Protest art hits a new pitch

From Grindhouse Videos To Rap, New-Age Reformists Use It All To Voice Their Dissent And Shock Society Out Of Its Complacence
The tradition of protest art played out with complex nuances and metaphoric narratives are long passé. New-age artistes yearning for reform have paved the way for systematic, in-yourface styles that believe in calling a spade a spade, and consider it the best way to unfurl the most powerful revolutions.
“Would you shut yourself to an idea -no matter how uncomfortable -when it's seriously cracking you up?“ asks Vijay Varadharaj. He and his partner, Sha Ra -popularly known as the Temple Monkeys -have over the last four years released more than 30 grindhouse-style videos on YouTube, made at the expense of every comfort zone they deem necessary to wreck. “Notoriety becomes necessary when you want to permeate thick skins and long-built smugness over crucial issues,“ says Varadharaj.
The Temple Monkeys' videos are characteristically tasteless, made out of negligible budgets and intended to cause mayhem to your conditioning. Their themes take from extremely pertinent issues many would cringe at discussing.One of their videos, titled `Valluvan patta paadu', conjures up the stifling conditions today's publishing scene would subject Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar to, if he were alive and writing. After being squarely snapped at every breath of `Agara Muthala Ezhuthellam...' and `Thupparku thuppaya...' (lines from the Thirukkural that talk about nature), a baffled Thiruvalluvar buys time from his profit-hungry publisher and promises to return with “marketable“ content. Six months later, he returns and -rather coyly -recites, `Ooduthal Kamathirku Inbam..' lines from the last `kural' or distich, which highlights the role of sexual intimacy between a man and woman. And the publisher is thrilled.
The Temple Monkeys are in fact packaging the proven technique of satire in a way that long, fervent speeches cannot.Employing an element of unemotional pragmatism and humour is increasingly becoming a rule for young artistes who use it to keep certain overexposed issues from slipping into cold storage.
Take Sofia Ashraf, who loves speaking her mind out about burning environmental issues and as a rule, insists on being non-conformist with it. While you may be quick to label her `cheeky', she is also following a definitive pattern of communication that intends to shock you, make you sit up and take notice. Her newly released follow-up to the now viral `Kodaikanal Won't', in which she rapped away the town's collective outrage over Hindustan Unilever's (HUL) alleged mercury poisoning, is a good example. In this video, Ashraf juxtaposes her point-bypoint counter to Unilever's response to their campaign, with Enya's music, Rajinikanth and dilapidated monsters.
“Many of us were losing faith in social media activism because it went only as far as gaining likes, shares and display pictures, with no concrete outcome. The `Kodaikanal Won't' campaign was an exception, following which 591 former employees of the factory were compensated,“ says Ashraf.
But un-researched music carrying a message is more dangerous than frivolous music, she adds. “If you're raising a cause, you must get involved with the affected people and work out an action plan.Luckily for us, we had a team on ground that was working with environmentalists, activists, lawyers and in direct tandem with human rights groups and the workers' association,“ she says.
Ashraf and many others, such as young Tamil singer-songwriter Kaber Vasuki, found a staple platform in `Justice Rocks' ­ a youth collective and an anti-corporate cell where voices against scathing environmental violations find space. “One of the ways you can really amplify your message is by using good art. We wanted to work with young people and expose them to the reality of communities who were at the receiving end of corporate crime. We invite young artistes to educate themselves about an issue and perform,“ says Nityanand Jayaraman of Vettiver Collective, which organises Justice Rocks. “Corporate media does what corporations want them to do; it's a hostile place to be. We need mediums that are personal and social media gives you that,“ he adds.
Vasuki and Varadharaj are now working on a campaign for Vettiver Collective that aims to promote awareness about poramboke lands and their significance as a self-contained ecosystem.