Nikhil Vettukattil
b. 1990 Bengaluru, India
Lives and works in Oslo, Norway
2020
Country Music, EKA Gallery, Tallinn
The Vapours, Kunstraum Kesselhaus, Bamberg
2019
Housewarming, Le Bourgeois, London
Extended Hours, for Struktura.Time. Akademirommet, Oslo
An Analog for Listening, flatness.eu
2018
Words Fail Me, Auto Italia, London
Eyecatcher III, Focal Point Gallery, Southend
The Conch, South London Gallery, London
2017
SECURICOR, for Now, How?, DECAD, Berlin
Denying the Inflammability of the Twigs Found in the Copse This Morning
3236RLS/Le Bourgeois, London
Bizoux.online, Banner Repeater, London
Perception is Reading, Cashmere Radio, Reboot.fm and Transmediale, Berlin
2016
A Gift Given in Feudal Fashion, Almanac Projects, London
Dream Works, Lethaby Gallery, London
Cosmopolitan Universal Cinema, Close-Up, London
I don’t wanna curate anymore, I just wanna accumulate content, Chalton Gallery, London
Cosmopolitan Universal Cinema, Arnolfini, Bristol
Kings Cross Continental, KC Continental, London
2015
juice, Acme Project Space, London
2014
Image to Scale, William Road Gallery, London
You are all so tired, Swiss Institute, New York
Nothing remains of the perfectly mapped textures and the exacting reflections of the architectural rendering. In the atemporal light of a cloudy day, the images that line the construction hoarding seem to now reference an imagined past more than a prospective future. One panel features cars driving on the wrong side of the road. Another contains a gleeful pedestrian with a vanishing foot. The isomorphic repetition of the plants mirrors the copy and paste images of the occupants. The indifference of the composition reminded her of Netherlandish Proverbs, though here too the idioms seemed peculiarly obscured by time.
The birds, the birds which sound like ringtones, ringtones from a decade prior to now.
What's more, a bird is on this balcony,
it says to me:
“Grand Vals, Francesco Tárrega, Nineteen-Oh-Two”.
Silence. Another bird has begun to peck at the trail of vomit running down the stairwell. More and more of these tiny birds, pecking, chirping, Grand Vals, Francesco Tárrega, Nineteen-Oh-Two.
I wake up
Silence.
Hello?
Nikhil Vettukattil is an artist and writer based in Oslo. His practice concerns the role of representation and image-making processes in framing and remaking lived experience. Using sound, moving image and sculpture, his work often explores the ways art and cinema mediate everyday life and historical experience. Recent projects include ‘Words Fail Me’ at Auto Italia, London, ‘Denying the Inflammability of the Twigs Found in the Copse This Morning’ at Le Bourgeois, London, ‘Perception is Reading’ for Notes/Cashmere Radio, Berlin, ‘Either the nearest or the farthest away’ for bizoux.online, and ‘Cosmopolitan Universal Cinema’ at Arnolfini, Bristol and Close-Up, London.