Porosity Of Tradition
2023 | Fired clay tiles, ink
Composed of porous, handmade clay tiles, Astha Butail’s interactive work serves as blank pages, to be marked with ink drops rather than scribed. The artist uses the conceptual and material characteristics of fired ceramics – the porosity of bisque fired clay that suggests voids and in between spaces that readily absorb – to mark time and empty space. As people drop blue ink onto the tiles, leaving traces and marks of their presence on the work, porosity becomes a metaphor for how traditions form. Modern life’s speed with the instant gratification offered by a click of a button has almost nullified the empty space; the patience to recite or learn in a slow-paced world is a rarity now. The blue of the ink, historically a rare and valuable colour, directly references the rarity of this opportunity.
ASTHA BUTAIL’s interest in ancient methods of archiving and oral traditions connects her work to ethnography, spirituality and sociology. In a digital age, when knowledge is fragmented, meaning is evanescent, and face-to-face contacts are fleeting, her practice reconnects us to a slower world where ideas are shared through deep and sustained personal interactions and orality. Her practice is concerned with memory and living traditions that are passed down through teaching and oral poetry.
