Neeta Madahar
*1966 in London

close

Series Falling, 2005
Five photo works, one video

Titled: Falling 1, Falling 2, Falling 3, Falling 4, Landed
    5 photographs, each in an edition of 7 (+ 1AP)
    48"x48" / 122 x 122 cm
    30"x30" / 76 x 76 cm

Video 'Falling'
    Edition of 3 (+1 AP), 7 minutes, screen format 16:9, on DVD
    Music (stereo) composed by Miguel d'Oliveira

'Falling' is jointly commissioned by Fabrica (Brighton), Photoworks (Brighton) and inIVA (Institute of International Visual Arts (London).

For some time I have been thinking about the exploration of personal childhood memories and how the temporal experience of a moment of reverie is compressed or expanded through recollection. Like many as a child, I would collect sycamore or ‘helicopter’ seeds, throw them up in the air and watch with fascination and pleasure at them spiralling down to the ground. I remember finding the seeds still attached by stalks to tree branches, most often already lying on the ground or if I was lucky, at the right moment I might chance upon a seed twirling naturally down in front of me. Unfortunately, I never observed looking directly upwards to see sycamore seeds spinning down towards me, hoping to feel them brush past my face. I wanted therefore, to construct this experience as a new opportunity for reverie, of being able to enter a fluid, imaginary

space where an event unfolds over time and through space specifically for a viewer. The intrinsic ability of photography to allow one to stare at a slice of time and that a photograph can holds one’s attention to widely differing degrees has great appeal for me. Originally I wanted to create several photographs of seeds at different heights in the air against a range of skies. On further reflection I decided that I also needed to create a piece where the experience of time is controlled by the medium itself, such as film or video, that would then create a dialogue with the temporal experience of the photographs. The body of work, Falling, therefore comprises a video animation of the same title and five photographs.
Falling, like my previous photographic series Sustenance, plays with the notion of ‘natural’ occurrences. Things constantly shift between being plausible or implausible and the artificial/natural divide remains elusive to grasp. The motif of the seed in both bodies of work stands as a marker for the passage of time and its purpose in sustaining life. The title Falling whilst being a literal description of what is happening in the works, is also open to other interpretations. For example, the word is an active term that implies a transition from one state to another. It is a liminal condition full of potential. ‘Falling’ also alludes to a loss of control. Whilst this release into a dreamy, fantasy state can be pleasurable in the moment it can simultaneously induce anxiety about the eventual finality of the experience.
Neeta Madahar

Video Still of 'Falling'
 

top

© Neeta Madahar & GALERIE POLLER  
Brückenstrasse 9-11   60594 Frankfurt am Main   Germany   Phone +49(0)69-624042   mail-ffm@galerie-poller.com
547 West 27th Street, 2nd Floor   New York   NY 10001   USA   Phone (212) 967 5700    mail-nyc@galerie-poller.com  
www.galerie-poller.com