#data&publics

[blogging-from-itp]

Lynched 🗡️

A performance piece developed from the 5 yr data of the word “Lynched” in India. Source Google trends/News.

Intro I am raised in a secular and democratic country so the recent developments or rather the deterioration in the political climate has made me question my beliefs and understanding of the constitution and the place I belong to. This project is a response to the news and the events that have engulfed the country and decide the destiny 200 million-plus people.

LYNCHED /lin(t)SH/ verb past tense: lynched; past participle: lynched (of a mob) kill (someone), especially by hanging, for an alleged offence with or without a legal trial.

Why is my data based on the word Lynched? Before going ahead, it will help if you read this NYT article on hate crimes and thewire.in article. Hate crime, coupled with fake news and increasing unemployment has created a polarised society where your freedom is tied with your class, caste, religion, political views, sexual orientation and gender. 

So anyone who doesn’t fit in is at risk of getting persecuted by gangs or followers of political parties based on assumptions or fake news. Lynching is an easy way to suppress voices using mob violence and swords and daggers.

The concept Enacting the mindless act of using a knife on wooden board collectively to scratch and make violent marks till the time is exhausted.

Data I fetched the 5 yr data from the News section on Google Trends. It starts from 2015 and goes on untill February 2020, in sync with the current government coming in power.

Below is the image of the data being cleaned and converted into time.

Development I initially planned using ketchup and focus on the loss of life, similar to Imran Qureshi’s work but later decided against it. When we talk of lynching, the following are the possible reaction:

Sympathise the people whose lives are lost

Indifference towards data, especially when violence becomes normal.

Bitterness towards the political regime

My goal is to use this performance to reflect on the act of lynching - the absence of consciousness, the rigidness, the monotonous, the repeatedness and the collective joy of doing together.

Material: I iterated with paper, metal and wood. Paper is too fragile and can’t last the intensity of knife marks. Metal, on the other hand, is too hard to get scratch marks. Ideally, I would have preferred cement but for now, I decided to stick to MDF. It’s hard so as not to break but soft enough to register the knife marks.

I finally decided on the combination of MDF board + knife.

The setup

The MDF board will be set up with a min of 2 participants. 

The participants will be silent room so all they should hear is the sound of the scratch marks.

Each round will be time-constrained based on the data.

Also, once the participant has agreed to start the round, they can’t lift their knives from the board.