Shahzia Sikander: "The Last Post" | "Exclusive" | Art21

Episode #172: Filmed in 2012 at Shahzia Sikander's Manhattan studio, the artist discusses her animated video work "The Last Post" (2010). Sikander also describes how beginning to create animations was a natural evolution in her studio process because she had already been working with narrative and layering in her paintings and large-scale installations.

Shahzia Sikander specializes in Indian and Persian miniature painting, a traditional style that is both highly stylized and disciplined. Her work blends the Eastern focus on precision and methodology with a Western emphasis on creative, subjective expression. Sikander juxtaposes Hindu, Muslim, and Western iconography, entangling histories, meanings, and beliefs.

Learn more about the artist at:
http://www.art21.org/artists/shahzia-sikander

CREDITS: Producer: Ian Forster. Consulting Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Ian Forster. Camera: Rafael Salazar Moreno & Ava Wiland. Sound: Ava Wiland. Editor: Morgan Riles. Artwork Courtesy: Shahzia Sikander & Du Yun. Theme Music: Peter Foley.

Zvyknem skúmať kultúrne a politické hranice

a skúmať idey v tých hraniciach.

Niekedy sú viacej očividné, niekedy menej.

Niekedy je viacej abstraktné, a niekedy omnoho viac ilustračné nejakej politickej idey alebo myšlienky.

The Last Post hrá na akýsi druh oscilácie koloniálnych obchodných vzťahov

medzi Čínou a East India Company v tom čase, skrze ópiu.

Začala som pozerať na East India Company a na firemného človeka,

do Číny.

V tomto diele, ono tiež odkazuje na koniec Anglo-saxónskej hegemónii nad Čínou,

a je jeden moment v animácii

kde symbolická figúra človeka East India Company akosi exploduje.

Myslím si, že sú momenty v animácii, ktoré stelesňujú niektoré z týchto konceptov,