Artwork by Vartika Sharma
The Art
SMOKE LAB, a homegrown experimental site that is conscious and forward-thinking has collaborated with Feat. Artists, a talent powerhouse in India representing some of the biggest names in fashion, art and music. The campaign evolves from the need to represent the zeitgeist of our current times, where art and creativity come together in a unique and fresh way. ‘We turn to art when we are at a crossroad. We want to seek things that will make us understand what we are going through, and it is through this campaign that we wanted to carve out some meaning for us all. We have always believed in living responsibly- for ourselves, for others around us, and for the planet; and art, fashion and music has always been a guide on this path’, adds Varun Jain, the founder and CEO at SMOKE LAB.
Artwork by Vartika Sharma
The Inspiration
They come together for a unique campaign with a roster of talent to produce digital work that reflects our wild times using diverse mediums of stills, motion, and sound, with the overarching duality, a visual stance of Smoke. The aim to simply develop a collective yet individual outlook on duality. Vartika Sharma produced a collage series referencing vintage pop culture exploring duality more. She adds, ‘I wanted to illustrate and explore the theme philosophically through the shadow archetype, the unconscious aspect of our personality that is unknown to us. The shadow is largely considered negative, and we hide our negative qualities not only from others, but from ourselves as well, however, there could also be positive aspects that may remain hidden in one’s shadow.’
Indra Joshi's video works dwell on a subliminal nostalgia for cinema and everyday scenes. Talking about his inspiration he adds, ‘This particular work illustrates the word duality. The piece is divided into two, each containing their own scenes divided as time and space in its own way.’
A still from the video by Indra Joshi
Creativity in the time of Corona
Two artists and two perspectives, while Vartika is finding it difficult to feel inspired or excited these days, Indra has a different outlook. He adds, ‘I don’t feel so creativity can ever be affected. I feel at such times something makes it real and concrete. It’s like something that is there within will always stay.’