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What is it about the apocalyptic genre? We love a good end of the world story. I think it’s more than just survival and the indomitable human spirit that makes it so intriguing. When it comes to natural disasters in horror/thrillers, whether it’s an inexplicable weather event or flesh-eating mycelial creatures, it feels like there’s a subconscious vengeance we’re seeking on behalf of mother earth that is fulfilled through the premise of the genre. It has also, for the same reason, come to be known as 'Ecohorror': a represention our fears towards the natural world. The subgenre is rooted in our fractured relationship with nature and the havoc we have wreaked upon the planet’s ecosystem. It manifests as nature’s revenge.
A homegrown artist who makes sculptural explorations into folklore and mythological stories dove into the same through his project featured in an exhibition earlier this year. ‘Ghar Aangan Me Kheti Ri Hi Goonj’ by Bhimanshu Pandel was an exploration into opium poppy that is consumed by rural communities in Nagaur, Rajasthan. The sculpture was based on the artist’s agrarian heritage and drew inspiration from how the local communities interacted with the nature around them.
Bhimanshu’s work is described as, “a hauntological approach to reinterpret sacred plants and trees within contemporary settings. His work merges traditional and modern techniques creating a dialogue on sociological, philosophical, and spiritual dimensions of life. Through his visual narratives, Bhimanshu seeks to preserve and re-imagine the collective memory and socio-cultural values of his ancestors.” A portmanteau of the words ‘haunt’ and ‘ontology’ this concept is based on the belief that both the past and the lost futures ‘haunt’ the present moment. Within Ecohorror these lost futures are the consequences of climate change and a disregard for the planet.
Bhimanshu’s sculptures and maquettes are also informed by mythology and folklore of the Marwar region in Rajasthan. These stories lend to the visual language the artist creates for people to interact with culturally. Both his drawings and his sculptures that the artist pursued to add a tactical sensibility to his art, stem from his agrarian roots that are still alive in rural Rajasthan. His art gives form to humanity’s fears and anxieties in the backdrop of an over-exploited planet that we continue to damage. In a way his work manifests as a message from the collective unconscious of man and nature that urges us to go back to the ancient ways of ecological harmony and shift our course before it’s too late.
Follow Bhimanshu here.
