Home, Reconstructed an installation launch and artist talk with Kabita Das
Date & Time: Monday, April 4th @ 4:00pm
The installation will remain in place until Sunday, April 17th.
Location: BU Law Auditorium, 767 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
The installation will be located at BU Beach (behind Marsh Chapel).
Event Description: Home, Reconstructed is an interactive installation, both digital and physical, that offers viewers the opportunity to dissect their idea of home in order to better understand how they move through a space.
Homes are a place of reconstruction. Everyone holds onto an idea of what home is based on our unique upbringings and experiences and this idea changes as we move through life. Our understanding of home influences the way that we build the spaces around us as we continuously seek comfort and a sense of belonging. Thus, home and space are not strictly physical, but rather are a concept that we always carry with us and that allows us to continuously reconstruct places of familiarity. The way in which we occupy physical and non physical spaces, like a classroom or a conversation, is indicative of what our individual definitions are. When we share a space with other people, we should be conscious of the way we occupy that space, how much of it we claim for ourselves, and how much we leave for others. How do we, then, dissect and analyze our understanding of home and space in order to better understand ourselves and our behavior? How do we claim and maintain the boundaries for our individual experiences while also respecting those of others? Home, Reconstructed brings these questions into focus.
The link to the digital piece: www.homereconstructed.com
Read the Artist Statement for Home, Reconstructed below
Attendance: You can register for this event in advance on Handshake here. At the event a QR will be posted for you to check-in. Please note that while registration is not mandatory, it should make the check-in process smoother. You must check-in to earn co-curricular attendance credit for this event.
About Kabita Das
Kabita Das is a Boston-based independent artist, primarily using design, drawing, painting, and photography as her main media. Her work balances form and meaning to create layered concepts and purposeful experiences for viewers. Kabita is a 2020 Summa Cum Laude Honors graduate from Boston University’s college of Fine Arts with a major in Graphic Design. Previously she has worked as a Jr. Art Director at Brand Content in the Boston area.
Artist Statement
The way we understand home is the way we understand space. Depending on how we grow up, and how we experience different versions of what a home can be, we develop different understandings of space. Home is a space to have some ownership over, and the things that we choose to keep there and to surround ourselves with allow us to assert and build around who we are and what we value. This connects to the way that we behave in all spaces because it defines what we are comfortable with and what makes a space suit our needs. It influences how we occupy space beyond our homes, how much of it we’re willing to claim for ourselves, and how much we’ll leave to others. Thus, home and space are not strictly physical things, but rather are concepts that we carry and manifest wherever we go, whether at home, in a classroom, or a conversation.
This project was initially developed for the BU Graphic Design Thesis exhibition, and the Kilachand Honors College symposium in May of 2020. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic came upon us and these events were cancelled and moved online, the project pivoted. What was originally only intended to be an immersive, physical experience, now is also a digital one, homereconstructed.com, that explores all these same ideas.
Both the physical and digital experiences in this project recreate the need to negotiate how we balance personal spaces and shared spaces. The physical installation, with the wooden pieces attached to strings in pairs, creates a multilayered experience for viewers. They can enter the experience, and look closely at the writing and details engraved in the wood, and have a private moment of individual reflection. However, that experience can be interrupted by the presence of another, as both individuals can inadvertently tug on two pieces that are connected by the same string. The digital portion of this project creates a similar experiential environment. There is a common divide in how we navigate our digital world, in which the internet is equated to public space, and the desktop to personal space. In this digital interactive piece, the act of downloading the content from the website onto one’s desktop recreates the feeling of alternating attention, as the viewer must still balance how their public and private worlds are bridged. Furthermore, the act of first downloading, then unzipping the file, and then observing the content entrusted in the viewer, creates a slow, methodical, and intentional experience. Both pieces ultimately encourage participants to think more deeply about how they, as individuals, operate in a space they share with others. The physical and digital negotiations of space that these experiences encourage more broadly connect to the topics of boundaries, space, and home.
Kabita Das is a Boston-based independent artist, primarily using design, drawing, painting, and photography as her main media. Her work balances form and meaning to create layered concepts and purposeful experiences for viewers. Kabita is a 2020 Summa Cum Laude Honors graduate from Boston University’s college of Fine Arts with a major in Graphic Design. Previously she has worked as a Jr. Art Director at Brand Content in the Boston area.
