Daku
Daku is an anonymous Indian artist whose pseudonym means “bandit”. The polarised and cynical nature of Daku’s work is informed by the fine marketing dynamics he worked for, which is the advertising industry. It investigates the complexities of our existence in a highly consumerist, desensitised society where everything is ephemeral.Always experimenting with different mediums and languages - English, Hindi, and Urdu, Daku is able to establish profound and site-specific dialogues with the spaces he works within. His works have been showcased at venues such as the Centre Pompidou, Venice Biennale, Triennale Design Museum, Sikka Art Fair and India Art Fair amongst others.
Place Graslin
Nantes - france, 2019
Indian street artist Daku has takes Christophe Manon's poem and places it in large scale on Place Graslin in his work The Theory of Time. The poem relates to time and is taken from the Univerciel collection published in 2009. The installation evolves according to the course of the sun which projects the shadow of the text on the ground. The artist making a connection between time and shadow brings to sharp notice our often forgotten sense of time.
Life is Beautiful
Las vegas, 2019
For Life is Beautiful festival in sunny Las Vegas curated by JustKids, artist Daku channels natural light to activate his literary installation. Placed on the facade of a building that used to house a book store, jutting letters cast shadows to form a poetic quote. The somewhat decontextualized phrase could reflect on time in general, or perhaps life itself. As the sun shifts throughout the day and casts its shifting shadows, the message appears and disappears, with the physical white letters blending into the building.
India Design Forum
hyderabad, 2019
Why’ is big question mark built with 3,00,000 recycled plastic bottles to remind people about the ever growing plastic problem. There are only questions and no answers so far. What about corporations producing and distributing plastic? Is there any alternate? How should governments and people deal with plastic? Where do we go from here?
Serendipity Arts Festival
st+art india foundation x asian paints, 2018
A temporary installation will be installed by Daku in on 31 January Road. The installation will play with words and shadows, reflecting on the life and times of the people of Fontainhas.
Lodhi Art District
New Delhi, 2016
Inspired by Egyptian sundials, Daku decided to use shadow as a medium to talk about the ephemeral nature of life. The typographic piece ingeniously visualises the concept of time by playing with letters that cast an evolving shadow through the day, speaking metaphorically of all the things in life that change over time. Every day, throughout the year, this piece comes alive between 9AM to 3PM and disappears with the fading sun.
Advertising?
HYDERAbad, 2016
