Elizabeth Dadi
1994
Recycled cast aluminum
Ten Titlis
14 x 18 inch
Swiss Miss Paddle
4 x 32 inch
Endless Jogi Been
Dimensions variable. Each element 7 x 3 inch
Orangi-O-Rama is a wall-mounted architectural installation composed of three Dadaist sculptural works.
Ten Titlis (ten butterflies) is a macabre assemblage of abstracted Lepidoptera forms, which also recalls repetition of identical forms in the minimalist art of the sixties. Swiss Miss Paddle draws upon Man Ray’s sculptures from the twenties and Claes Oldenburg’ s lipstick works from the sixties, but here the references also encompass South Asian cosmetic brands and advertising. And Endless Jogi Been, in which a toy and miniature version of the snake charmer’s musical instrument has been serially repeated, is partly inspired by Constantin Brancusi’s Endless Column.
Together, these three elements playfully draw upon art historical references, even as they engage with the ludic and uncanny material informality in South Asia.