Abstract
In view of the growing concerns and innate creative potential of waste, this article reconsiders the ontological status of discarded materials and materiality as active components/agents in the conception, making, and interpretation of art through a new-materialist framework. By denying a pure representational analysis, the study instead brings forth art’s complex dynamic material-semiotic character. It offers a re-reading of the artworks of twenty-first century Indian artists by exploring multiple facets of how trash operates conceptually and physically. A nuanced understanding of the co-constitutive, relational role of myriad human and non-human actors is instantiated through case studies. By discussing the re-appropriation of trash under three overlapping categories, where the artists apply trash as metaphor and symbol; relics; and substance/physical matter (for its physical properties like texture, colour, etc), the study acknowledges the material-discursive character of art. Thus, the study offers an extended interpretation of materials and objects in art where meaning and material are mutually constructive.
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