ABSTRACT
Today ‘art’ has come to be associated almost entirely with the work of those skilled in painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and new media. ‘Display’ as manifestation tends toward an earlier definition of ‘art’ as ‘skill’ and of ‘aesthetics’ as ‘sense perception of material phenomena’. By contrast, display as making a show of something is more consonant with a notion of art as the skill of the specialist and aesthetics as evincing specific notions of beauty and taste considered to be refined. After all, artists make a show of their work in exhibitions while vendors display their wares in order to bring it to the view of potential customers. Mallikarjun katakol’s display series is shot in contemporary Bengaluru although these pictures could just as easily have been taken in any other Indian city. The photographs are of goods for sale: vegetables, meat, fish, dry goods, snacks, vessels, footwear, accessories, undergarments, locks, etc.
