Bharata’s Karanas - An Interpretation
Bharata’s Karanas - An Interpretation
The power of the image, whether static as in a painting, or animated as in dance, invokes often unusual or unasked questions as to its visual semiotics and philosophical underpinnings. Images speak a distinct, often subliminal, language, be it in performance or not. It is this language that underlies the images in this book, Bharata’s Karanas, a compendium of original 108 drawings of phrases of movement found in the Natya Shastra, an ancient Indian treatise on theatre.
As in all thought processes, we subconsciously arrange our ideas in sequences, linear or otherwise, and act on the choices that are an outcome of this process. The creative morphing of this link from “thought to action”, and between “being and becoming”, is the essence of this compendium. Augmenting theoretical oservations through direct experience, bybeing the dancer in the dance and, at the same time, being the artist of the artwork, constitutes a journey beyond a phenomenal aspect of tacit knowing; this will be a significant and lived knowing.
Following this thread, these drawings explore the aesthetic “moment” through experience; the moving notation of dance sculptures is studied and created as illustrations of “ink on paper” from the point of view of “intentionality”. It also examines kinaesthetic impact on the neuro-physiology of the dancer as a corporeal entity and provides a rare insight in the area of consciousness studies.
Reviews
“..her artworks so powerful and fragile at the same time. Afterall, that is what most artists can only dream to achieve, to unlock the intimate within the universal.”
Akram Khan. Dancer, United Kingdom
“Sarasa Krishnan’s research adds a profound and enduring component to her existing legacy as a great artist.”
Duncan Ord, OAM, Director General of Arts and Culture Western Australia
"I am impressed by the complex multiple layered argument you are making at the level of metaphysics, science and of course inter-cultural communication. ... have made fullest use of your background, as a visual artist with an in depth experience of the traditions of the great artists of Europe and have related these to the seminal text of Bharata’s Natyasastra. ... a very serious attempt to identify the multiple levels of the text, be it consciousness or metaphysics, sacred geometry and of course kinetics..... requires both courage and unusual industry and commitment...interpretation of the Karanas, not only as descriptions of physical movement, but more as the understanding of the human form in movements of stillness and dynamics."
Dr Kapila Vatsyayan
"I am very happy to know that Saras Krishnan has undertaken such a massive project by writing a book using her extensive knowledge of the visual arts as well as her diligent study of the karanas. I feel that her book "Bharata's Karanas" will provide new insight into different artistic and philosophical disciplines. I congratulate her on her efforts and wish her much success with this exciting new work as I am sure it will benefit many"
Pandit Birju Maharaj
Preface
The growing economic power of India, and its seeming emergence as one of the world’s new super-powers, has not always been matched by a commitment in Western universities to an intellectual understanding of the complex, multi-layered and ancient cultural traditions of the sub-continent. So much of the world’s art, whether it is music, dance, painting, sculpture or theatre, has been influenced by Indian philosophies and aesthetics. This book offers another important step in understanding these formative traditions.
Sarasa Krishnan’s collection of drawings here is a fascinating and important work in the area of inter-cultural performance studies. Not only are they beautiful as works of art themselves, they are informed by a deep understanding and commitment to a disciplined and profound spiritual and artistic practice. They provide both a document and an exploration; they are also themselves dancing on the borders of different artistic and philosophical disciplines.
This book is part of Krishnan’s doctoral research into the question of consciousness in the artistic event, specifically from the point of view of Bharata’s definitive aesthetic theory of “rasa”. This concept has been highly influential in the growth of a sophisticated inter-cultural performance discussion in global theatre; it has explained and enriched the current focus on emotion in performance, especially as experienced by the spectator. But it is a difficult and subtle concept, backed by a specific philosophical, aesthetic and religious discourse, and this is sometimes missed in the more enthusiastic applications of the concept in American, Euro- pean and Australian performance studies.
The great virtue of Krishnan’s research is that she places the concept of “rasa”, and Bharata’s work generally, into a broader context, showing that it is about an understanding of the universe and humanity’s place within it. Her own artistic work in this book explores and plays, in the most serious sense of that word, with this context.
Krishnan’s own hybrid status as a researcher and artist working in Perth, as well as over a range of artistic forms, enables her to find new and significant connections. Here she shows that the sculptures are themselves embodiments of dance in process; moments of fluidity and transition. She is also able to make links with the most exciting (and mind-bending) of recent understandings of the universe in theoretical physics, and also the older traditions of European philosophy. Here she sees correlations between Bharata’s theory, and several Asian traditions, with thinkers like Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger.
This is exciting, significant and beautiful work. Enjoy.
Dr. David Moody is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Drama at Murdoch University. He has also acted as Chair of the English and Theatre program for a number of terms. He is a performance and literature theorist writer, director and actor. His doctoral thesis was on theatre in post-colonial Nigeria, and he has published widely on African and post-colonial theatre. Dr. Moody has written several plays: his last works were THE AWAKENING and ELEPHANT DREAMING, performed at Murdoch in 20014. He has directed for thirty years, and some of his credits include A PRIMITIVE OTHELLO(1996) and A WILDE NIGHT (2010). His last performance as an actor was in ELEPHANT DREAMING (2014). He is currently working on a production of LOW LEVEL PANIC by Clare McIntyre. At Murdoch, he supervises a number of doctoral students working in literature, theatre and creative writing.
Details
- Copyright 2014 Sarasa Krishnan
- First published in Malaysia in 2014 by Beagle Books
- ISBN: 978-967-10169-2-3
- Cover: Hard Cover
- Dimensions:
- Pages: 176