Untitled
Print on Paper Matchbox
0.25 " X 1" X 1.25" (Matchbox Size)
Installation contained 4000 matchboxes

Art for Rs. 15/-

A solo show held at the Lakeeren Art Gallery in Bombay,
India in 2000. Featured in BBC arts.

The original idea behind “Art for Rs. 15/-” was to explore
the relationship between the surface (what we see) and
the physical characteristics of objects. “What would happen
if the surface was somehow dislocated from its underlying
physical structure?”

As a thought experiment, I hand-painted six matchboxes. Each
box had a different visual on top of it that, in one way or the
other, contradicted its physical qualities (matchsticks were
shown as thin as a strip of paper, incapable of being struck).
The hand-painted matchboxes were sold as works of art, too
expensive to be used as ordinary matchboxes. Using these
matchboxes, instead of placing them on pedestals, was critical
to the concept behind “Art for Rs. 15/-.” Thus, it was
equally critical to sell matchboxes as matchboxes and not
as “works of art”. The solution was to mass-produce the
matchboxes and to bring their cost down significantly.

For “Art for Rs. 15/-”, the paintings were made not directly on the
matchboxes but on a canvas. The paintings were then processed
and turned into stickers. What resulted was an installation that
consisted of 4000 matchboxes with stickers on top.