Jiten Thukral and Sumit Tagra

OT: What are your favourite destinations?

T&T: We have been showcasing across the world, so it is all exciting. But if we have to pick some place, it would be Tokyo because there they show respect to everything, whether it is good or bad. In India, honestly, art is the least appreciated because it is always looked at as a hobby and never taken seriously. In London, you’ll see a lot of things and in New York, there are many contemporary galleries.

OT: Most of your art projects are interactive. What’s the idea behind that?

T&T: We want to create an immersive environment where one interacts with the space, the ceiling, the heights, and all these things become really important. People experience the project and, at the same time, create or finish the work of art within that atmosphere.

OT: During the recent India Art Fair, you asked people to write down a memory, shred it and cast it into a cement tile as part of your ‘Memoir Bar’ project. What was the thought process?

T&T: We were working on this idea: ‘If you hold on to an object for a really long time, how do your emotions translate into it?’ So, we are talking about how little things go beyond their materiality. We wanted to show how the idea of nostalgia can be illustrated.

OT: Is there any venue or city where you would love to hold an exhibition?

T&T: Definitely. Victoria and Albert Museum in London and MoMA in New York—these places are very exciting.

OT: Does travel inspire your art?

T&T: See, we wouldn’t literally go to Paris and get inspired by the Eiffel tower. But yeah, there’s, say, the smell of the place—our projects are actually moulded according to the space. We wouldn’t call it inspiration, but contextualising is very important.

OT: The Illuminated River International Design Competition saw you light up a London bridge. Could you tell us more about it?

T&T: We were given the historical Vauxhall Bridge. For us, it was visualised as the spine of a book which looks into the past and the future of the bridge. The water and the bridge have a love story, so the entire project showcases the bridge as the man and the water as the woman. The traveller, too, is a part of the project because his footprint counts and changes the hue of the light on the bridge.

OT: What’s next for you guys?

T&T: We are going to Hong Kong this March to do a project called Bread, Circuses and Wi-Fi. The project includes a performance where a guy is sitting in the gallery and you can call him using a Wi-Fi router. It’s a take on call centres.