Reflections: Anish Kapoor in conversation with Homi K. Bhabha
Anish Kapoor has succeeded in transforming the cool, conceptual, and minimal approach to sculpture by adding lyricism, metaphor, and the heat of the primordial. Objects spill out from their own parameters, yet they also stand serenely as in meditative focus as if for ritual. Typically, the sculptures appear abstract, with Kapoor's intention to promote self-reflection made most obvious when using mirrored surfaces. He does not wish to present a prescriptive idea, but instead to create an environment within which people themselves can consider meaning. As the viewer becomes part of the sculpture, each work speaks of the confined individuality of a single body, but also of the expansive inclusiveness of a shared place. His sculptures paradoxically entwine esoteric philosophy with sensual everyday experience. In this session, one of India’s greatest artists talks about his life and work with his friend Homi K. Bhabha.