Sleep and wakefulness. Life and death. The cycles that form life’s most fundamental experiences that are intrinsic to human nature itself served as the starting point for our cover artwork, titled A Short Essay on Sleep by Raqs Media Collective, an art studio comprising Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta. Based out of New Delhi, the collective was formed in 1992 and practises across several forms and media. It makes art, produces performances, writes, curates exhibitions, and occupies a unique position at the intersection of contemporary art, philosophical speculation and historical enquiry.
“The word ‘raqs’ in several languages denotes an intensification of awareness and presence attained by whirling, turning, being in a state of revolution. Raqs Media Collective takes this sense of ‘kinetic contemplation’ to make for a restless and energetic entanglement with the world and with time,” says the trio. In fact, this fascination with the concept of time is evident in the recurring theme of clocks in their works. Not surprisingly, the theme finds expression even on the cover of AD’s Art Issue.
Throwing light on the concept of the cover artwork, Narula says, “On the one hand, the rhythm of every working day—the alteration between waking, working, sleeping—and the beginning and end of life on the other, are the two sets of movements that stand behind the conception of this piece.” While the choice of words is simple, it’s the interplay between them that adds layers to the piece. For instance, even the word ‘sleep’ here has a double meaning, so to speak. “One sense of sleep is the sleep that we welcome at the end of each day, and which everyone longs for, but not everyone is lucky to get (especially if they work in situations that erode sleep). The other sense of sleep is the cessation of consciousness that comes at the end of life, and which claims everybody,” says Narula of the piece.
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The words on the clock face represent both these states of sleep. The play of words is achieved by transposing a few letters that changes their entire meaning. So, for instance, the meaning of the word ‘sleep’ changes when its companion word alters from ‘calms’ to ‘claims’. While creating this artwork, the trio kept on creating new word combinations and even inventing words. The resulting piece was an extension of their thinking and practice.
On their collaboration with AD, the trio were confident that justice would be done to their work. “We were confident that the way in which AD has had a history of publishing covers—that can express unique formulations, almost at the level of an artwork—would enable us to do something adventurous, like using a lenticular surface,” they share.
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