Zero Calorie: Artworks that speak of forgotten memories and alternate realities

When one pictures an art gallery, we subconsciously expect a calm and composed environment, surrounded by beautifully framed paintings and exhibits. But what if a show embraces chaos? That is the experience you get at 'Zero Calorie', an art exhibition currently ongoing at Studio Bhashkarmee in Hazaribagh, Dhaka. 

The show has been primarily composed of various installations and videos. Organised by a group of seven friends — Dhiman Sarker, Emran Sohel, Rasel Chowdhury, Rupam Roy, Sanjid Mahmud, Sanad Biswas, and Syed Tareq Rahman — they call themselves Dagee Art Garage and run Studio Bhashkarmee together. 

Now, the term 'garage' in their name felt quite literal, because, from an initial look at Studio Bhashkarmee, it looks exactly like a car garage, and even had various tools and tool sheds inside. One might be tempted to get their car fixed here but these were the very tools used to create the installations. 

Photo: Saqlain Rizve

The title of the show 'Zero Calorie' also inspires further curiosity. 

"Although the title may sound like it's related to body fat or health, it is entirely metaphorical. 'Calorie' is energy in our context. The universe is energy, it surrounds us everywhere. However, if we take out the 'energy', we reach neutral ground. We want to portray impartiality through our work, that is why we called the show Zero Calorie," said Rasel Chowdhury. 

The show features a total of 15 exhibits. The audience is able to interact with the artworks; view them from different angles, and feel them by touch as well. The guests are expected to walk around and formulate their own interpretations of the works.

One of Rasel's exhibits, 'Eagerness', was made by photographs from two albums. He found one of the albums lying next to a trash can in Dhaka. He does not know the people in the photos, yet they have so much emotional value. These photos might have been dear memories of someone. 

He found the other album lying around in his home collecting dust, frayed, and fading. He tries to preserve fading memories through this. 

Photo: Saqlain Rizve

Another interesting — and surreal — exhibit was 'The Story of the Cockroach', by Sanjid Mahmud. There is no cockroach in it, dead or alive. Imagine one of Dali's paintings where totally unrelated objects are melting or are not in their natural state, all against a desert-like backdrop. 

Old and forgotten toys, empty vials, and disused old keys are scattered around in this exhibit on a starkly white salt desert. 

"Those toys are my son's. He used to love them once but he destroyed them later, probably because he was hurting and took out his anguish on his once favourite toys," said Sanjid, also alluding to Freud's theory on why and how an individual deals with grief or change. 

Sanjid's other artwork, called '40x10 foot', is an actual 40-feet-wide and 10-feet-tall painting, running from one end of the studio to the other. It took him over two years to complete the painting, and while installing it, canvases had to be stitched together. No discernible figures can be seen in this humongous painting, but the use of different colours and patterns can easily appeal to the audience in many ways.

Rupam Roy, one of the three founders of Dagee Art Garage, used a different approach for his exhibit 'I Love Animals'. The art has layers of stacked animal hide, with the fur still attached to them. The layers are then neatly folded and made into four bed stands, resembling an animal's legs. Rupam tries to show through this that even though some of us are animal lovers, we still domesticate them for our needs.  

"I once heard a story about a cow being prepared for worship. But the cow itself doesn't know that it's being worshipped. It may feel threatened instead by the gathering of thousands of people," said Rupam, with a sneer. 

Do animals really understand our care for them or do they think we always domesticate them for our selfish needs? Looking deeply into Rupam's art, an onlooker may ponder this question.

Zero Calorie is open to all from 2 PM to 8 PM, every day, until Monday, 20 February.

A selection of artworks from the show with a description from the artists 

Eagerness - Rasel Chowdhury 

Photographs

There are two photo albums here, one of them I found beside a dumpster. Someone might have lost it or threw it away. These memories were lost forever. The other album serves as a transition between generations; they bear old memories from a different time. But these photos are going bad. So I am trying to preserve the memories. 

I Love Animals - Rupam Roy

Wood and animal hide 

When I saw these bed stands, it reminded me of an animal's feet and I bought them immediately. Then I tied the hides tightly between the stands. This represents how we domesticate animals forcibly. I love animals but how do my pets view it? Do they love me back? All of these thoughts made me create this artwork.

The Story of the Cockroach - Sanjid Mahmud

Salt, toys and keys

We kill cockroaches whenever we see them. So they hide out of sight and multiply discreetly. But we take further steps to remove cockroaches for good. This is also relatable to us. Just like cockroaches, we're victims of many political influences. The excessive use of salt, an important ingredient, represents how we go overboard with our harmful tendencies and make everything worse. And the toys and keys are relics from our childhood that are slowly fading away in the sands of time.