Different buildings with lights on showing a glimpse of life inside. Showing the clean sofas where people sit and relax after a long day. Or, the clear glass windows with nice frames and curtains. Or, you see the families preparing the groceries they just bought from the local store. People hold several things dear to themselves, which makes their home a home. There is a responsibility to maintain a certain standard in every aspect of space. Once their utility or sentimentality is over, these personalized things are left behind in the public areas.
When I used to see personal things on the streets, I thought to myself how people could treat their belongings in such a manner. At the same time, while living in Delhi, I kept hearing murmurings about how things are not maintained once people are out of their homes. However, this doesn’t happen exclusively in Delhi, but it is typical of every city in different degrees. There is a behavioral shift once we pass through the guarded gates and fences. Everything is well kept behind those concrete walls, but once we go outside, which does not belong to anybody, the scene shifts. This series is aiming to show that polarity. Even the bare minimum is forgotten. The recognition of the surreal nature of our behavior in this particular field is a start.
While living in Delhi, I kept hearing complaints about how dirty the city is. And, as a kid, I used to wonder why people were complaining about the dirtiness. Even though they were the ones throwing things outside from the window of their car or their house. People threw all kinds of things they used on the streets, parks, sidewalks, places of worship, entertainment areas, and many other places that would not be considered as a personal space. Moreover, this is something that doesn’t happen exclusively in Delhi, but it is typical of every city in different degrees. While living in Paris and Florence, where architecture has played for centuries such a great role in our perception of the space, I had the chance to notice to which extent the situation is similar in these two towns, in spite of the obvious differences. There is an underlying consistency in the way things are being discarded in all these three cities. It seems that people’s behavior is not motivated by an adequate consciousness of the problem. Even the bare minimum is forgotten. While this series is not about consumerism or judging the taste of people, it is attempting to hold a mirror. The recognition of the surreal nature of our behavior in this particular field is a start.