Important Notice

One of the most significant and unifying themes in Shilpa Gupta's diverse body of work is the way in which the artist actively involves her viewers in the creation or completion of her works of art. Challenging them to take on the responsibility of actors, or even co-conspirators in her multimedia works, Gupta frequently relies on the participation of her viewers to broaden the content, and in some cases to fully realize the meaning of her work.... One of the most significant and unifying themes in Shilpa Gupta's diverse body of work is the way in which the artist actively involves her viewers in the creation or completion of her works of art. Challenging them to take on the responsibility of actors, or even co-conspirators in her multimedia works, Gupta frequently relies on the participation of her viewers to broaden the content, and in some cases to fully realize the meaning of her work.

The present lot, a photograph taken as a part of Gupta's 2007 exhibition titled ‘There is no explosive in this' at the Artists' Studio in London, is from a series of multi-genre works that interrogate the idea of security, and the propaganda that has been generated around it in recent times by the State and the media. Like many of her other works, this series could not have been created without actively engaging the viewer in the creative process. While the initial installation at the gallery consisted simply of several bags sealed in white fabric cases provocatively stenciled with the words ‘There is no explosive in this', the show only really began when visitors started walking out of the gallery with the bags, on the artist's encouragement. In this case, then, not only did the work acquire its significance after the intervention of the viewer, but also only after the works left the traditional confines of the gallery.

"At the opening people were looking at the installation and when I asked them to take a bag, their relation to the objects changed. By engaging everyone in the work, the consciousness of a joint experience became clear, as we all share the immediate threats of terrorism… universal fear is present in the contemporary world for everyone. It is something we are all part of and the distance between the work and the viewer collapses, giving place to a shared responsibility… The work is about the event once the bag leaves the gallery space when the protagonists are on the street and become more self conscious about the bag's meaning or the meanings it triggers. It is not only about the response of others, but also about the perception of oneself." (as quoted in Ann Huber-Sigwart, "Bridging the Gap: The work of Shilpa Gupta", n.paradoxa, Vol. 21, 2008, p. 21).

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