRADUATE M.T. KARTHIK, TO PROVIDE A PLACE TO REHEARSE FOR THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES AND ELECTIONS.
The State posts the Execution Schedule online
Texas State Execution Schedule: 23 Feb – 27 APR 2000
23 FEB 2000 Cornelius Goss, born May 25, 1961
24 FEB 2000 Betty Beets, born March 12, 1937
01 MAR 2000 Odell Barnes,Jr., born, March 22, 1968
15 MAR 2000 Timothy Gribble born, August 27, 1963
22 MAR 2000 Dennis Bagwell born, December 27, 1963
12 APR 2000 Orien Joiner, born, October 27, 1949
18 APR 2000 Victor Saldano, born October 22, 1971
26 APR 2000 Robert Carter, born March 7, 1966
27 APR 2000 Robert Neville, born October 5, 1974
27 APR 2000 Ricky McGinn, born March 11, 1957
Source: http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statistics/stats-home.htm
OUTLINE FOR INSTALLATION
COMPONENTS:
“No Real Choice 2000” (5’ x 3’8”, acrylic, water, American currency on canvas)
“The Voting Chamber” (metal rods, fabric curtain, tabletop, agit-propaganda, and audio component)
“Civic Dimension” (acrylic on stairwell walls and sheetrock; chalk on pavement)
4. “Internet Component”
THE INSTALLATION:
“No Real Choice 2000” was installed on the wall opposite top of the stairs to Gallery space. The 33’ wall was painted sympathetic to currently existing artwork in gallery while extending the theme of the canvas, including:
“The Voting Chamber,” a simulated voting booth: U-shaped curtain rod with a red curtain. This curtain is to be drawn around individual viewers to simulate a voting booth and allow a private viewing space of the canvas and of specific propaganda material. A looped, repeating audio component of the attorney of one of those on Death Row was played next to an empty chair.
The stairwell from the street to the Gallery floor and the sidewalks from the Governor’s Mansion to the gallery door (as practicable) were marked to point to the booth and to present statistics (see Statistics that follow) regarding the death penalty in Texas.
The Internet component contained elements: from http://www.georgewbush.com, the “Calendar of Events” describing the Governor’s current itinerary, and from http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us, the “Calendar of Executions.” and etc
CONCLUSION, 2008
It’s taken me more than eight years to write anything of what happened in Austin in the Spring of 2000. I installed The Voting Chamber and came to find out that Odell Barnes, Jr., was scheduled to die though likely innocent of the murder of which he was convicted.
The installation included an empty chair with the name “Mr. Bush” taped to the back, sitting beside a cassette player that continuously played a ten-minute audio loop of Mr. Barnes’ lawyer explaining that he needed more time to present the strong evidence of a frame-up he had discovered in Odell’s case.
The installation inspired a march of hundreds in Austin who chanted as they marched around the Governor’s Mansion against the Death Penalty:
This all occurred during the Super Tuesday Presidential Primaries as George W. Bush, the Governor of Texas, fought Arizona Senator John McCain for the Republican nomination, Spring 2000. The installation was up during the SXSW music festival, and the venue was a site for the Austin festival so thousands saw it.
George W. Bush and The State of Texas murdered the innocent 22-year-old, Odell Barnes, Jr. on March 1st of the year 2000. The message was clear as Bush ran for President on an active record of becoming the single individual Governing the execution of more people in U.S. history.
Odell Barnes, Jr.s’ last meal request was for “justice, equality and world peace,”
and his last words were:
“I thank you for proving my innocence although it has not been acknowledged in the courts. May you continue in the struggle and may you change all that’s been done here today and in the past.”
Nine months later, George W. Bush was appointed President of the United States by the Supreme Court – contravening democracy at the most basic level – thanks to massive problems with vote counting and issues of voter suppression in the State of Florida, where Bush’s own brother, Jeb, was Governor.
The canvas “No Real Choice 2000,” finished two months before the election, was startlingly prophetic.
M.T. Karthik 