Traces
An exhibition by Rajvi Thakkar '21
Artist's Statement
“The following pieces are an attempt to explore the nuances of the formation of the 'I' and its relationality to the enigmatic traces of others in that formation.”
On exhibition from November 13 - December 10, 2020.
To purchase a piece, please email galabba@beloit.edu to set up an in-person pick up appointment.
"traces (a)"
"An 'I' doesn’t exist independently over here. A 'you' doesn’t exist independently over there. Who am I, without you? Who are you, without me?"
$30
"traces (b)"
"If parts of an object are replaced with similar parts, is it the same object? If cells of a body regenerate entirely in seven years, is it the same person?"
$25
"temporal disruptions"
“Four thousand years ago, we, the people of the Indus River basin, had cities that were laid out on grids and boasted underground sewers, while the ancestors of those who would invade and colonize America were illiterate barbarians.”
Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist
$25
"the elasticity of time"
“Was it really better for human beings to discover more of their past? And then more and more…? Or was it simply better to know as little of the past as possible and even to forget what small amount was remembered?”
Elif Shafak, The Bastard of Istanbul
$25
"non-essentialist perspectives"
“Billy couldn’t read Tralfamadorian, of course, but he could at least see how the books were laid out - in brief clumps of symbols separated by stars. Billy commented that the clumps might be telegrams.
‘Exactly,’ said the voice.
‘They are telegrams?’
‘There are no telegrams on Tralfamadore. But you’re right: each clump of symbols is a brief, urgent message - describing a situation, a scene. We Tralfamadorians read them all at once, not one after the other. There isn’t any particular relationship between all the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep. There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.”
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
$50
"traces (c)"
"Now, the nature of any action - that is, whether it is good or bad - varies according to the manner of its performance. Take, for example, what we are now doing - drinking, singing, and talking; these actions are not in themselves either good or evil, but they turn out in this or that way according to the mode of performing them, and when well done they are good, and when wrongly done they are evil.”
Plato, The Symposium
$30
"traces (d)"
“While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly, I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary, as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."
Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies
$40
"a genealogy of power"
“How much can we ever know about the love and pain in another's heart? How much can we hope to understand those who have suffered deeper anguish, greater deprivation, and more crushing disappointments than we ourselves have known? Even if the world's rich and powerful were to put themselves in the shoes of the rest, how much would they really understand the wretched millions suffering around them?”
Orhan Pamuk, Snow
$40