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Kibitzer
Text by Vidur Sethi, curator.
This installation is an immersive exploration of chess as a medium of communication, deeply rooted in Kolkata’s storied relationship with the game, transforming play into a visual and auditory experience.
Sculptural assemblages with rocks serve as boards, pawns as mouthpieces, and the score becomes a composite soundscape of Kolkata. As one engages with the assemblages, several sounds intersect and coalesce to deliberate on the meanings of Kibitzer — extending alternate commentaries on (un)solicited advice, surveillance, and spectatorship. These soundscapes present letters exchanged between Bengali poets Kazi Nazrul Islam and Bangladeshi writer Kazi Motahar; the thumping sound of marching; a playback of contemporary chess commentary; an intercontinental match between Kolkata and Liverpool; and lapwing chirps. The absence of kings and queens on the board shifts the game focus from one of hierarchical strategy to that of collective movement, where listening replaces winning. As pieces of sound move and hyperlocal narratives emerge, each pawn acts as a node in rare conversations within this adda. In this sense, the Kibitzer, by Sethu(ram)an and Padmanabhan J. (beatnyk) not only subverts the conventional order of playing chess but also invites a journey from cacophonic listening to an intimate eavesdropping. Here, the act of leaning near the assemblages transforms the experience into a space-time where the city and its inhabitants listen to an array of local stories through Kolkata’s most unassuming chess pieces. The works ultimately frame listening as a form of care, attuning the body and ears to the rhythms and strategies of the city and its tradition of playing chess on the pavements as a case for building porous futures.
This work is currently being shown as part of Adda: The Third Space at Tri Art and Culture, Kolkata.
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Text by Vidur Sethi, curator.
This installation is an immersive exploration of chess as a medium of communication, deeply rooted in Kolkata’s storied relationship with the game, transforming play into a visual and auditory experience.
Sculptural assemblages with rocks serve as boards, pawns as mouthpieces, and the score becomes a composite soundscape of Kolkata. As one engages with the assemblages, several sounds intersect and coalesce to deliberate on the meanings of Kibitzer — extending alternate commentaries on (un)solicited advice, surveillance, and spectatorship. These soundscapes present letters exchanged between Bengali poets Kazi Nazrul Islam and Bangladeshi writer Kazi Motahar; the thumping sound of marching; a playback of contemporary chess commentary; an intercontinental match between Kolkata and Liverpool; and lapwing chirps. The absence of kings and queens on the board shifts the game focus from one of hierarchical strategy to that of collective movement, where listening replaces winning. As pieces of sound move and hyperlocal narratives emerge, each pawn acts as a node in rare conversations within this adda. In this sense, the Kibitzer, by Sethu(ram)an and Padmanabhan J. (beatnyk) not only subverts the conventional order of playing chess but also invites a journey from cacophonic listening to an intimate eavesdropping. Here, the act of leaning near the assemblages transforms the experience into a space-time where the city and its inhabitants listen to an array of local stories through Kolkata’s most unassuming chess pieces. The works ultimately frame listening as a form of care, attuning the body and ears to the rhythms and strategies of the city and its tradition of playing chess on the pavements as a case for building porous futures.
This work is currently being shown as part of Adda: The Third Space at Tri Art and Culture, Kolkata.
