Being Singular Plural

A revised, English-only edition of the 2010 catalogue accompanying the titular exhibition at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Being Singular Plural presents the film and video work of seven contemporary artists and filmmakers living and working in India today. Instead of wholeheartedly embracing or reacting against the Hollywood or Bollywood industries, these practitioners create works that celebrate and explore the unobtrusive, the unseen, and the individual nature of life and the moving image. Essays by Balsom, Bhaumik, Heikkilä, and curator Poddar contextualize both the artists and the theories of philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, whose ideas of "being singular plural" and "the evidence of film" serve as the intellectual framework for the exhibition. An extended plate section provides multiple images from the video- and filmmakers' work