Antariksha Sanchar- Transmissions in Space with Avinash Kumar
A PERSPECTIVES Webinar
Perspectives Webinar #002
Date: 26th March 2017, 8:00 PM IST
The Story of Space can be relayed through diverse mediums of expression and here’s a peculiar form that we’ve been thrilled to stumble upon- a video game ‘inspired by the dream theorems of prodigious mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, and originating from an opera by the classical dancer Jayalakshmi Eshwar’.
We invited Avinash Kumar, one of the two founders of BLOT, a mixed-media collective based in New Delhi to shed light on the intricacies of this multi-disciplinary project for our second PERSPECTIVES webinar.
About the Talk
Antariksha Sanchar: Transmissions In Space (Episode Zero) is a PC game that might be India ’ s first major cultural video game — inspired by, and amplifying the vibrant, timeless cultures of South India. A point and click adventure, it’s narrative manifests as a speculative science fiction experience, inspired by the dream theorems of the prodigious mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, and the Indian classical dance of Jayalakshmi Eshwar.
The game follows a simple yet remarkable family living in the early 1900s in atemple town inspired by the city of Madurai, as they construct a new philosophy blending ancient culture, spirituality, natural creation, science and synaesthesia. A special feature of the game is the memorable Indian classical soundtrack of Carnatic musicians and instrumentalists, while a comprehensive concept card system informs players of a number of marvellous Indian personalities.
About the Speaker
Avinash is a design strategist, researcher and artist-performer, and co-founderof three of India’s well-known creative endeavours — Quicksand (an innovationconsulting firm) BLOT! (an audiovisual collective) and UnBox Festival (aninterdisciplinary arts platform). With a liking for entrepreneurial projects, Avinash has been exploring design processes and cooperation within the artsin India for over 15 years, with his most recent and ongoing project — Antariksha Sanchar: Transmissions In Space (Episode Zero), a speculativescience fiction experience, inspired by the dream theorems of the prodigiousmathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, and the Indian classical dance ofJayalakshmi Eshwar. In our second webinar, we interview Avinash on thedevelopment of this project. The webinar is open to artists, scientists, educators, philosophers, and THE STORY OF community at large.
Notes
Art brings to science fiction what science cannot, by virtue of being a more flexible discipline.
The beauty of multidisciplinary projects is that no single team member is pigeon-holed into doing exclusively one kind of job. A graphic designer could take some time off to delve into archaeology or a sound engineer could engage more with architecture; these roles are free to keep switching around in a world of constant bilateral feedback.
Trans-media storytelling is an ingenious concept that holds enormous potential to reach a whole new target audience and consequently create dialogue between people that would otherwise never cross paths.
There is a dearth of people creatively re-imagining our spaces. If nobody does, we are doomed to universal gentrification.
