Intent
The Lab draws its inspiration from a quote by American author and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes that ‘the mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.’
Design
MAD Lab brings together people who dream with open eyes, share an undying enthusiasm for unconventional ideas, are averse to man-made boundaries and have a passion for exploration.
The Lab is run as a not-for-greed (NFG) collective that comprises creative planet-wide free agents who conceive, collaborate, curate and co-pilot MAD Lab endeavors.
The Lab covers a wide range of interests including, but not limited to: performance art, visual art, sound design, architecture, product design, transportation, environment design and urban planning.
CAAS: City As A Spaceship LAB
Logo designed by Callum Prockter
Photo credit KHOJ Art-Science Residency ‘The Undivided Mind’, 2015
Project Curators
Susmita Mohanty (Bengaluru) Barbara Imhof (Vienna) Susan Fairburn (Vancouver)
Point of Departure
We see the spaceship, and a space habitat as completely analogous to housing in the modern, densely packed, technology driven hyper-metros of tomorrow. Ideas and technologies for space can immediately impact the development of these cities. In return, we see these living, thriving, survival-challenging uber-cities as collections of self-contained, super-redundant microcosms that prove themselves to be reliable, and hardy over time to be directly translatable to the space colonies of the future. We think of a wonderful, and yet obvious symbiosis - tomorrow’s space ideas shape today’s cities, and investment in today’s cities serves as the vehicle and test bed to both subsidize and implement tomorrow’s space endeavors. “The earth as a spaceship,” is not merely a metaphor – it is a tangible, viable way for the future survival of mankind.
For more information, refer to the CAAS Website.
w(t)d{a} LAB
About
w(t)d{a} is a collective and an art fair that explores the relationship of technology with our friends, families, communities, and environments.
We define technology as digital tools that we use, and tools we contribute to. We define art as a way of self-expression, exploration, observation, reflection, and dissent.
Through art, w(t)d{a} aims to address the political, social, psychological, mindful and playful dimensions of our digital lives.
Event Brief
On the last Sunday of November 2022, w(t)d{a} held its first art fair at the Bangalore International Centre (BIC), Bangalore. The event sponsor was MAD Lab.
The fair saw the presence of 25 artists and around 500 visitors, participants and members of the community attended the fair throughout the day. The events of the day included workshops, art stalls, a quiz, and a live generative music performance!
w(t)d{a} is a volunteer run passion project started and sustained by folx like you. Noone will ever need to pay/ give in the form of money or data to participate or attend any w(t)d{a} event. w(t)d{a} prioritizes independent artists and publishers and enforces a code of conduct to ensure safety and comfort of all our community events.
Participating Artists
Akash Suri, Akash Sheshadri, Anisha Baid, Architecture for Dialogue, Bad Press, Hasan, ishi, Jyotsna Ramesh, Kalyani Tupkary, Mrityunjay Barua, Raphael Bastide, Rasagy Sharma, Rittika Basu, Sailee Adhao / Aboli Joshi / Gaurika Singhal, Swarna Manjiri, Trina Talukdar - Fields of View, Uttishta Varanasi, Vishwesh Navtakke, Abhinay Khoparzi, Sameer Kulkarni, Sneha Joshi, Critters
Organising Team
Arushi Bapna, Ajitesh Lokhande, Harshali Paralikar, Madhu Priyanka Kannabiran, Kritanjay Sharma, Prajjwal Chandra
Additional Thanks
Ani Dalal, Critters Collective, univ.ai
Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wtda_io/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wtda_io
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/while-tech-do-art-arttech-community-fair-tickets-432414612747
Photos
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Photo credit: Susmita Mohanty, Harshali Paralikar
Photos
Photo credit: Susmita Mohanty, Harshali Paralikar
Beyond Gravity LAB
Workshop poster courtesy of GATI dance forum
French choreographer and researcher, Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities became evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and the interdisciplinary element of her productions, with a mix of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
Workshops by Kitsou Dubois offer an opportunity to explore the internal perception of the body and its movements under the new restraints that being in water provides. A different perspective emerges from the possible movement in weightlessness, pushing dancers to let go of their habitual artistic gestures and finding new ones.
Underwater Movement Workshop with French choreographer Kitsou Dubois
Photo credit Bhakti Nefertiti
Project Curators
Susmita Mohanty (Bengaluru) Mandeep Raikhy (New Delhi) Paushali Dutta (New Delhi) Annick Bureaud (Paris)
Point of Departure
When you float in weightlessness, the body seems to dilate out into space and can lose the sense of its own limits. Movement becomes infinite and fluid in a way one would never have dared imagine. It’s a state of grace, a real inner journey. Paradoxically, one also experiences a sense of total emptiness, which can provoke some anxiety. Without weight, one is totally disoriented. Gravity is essential for humans; it masks all the other forces. Our research is about not losing oneself; it’s about keeping one’s center, recreating limits.
Kitsou Dubois, "A Choreographer in Weightlessness", Le Monde
Project Brief
MAD Lab in collaboration with Gati Dance Forum organized and hosted an ‘Underwater Dance Workshop’ in New Delhi. Contemporary dancers signed up for this 3-day workshop held in New Delhi from 25-27 May, 2015. The workshop had two components: lecture and interactive discussion at the Gati Studio in Khirkee village in Delhi and underwater sessions at a private swimming pool. This was Kitsou Dubois’s first trip to India.The Indo-French Cultural Center Alliance Française de Delhi and Institut Francais en Inde graciously sponsored Kitsou’s travel and stay.
Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities have become evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and an element of interdisciplinary in her productions, mixing networks of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
Website
‘Women in Politics’ Infographics LAB
About NoAh
The Noor-Ahilya Forum (NoAh) was created briefly in 2022-23. The forum’s goal was to celebrate women leaders, recognize what women bring to leadership and its impact on the long-term trajectory of this planet and motivate young women to take on leadership roles in their areas of influence, at all levels, in all spheres. The NoAh cofounders decided to discontinue the forum.
Infographics Project
Two of the NoAh cofounders took forward the initiatives they had begun under the NoAh umbrella. One such initiative was an educational project led Susmita Mohanty.
Phase-1 Data Collection -- was done by student volunteers from the Vedica Scholars Programme, New Delhi in autumn of 2021.
Phase-2 Data Analysis and Infographics – was undertaken by post-graduate students from the National Institute of Design, Bangalore campus. The quartet comprised of four architects pursuing a Master’s degree in Information Design: Kadambari Komandur, Meghana Annapureddy, Rashmi Baur and Chinmay Pathak.
Stipend for the NID-Bangalore student project team was shared by Susmita Mohanty, Priyanka Das Rajkakati, Sneha Sankar and Priyanka Shah.
Project Outcome
The outcome of the project was a set of three A2 size, double-sided infographics posters. Posters #1 and #2 focused on understanding the representation and role of Indian women in politics. Poster #3 highlighted global patterns of women in politics, parental leave, women’s electoral rights, gender gap index and contextualized it with respect to the Indian position.
Posters
Workshop poster courtesy of GATI dance forum
French choreographer and researcher, Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities became evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and the interdisciplinary element of her productions, with a mix of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
Workshops by Kitsou Dubois offer an opportunity to explore the internal perception of the body and its movements under the new restraints that being in water provides. A different perspective emerges from the possible movement in weightlessness, pushing dancers to let go of their habitual artistic gestures and finding new ones.
Underwater Movement Workshop with French choreographer Kitsou Dubois
Project Curators
Susmita Mohanty (Bengaluru) Mandeep Raikhy (New Delhi) Paushali Dutta (New Delhi) Annick Bureaud (Paris)
Point of Departure
When you float in weightlessness, the body seems to dilate out into space and can lose the sense of its own limits. Movement becomes infinite and fluid in a way one would never have dared imagine. It’s a state of grace, a real inner journey. Paradoxically, one also experiences a sense of total emptiness, which can provoke some anxiety. Without weight, one is totally disoriented. Gravity is essential for humans; it masks all the other forces. Our research is about not losing oneself; it’s about keeping one’s center, recreating limits.
Kitsou Dubois, "A Choreographer in Weightlessness", Le Monde
Project Brief
MAD Lab in collaboration with Gati Dance Forum organized and hosted an ‘Underwater Dance Workshop’ in New Delhi. Contemporary dancers signed up for this 3-day workshop held in New Delhi from 25-27 May, 2015.
The workshop had two components: lecture and interactive discussion at the Gati Studio in Khirkee village in Delhi and underwater sessions at a private swimming pool.
This was Kitsou Dubois’s first trip to India.The Indo-French Cultural Center Alliance Française de Delhi and Institut Francais en Inde graciously sponsored Kitsou’s travel and stay.
Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities have become evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and an element of interdisciplinary in her productions, mixing networks of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
‘Women in Politics’ Infographics LAB
About NoAh
The Noor-Ahilya Forum (NoAh) was created briefly in 2022-23. The forum’s goal was to celebrate women leaders, recognize what women bring to leadership and its impact on the long-term trajectory of this planet and motivate young women to take on leadership roles in their areas of influence, at all levels, in all spheres. The NoAh cofounders decided to discontinue the forum.
Infographics Project
Two of the NoAh cofounders took forward the initiatives they had begun under the NoAh umbrella. One such initiative was an educational project led Susmita Mohanty.
Phase-1 Data Collection -- was done by student volunteers from the Vedica Scholars Programme, New Delhi in autumn of 2021.
Phase-2 Data Analysis and Infographics – was undertaken by post-graduate students from the National Institute of Design, Bangalore campus. The quartet comprised of four architects pursuing a Master’s degree in Information Design: Kadambari Komandur, Meghana Annapureddy, Rashmi Baur and Chinmay Pathak.
Stipend for the NID-Bangalore student project team was shared by Susmita Mohanty, Priyanka Das Rajkakati, Sneha Sankar and Priyanka Shah.
Project Outcome
The outcome of the project was a set of three A2 size, double-sided infographics posters. Posters #1 and #2 focused on understanding the representation and role of Indian women in politics. Poster #3 highlighted global patterns of women in politics, parental leave, women’s electoral rights, gender gap index and contextualized it with respect to the Indian position.
Posters
Sidley & Pooth (S&P) Sound LAB
Final assembly of the 1st Sidley & Pooth (S&P) production model S&P X1
Sid working on the S&P X3 model in their living room in Bangalore, which from time-to-time transforms into a workshop
Sound Equipment Design, Prototyping Testing Experimenting with ‘multi-way dipoles’
Project Curators
Siddharth Das, Drummer + Sound Expert, Bangalore Saleem Bhatri, Industrial Designer + Architect, Mumbai René Waclavicek, Architect + Sound Expert, Vienna Andrew Putman, Industrial Designer, San Francisco
Point of Departure
After years of buying audio equipment, Sid realized that they are technologically pretty much alike. The differences among them are merely cosmetic. The state-of-the-art in sound reproduction is prohibitively expensive for commercial enterprises to implement because of the science involved. Sid therefore decided to build his own.
Project Brief
The design principle of choice for S&P is ‘multi-way dipoles’. Properly implemented, they can yield astonishingly natural and low distortion sound. Active dipole designs can be difficult to both implement and sell commercially. However, in choosing to pursue the pinnacle of sound reproduction, the possibilities rather than the difficulties are the focus for S&P.
Progress
2006-08, San Francisco Inspired by Siegfried Linkwitz’s Sid started experimenting with electro-acoustics. He teamed up with a young designer Andrew Putman, and started experimenting with the ‘industrial design’ aspects of the creations of Linkwitz Labs. The first experimental mock-ups of the speaker panels were fabricated.
2008, Vienna On his annual trip to Vienna, Sid refined those early designs in collaboration with René. Sid and René continue their refinements on Sid’s subsequent visits to Vienna and René’s visits to India.
2009-14, Mumbai Sid started working with Saleem at Saleem’s workshop in Andheri (Mumbai) to build the 1st production model S&P X1. In November 2012, Sid and Saleem began work on the 2nd production model S&P X2. In 2012, the first production model of S&P X1 was completed. It’s first home was Sid and Suz’s home in Mumbai. In 2015, it was shipped to New York and it now occupies pride of place at their friend Asha Banker’s residence in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Work commenced on the next model S&P X2, but it was eventually abandoned as it was proving to be too bulky and voluminous. Work on a new, slender and elegant S&P X3 began, based on the Siegfried Linkwitz’s LX521. In March 2014, when Sid and Suz moved to Bangalore, the svelte S&P X3 model who had been partially completed was shipped to Bangalore and is currently in prototype phase in Sid and Suz’s living room, which from time to time transforms into a workshop – as is evident from the photographs.
2014-19, Bangalore Sid is working on completing the S&P X3 model. He has implemented the FIR filters, and hopes to get the structural panels finished and polished by the end of the year when Sid and Suz move to their new home in Indiranagar. The sequel to S&P X3 is also in the works. Stay tuned.
MAD Fellowships LAB
In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the MAD Salon+Lab extended the scope of their engagements to include a ‘Fellowship’ component to support scholarly writings. We spoke to the editor of Scroll.in -- Naresh Fernandes and committed to sponsoring an ongoing series of writings -- by eminent art historian Prof. Kavita Singh. Scroll is an independent digital platform covering news, politics, sports and culture.
About Prof. Kavita Singh (1964-2023)
Prof. Kavita Singh was Professor of Art History at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University where she taught courses on the history and politics of museums. Quoting her, in her own words: “Stemming from my work on the history of museums in India, I am interested in the cultures of collecting and display as well as the politics around heritage, including issues of colonial history, repatriation, secularization and religiosity, fraught national histories and the memorialization of difficult histories in South Asia and beyond. While my publications mostly focus on this area, Indian courtly painting is a second and increasingly important preoccupation.”
Prof. Singh passed away on 30 July 2023 after a brave battle with cancer. We were shocked and saddened by her sudden departure. An obituary published in theWire.in captures her remarkable life.
Guler or Kangra, The Funeral and Cremation of Rama's Father, Dasaratha: An Illustration from a Ramayana Series, Circa 1775, Gouache, heightened with gold, on paper, 205 x 307 mm. Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris, inv. 1990-T.4 By kind courtesy of Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris. Source credit: https://scroll.in/article/996128/in-an-18th-century-pahari-painting-of-dasrathas-funeral-vast-vistas-of-echoing-emptiness
Articles supported by MAD
[27 July 2021] In a miniature of Humayun and Akbar, time crumples to depict an entire world of learning. https://scroll.in/article/998543/in-a-miniature-of-humayun-and-akbar-time-crumples-to-depict-an-entire-world-of-learning
[18 June 2021] As Jahangir contemplates a portrait of his father, a reversal of our ideas about dreams and reality. https://scroll.in/article/1000463/as-jahagir-contemplates-a-portrait-of-his-father-a-reversal-of-our-ideas-about-dreams-and-reality
[7 August 2021] In the midst of millenarian chaos, the charismatic presence of Akbar – the perfect ruler. https://scroll.in/article/1002254/in-the-midst-of-millenarian-chaos-the-charasmatic-presence-of-akbar-the-perfect-ruler
Other writings in this series:
Sidley & Pooth (S&P) Sound LAB
Final assembly of the 1st Sidley & Pooth (S&P) production model S&P X1
Sid working on the S&P X3 model in their living room in Bangalore, which from time-to-time transforms into a workshop
Sound Equipment Design, Prototyping Testing Experimenting with ‘multi-way dipoles’
Project Curators
Siddharth Das, Drummer + Sound Expert, Bangalore Saleem Bhatri, Industrial Designer + Architect, Mumbai René Waclavicek, Architect + Sound Expert, Vienna Andrew Putman, Industrial Designer, San Francisco
Point of Departure
After years of buying audio equipment, Sid realized that they are technologically pretty much alike. The differences among them are merely cosmetic. The state-of-the-art in sound reproduction is prohibitively expensive for commercial enterprises to implement because of the science involved. Sid therefore decided to build his own.
Project Brief
The design principle of choice for S&P was ‘multi-way dipoles’. Properly implemented, they can yield astonishingly natural and low distortion sound. Active dipole designs can be difficult to both implement and sell commercially. However, in choosing to pursue the pinnacle of sound reproduction, the possibilities rather than the difficulties are the focus for S&P.
Progress
2006-08, San Francisco Inspired by Siegfried Linkwitz’s Sid started experimenting with electro-acoustics. He teamed up with a young designer Andrew Putman, and started experimenting with the ‘industrial design’ aspects of the creations of Linkwitz Labs. The first experimental mock-ups of the speaker panels were fabricated.
2008, Vienna On his annual trip to Vienna, Sid refined those early designs in collaboration with René. Sid and René continue their refinements on Sid’s subsequent visits to Vienna and René’s visits to India.
2009-14, Mumbai Sid started working with Saleem at Saleem’s workshop in Andheri (Mumbai) to build the 1st production model S&P X1. In November 2012, Sid and Saleem began work on the 2nd production model S&P X2. In 2012, the first production model of S&P X1 was completed. It’s first home was Sid and Suz’s home in Mumbai. In 2015, it was shipped to New York and it now occupies pride of place at their friend Asha Banker’s residence in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Work commenced on the next model S&P X2, but it was eventually abandoned as it was proving to be too bulky and voluminous. Work on a new, slender and elegant S&P X3 began, based on the Siegfried Linkwitz’s LX521. In March 2014, when Sid and Suz moved to Bangalore, the svelte S&P X3 model who had been partially completed was shipped to Bangalore and is currently in prototype phase in Sid and Suz’s living room, which from time to time transforms into a workshop – as is evident from the photographs.
2014-19, Bangalore Sid is working on completing the S&P X3 model. He has implemented the FIR filters, and hopes to get the structural panels finished and polished by the end of the year when Sid and Suz move to their new home in Indiranagar. The sequel to S&P X3 is also in the works. Stay tuned.
MAD Fellowships LAB
In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the MAD Salon+Lab extended the scope of their engagements to include a ‘Fellowship’ component to support scholarly writings. We spoke to the editor of Scroll.in -- Naresh Fernandes and committed to sponsoring an ongoing series of writings -- by eminent art historian Prof. Kavita Singh. Scroll is an independent digital platform covering news, politics, sports and culture.
About Prof. Kavita Singh (1964-2023)
Prof. Kavita Singh was Professor of Art History at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University where she taught courses on the history and politics of museums. Quoting her, in her own words: “Stemming from my work on the history of museums in India, I am interested in the cultures of collecting and display as well as the politics around heritage, including issues of colonial history, repatriation, secularization and religiosity, fraught national histories and the memorialization of difficult histories in South Asia and beyond. While my publications mostly focus on this area, Indian courtly painting is a second and increasingly important preoccupation.”
Prof. Singh passed away on 30 July 2023 after a brave battle with cancer. We were shocked and saddened by her sudden departure. An obituary published in theWire.in captures her remarkable life.
Guler or Kangra, The Funeral and Cremation of Rama's Father, Dasaratha: An Illustration from a Ramayana Series, Circa 1775, Gouache, heightened with gold, on paper, 205 x 307 mm. Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris, inv. 1990-T.4 By kind courtesy of Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris. Source credit: https://scroll.in/article/996128/in-an-18th-century-pahari-painting-of-dasrathas-funeral-vast-vistas-of-echoing-emptiness
Articles supported by MAD
[27 July 2021] In a miniature of Humayun and Akbar, time crumples to depict an entire world of learning. https://scroll.in/article/998543/in-a-miniature-of-humayun-and-akbar-time-crumples-to-depict-an-entire-world-of-learning
[18 June 2021] As Jahangir contemplates a portrait of his father, a reversal of our ideas about dreams and reality. https://scroll.in/article/1000463/as-jahagir-contemplates-a-portrait-of-his-father-a-reversal-of-our-ideas-about-dreams-and-reality
[7 August 2021] In the midst of millenarian chaos, the charismatic presence of Akbar – the perfect ruler. https://scroll.in/article/1002254/in-the-midst-of-millenarian-chaos-the-charasmatic-presence-of-akbar-the-perfect-ruler