Between 1976 and 2003, Viswanadhan filmed a pentalogy devoted to the five elements of Indian cosmology (Sand, Water, Fire, Air, Ether) 'in the same way that an artist paints'. Ganga (1985) is the second entry in the series.
EN
“Film, even before entering into the gallery space in the 1970s – with projector performances and film installations – sparked interest within the art world: Andy Warhol, for example, turned filmmaker. In India, notable painters, Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta, M.F. Husain and Nalini Malani took an active interest in the possibilities of film. Velu Viswanadhan ought to be included in this list: his pentalogy, The Five Elements, combines a documentary interest in labour with a painterly interest in the landscape.”
Arindam Sen1
- 1Arindam Sen, "Delicate Viewing: The Films of Velu Viswanadhan," Marg, A Magazine of the Arts, vol. 72, no. 1, 2020.
