The toilet in ''Kaali Shalwar'' particularly stood out for me because it reminded me of an art installation I had seen at the Tate many years ago. The photograph above depicts Marcel Duchamp's ''Fountain'' that was created in the period right after the First World War. The artist identified himself and his work with the Dadaist art movement which challenged the very notion of art and aesthetics. The wider message Duchamp was trying to convey seems very similar to Manto's - by labeling this ready-made, everyday object as art, Duchamp is lamenting the post-war era of mass consumption and indicating the degradation of individualised and personalised art. He is, in essence, lamenting the loss of the individual. ''Kaali Shalwar'' maintains the same conflict - individual identity is being fragmented in the face of mass consumption. The toilet is symbolic of 'modernization', of industry and of factory production and this is why it is immediately recognized by Sultana as a threat. She perceives that the chain has been added for her own convenience and is shocked to hear that the chain is not a result of a personalised modification but rather exists in all toilet models.
No comments:
Post a Comment