Have you met the resident phoenix in your city?
Chances are, if you are a Jamshedpur resident and need to zip up and down Sakchi Boulevard often, you have come across a phoenix, along with a giraffe, giant mosquitoes and dragonflies, a guitar and more.
Jamshedpureans are in love with city-based sculptor and scrap artist Suvendu Biswas's art installations made of industrial waste installed by Jusco at Sakchi Boulevard. Right now, there are 11. Some 44 more will come up across city roundabouts.
Jusco had thought of putting up installations made of scrap metal and other junk when it started its road-widening project last year. Sakchi, one of the city's main commercial and residential hubs, became the area that would have the first lot of junk art.
Residents love the installations for adding character to the city.
"The city looks more beautiful with widened roads and with scrap art all over Sakchi Boulevard. When you see metal installations in the steel city, it makes you feel good, because this goes with the character of the place. The best thing about it is that it promotes recycling of industrial junk," said chartered accountant Amit Khirwal.
Soujanya K. Mishra, a student of Symbiosis College, Pune, who is back at his hometown now to spend his summer holidays, said he was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.
"Good hangout for selfie buffs as installations make cool backdrops for pictures," he laughed. "We expect more installations across the city. We can show off the art to people who come here as tourists or even to our visiting relatives," Soujanya said.
He added that recycling junk into urban art was a great lesson for other industrial cities, too. "I'll ask other corporate companies to do this, rope in sculptors for urban art and beautify the city," the student added.
"I've heard that children love the phoenix, the mosquitoes and the dragonflies," said the 54-year-old self-taught sculptor, who is now modelling industrial scrap into tribal drummers. "But, I'm overwhelmed that even adults love the installations. Everyone has said kind things. I am immensely thankful to Jusco for recognising my potential and entrusting me with this job."
Biswas said he learnt from nature and mastered his art through practice. "I've worked with driftwood, topiary and landscapes, and am now dealing with scrap."
He added that he had been getting other offers. "A corporate house and a mining company have approached me to use their junk in wood, iron and steel and make meaningful installations. The corporate house wants it for beautification while the mining firm wants the art pieces to also double up as safety landmarks," he added.
The quinquagenarian artist is also busy attending workshops. Recently, Biswas was a resource person at a nine-day workshop organised by NGO Yugantar Bharati in Ranchi on the theme 'scrap and stones'.
"We plan to host a similar workshop in Jamshedpur. The main aim is to see how waste can become beautiful installations to embellish gardens, homes and cities. Best from waste is a planet-friendly project," said Dipankar Karmakar, art, craft and culture co-ordinator with Yugantar Bharati.
Which is your favourite scrap art installation and why? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
