Flea market slides [seriality]
Being in Ahmedabad we visited a local flea market. Among brass and copper tableware, East-Indian optical devices, metal beds and car repair tools, we came across hundreds of 1960s film slides. We looked through almost all of them without particularly knowing what we were looking for, but some of them seemed relevant, interesting as they provoked our curiosity. We bought 15 slides of tourists from Ahmedabad back in the 1960s, who were taking sightseeing pictures as souvenirs around the world.
Those people gathered something to bring back home, being at a distance. In a similar fashion, we aim to bring those places that were captured on the slides to Ahmedabad urban fabric. The slides hold the narratives of travelling, as such, they intend to curate the wonderer through the architecture, by the use of frame and distance. They surpass the distance of the presented places by being means of communication of the images.
The slides also hold architectural quality within themselves. They have a scale which is a concentrated ration of the actual scale of their projection. They have strict proportionality of the margin to the film, as they are meant to be re-enacted in a dark room with a use of a projector. Slides as objects are also optical devices. In such capacity they can be incorporated into architectural production as a reference point of view, forming a vector of projection.
15 random slides were brought from Ahmedabad Riverfront Flea Market on Sunday, 12th January, 2020. Video shows the process of selection. Each slide involved a unique narrative of travel, with specific date, around the world, in the universe scale.
No.1 || Name: East India Frigate || Location: Somewhere on East India Route || Date: 19 Nov 1964
No.2 || Name: Observation Deck Somewhere on Cruise Ship || Location: In Ocean || Date: 25 Nov 1965
No.3 || Name: Merchant Boat || Location: In sea, under bridge or pavement || Date: 20 Oct 1966
No.4 || Name: Mahabalipuram Temple || Location: Mamallapuram, India || Date:
No.5 || Name: Khajuraho Tantric Temple || Location: Khajuraho, India || Date:
No.6 || Name: Nataraja Sculpture || Location: || Date:
No.7 || Name: Astrological Device || Location: Jaipur, India || Date:
No.8 || Name: Pink City Walls || Location: Jaipur, India || Date:
No.9 || Name: Unknown Building in Hydrabad || Location: Hydrabad, India || Date:
No.10 || Name: Days of Pompei || Location: Pompei, Italy || Date: 9 Oct 1966
No.11 || Name: Outside the Oceanarium || Location: Marineland of the Pacific, LA || Date: 28 Aug 1954 - 11 Feb 1987
No.12 || Name: Chinese Theatre, The Train || Location: LA, USA || Date: 1964
No.13 || Name: View Over Prince’s Street || Location: Edinburgh, UK || Date: Jan 1966
No.14 || Name: The Castle. View From Prince’s Gardens || Location: Edinburgh, UK || Date: Jan 1966
