The Brown Age

Restoration of Humanity

The Brown Age

Contemporary artist and sustainable design expert Bandana Jain is presenting her recent works — inspired by the omnipresence of brown corrugated containers in our lives and crafted out of discarded delivery boxes and packaging — at the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery from September 27 to October 3, 2022 from 11am to 7pm. Titled The Brown Age, the solo exhibition of 20+ works of art seeks to mirror a new era through the digital revolution where brown boxes became a part of almost everything we consume and create. For Bandana, her love for the concept of sustainability is evident in the choice of her unconventional medium. By compiling discarded boxes and giving them a new lease of life through upcycling and the prism of art, she advocates that the wheels of time are turning again — and after the time periods of the Stone Age, Copper Age and Iron Age — once again heralding a new era for good and for bad. Bandana calls it the Brown Age.

Delving into contemporary times, her works take one back to the inception of the industrial revolution, and how the birth of new mass-produced materials like paper and corrugated sheets transformed the packaging and transportation of things at the global level. Corrugated boxes were initially envisioned to ship goods, however over the years as a younger audience reimagined it as a toy for playtime, these brown boxes came alive with a fresh spurt of creativity. In the era of digitalisation, our world is getting shrunk and most of our requirements are fulfilled online and delivered to us in a box — becoming part of everything we consume. Bandana Jain coins this as the Brown Era, and mirrors her imagination through recycled cartons into art works.

“Just like other well-known artists, the industry started recognizing me for my works which are tactile in nature. In this show, I am showing an extension of my usual body of work in an elaborate and experimental way. All of these works are made of recycled cartons, that’s the beauty of the show. From delivery boxes for everything from food to gadgets, to playmates for children who utilise cardboard boxes as time machines in their make-believe world, a world without corrugated boxes is hard to imagine,” adds artist Bandana Jain, who is also known to merge functionality into her creations, along with thoughtfulness. On showcasing empathy toward the environment through art, Bandana says, “We know this is the result of constant modification and alteration in our planet. Will we ever take accountability for our actions and take conscious efforts to make this planet a better place? Art gives a perspective to people. Without using words, if we show the consequences, it stays in the subconscious mind of the viewer. Art helps in a bigger context as it has the ability to change the norm.”

Date 27-09-2022

The Brown Age Droplet

Droplet