Fowler’s ‘Making Strange’ exhibit brings together artist’s projects

Artist Vivan Sundaram meshed together the names Lady Gaga and “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” by Shakira to create the fictional brand name “Gagawaka.”

The Fowler Museum’s “Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem” is a two-part exhibition by Delhi-based contemporary artist Sundaram running from April 19 through Sept. 6. The exhibition, which marks the first time that Sundaram’s “Gagawaka” and “Postmortem” have been presented together in North America, is co-curated by art history associate professor Saloni Mathur as well as professor and chair of the Department of Art History, Miwon Kwon.

“Gagawaka” focuses more on fashion and consists of around 30 sculptural garments made out of recyclables, repurposed materials and medical supplies, Mathur said.

“The second component of the show (‘Postmortem’) is a leaving of the garments behind and a return to focus on the mannequin and the human body,” Mathur said. “‘Postmortem’ consists of sculptural assemblages made of mannequins and anatomical models.”

Mathur said she first saw Sundaram’s “Gagawaka” at an art institution in Delhi, India in 2011, where the project was initially a fashion show involving dancers and models. After presenting the fashion show, Sundaram returned to his studio and created “Postmortem” two years later, she said.

“When I saw that fashion show, I immediately thought that this body of work would make so much sense in Los Angeles because of Hollywood and its fashion and glamour,” Mathur said.

“Gagawaka” consists of commonplace items such as rubber tires, plastic drainpipes and handbags, as well as medical supplies like X-ray film, surgical support bandages and pills. Mathur said the garments made from the medical materials raise questions concerning health and illness.

“What’s striking about those old couture garments is that they’re really funky and fabulous and made up of really wild materials,” Mathur said. “There’s also a whole range of what I would describe as very intimate materials which give some of the garments a kind of erotic charge.”

Some of the garments consisting of these more intimate materials include a men’s suit made of women’s sanitary pads, “Wedding Outfit,” and a women’s piece made entirely out of men’s jockstraps, “J S Lingerie.”

“There’s this kind of reversal of very intimate, gendered materials that are turned into garments of the opposite sex and that’s a complicated theme in the show – the question of sexuality,” Mathur said.

Mathur said “Postmortem” is in dialogue with the fashion aspect of the exhibition, but concentrates more on the human body itself and raises questions about sexuality, illness and death.

“A postmortem is a kind of an autopsy and Sundaram said he wanted ‘Postmortem’ to put the spectacle of fashion to death,” Mathur said. “’Postmortem,’ I would describe as much darker and uses a lot of surrealist and post-surrealist techniques.”

In addition to choosing pieces, Mathur said the two curators were involved in the installation process along with the museum’s staff and Sundaram, who flew in from Delhi for the final week of the exhibition’s installation.

“The key curatorial challenge for us was to think about how to create this dialogue between these two bodies of work within the 5,000 square feet of exhibition space,” Mathur said.

Kwon said that although “Gagawaka” was originally presented in a runway setting, they decided to stick to the Hollywood influence.

“One idea we had at the beginning was to make allusions to the red carpet, like a movie opening,” Kwon said. “That idea converted into the use of the red curtains in the gallery to divide the space up.”

“Making Strange” at the Fowler will mark the first time the show will be exhibited in North America said Fowler Museum curatorial assistant, exhibition tour guide and art history graduate student Tracy Buck.

“(The exhibition) is a really thought-provoking show that you can see a number of times and get a number of different things out of it – there’s a lot of different levels to experience,” Buck said.

Mathur said the ambiguity of “Making Strange” allows it to be read in a multitude of ways. There are hundreds of little messages and a lot of it is very playful, she said.

“It’s about the relationship of human creativity in the form of fashion and clothing with basic elements of humanity,” Mathur said, “which are reducible to our bodies, sexualities, demise and death.”

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We wish to make most sought-after products more affordable, says Amit Gupta of …

Surpluss.in claims to be India’s leading e-retailer of overstocked, unboxed and refurbished products, ranging from high-end mobile phones and tablets to apparels and other consumer products. In the next 3 years from now, the recently-awarded, young startup wants to occupy the consumer mindshare in a significant way, and intends to clock a turnover of $50 million in 2 years. In an interview with Sanjeev Sinha, Mr Amit Gupta, director, Surpluss.in, talks about the USP of their startup and shares his business outlook. Excerpts:

What was the idea behind the launch of surpluss.in and when was it started? Who are the key promoters?

Surpluss.in was conceived with an idea to reach out to digitally active consumers across India, empowering the aspirations of these consumers, and make the ‘sought-after’ brands and products more affordable. Surpluss addresses this market need in a transparent manner and solves the ageing and unsold inventory of the brands. Hence to leverage this huge opportunities, a group of likeminded entrepreneurs having decades of experience in sales, logistics and information technology, among others, converged under the brand Surpluss.in.

What is its business model and what is so unique about surpluss.in in the cluttered ecommerce space?
Surpluss.in is positioned as the Number 1 e-retailer in the end of life (EOL), surplus, overstock, and open box segments. The newly-launched ecommerce platform is working on inventory model. Surpluss exclusively deals in overstocked, unboxed, refurbished products, ranging from high-end mobile phones and tablets to apparels and many more. The recently-awarded, young start-up is already selling products from Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, OnePlus One, HTC, Alcatel, Xolo, and other brands in the mobile and tablet segments. In addition, Surpluss has gained a lot of popularity in its recently-introduced apparel category, covering jeans, footwear, sarees and other summer wear like bikinis. In the apparel and lifestyle categories, the company has products from Levis, Benetton, CK, Guess, Zara, Armani, Gant, Ishimaya, and a host of other elite brands.

What about the industry? What kind of challenges you are facing as an e-commerce company?
There is a huge market opportunity in this segment, which is mostly being handled in an unorganized manner currently. Internal estimates of Surpluss put this opportunity at around $20 billion, which is expected to grow to $50 bn by 2020. The 45% smartphone penetration along with the 3x increase in average household income by 2020 makes this industry the most promising sector. In addition, organized retail is rapidly shifting online among top 75 cities. 40% organized retail is through online channels catering to 400 million strong middle class. We don’t foresee any such challenges as we are operating in a niche category where our target consumer is aware about the product or services he is getting from us. As per our vision, we cater to people’s aspirations. Great brands at great prices with great user experience.

Who are your target customers and what is your strategy to increase the customer base?
The digitally-educated consumers, who are inspiring to own branded products at affordable prices, are our target consumers. We are very carefully choosing the brands and add to our catalogue. We wish to operate as a niche player and are targeting niche consumers who value brands and understand the aspirations attached to the brand. We are committed to provide a seamless and easy shopping experience to our customers through our portal.

Since you are following inventory model, do you think you can manage the logistics issues smoothly? Any special measures you have taken to handle the logistics?
The inventory model is a transition phase for us. We want to migrate to a controlled marketplace model. Since logistics will be the backbone and a crucial component of customer delight, we have already started a pilot for our own logistics – Pluss Forward.

How many SKUs are on offer at the moment and what is the plan to increase the categories?
Being in the surplus market, we do not play on a wide range of SKUs. Our model is to offer value to consumers in each SKU we offer. Currently we are adding SKUs vertically and not horizontally. For example, in mobiles we are adding more brands and even sourcing globally to occupy the top mindshare of consumers. However, we will expand to categories like cars and real estate.

What is the current volume of business, the targeted turnover and expansion plans? What kind of new products or services you are planning to launch?
We intend to clock $50 million in 2 years time. In 3 years from now we want to see Surpluss occupy the top mindshare among the digital crowd. So before buying a mobile or jeans or laptop or sneaker, consumers should hunt it on Surpluss. Lately, the company has started venturing into emerging online categories like home decor, home furnishing, health care, fashion jewellery, and lingerie. All new categories introduced are aligned with the company’s vision of ‘Powering People’s Aspirations’. This basically means providing aspiration brands at a ‘never before’ price. Along with addition of new categories, Surpluss.in has also expanded its existing categories sub-categories with more products.

In healthcare, for instance, Surpluss has added digital healthcare gadgets like glucose monitor, digital blood pressure monitors, weighing scale, leg and feet massager, infrared walkers etc. Marketing up-market brands, Surpluss.in has gained a very strong foothold in its category. The brand is also developing a mobile app to further enhance the seamless shopping experience of its consumers.

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