tree of life

world record
six floor high, tallest, largest, indoor staircase mural

Commissioned by Bharti Airtel, Gupta conceptualised and created a first of its kind six floor high, 11500 Sq Ft staircase mural at the Airtel Centre, H.Q. campus. Painting LIVE for three months as a continuous marathon project in front of 4000 employees, Gupta created 3-D to 2-D wall painting composition in two phases; deploying four processes: the conceptual, site specific, collaborative and performance art.

In the first phase, he gave the employees the experience of working with him, inviting them to put strokes and idioms on his creation. In the second phase he weaved all it all as a site specific composition, creating a storyline of sustainability with the five elements.

It has since been credited as an iconic work of art.

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Before

After

Before

After

“The burgeoning tree of life spreads growth and vibrancy in the ever evolving five elements of nature. Each element depicted on respective floor, beginning from earth to water to air, space and fire mingles with one another to create symbolism of an ever-growing state of energy in the universe. The compositions on each floor symbolise the evolving human needs that bind and grow into the next higher stage of consciousness. Beginning with sustenance and fun depicted on the second floor, to love and bonding, celebration and procreation on the third floor represented by the Adam and Eve formed out of the intertwined branches, the peacock and the non-limiting horizon of the sea behind. It then grows to higher needs as the floors progress upwards into the signature umbilical cords of human existence on the fourth floor from where it rises to the ‘gaze’, a reflection of one’s introspection on the fifth level – the window to the soul and only then the larger cosmic ‘glow’ emanating from the sixth floor sinks in to drive home the awareness  that one begins to have with experience of  life itself. I see the organisation as a symbolism of the above. Hence, as I extended my collaborative art practice to this Mega Mural, the creation shaped from an ever-evolving stage where I let the employees experience color and form and learn the joy of creation. I strove to make the artist in each individual come alive even as I kept creating the larger canvas simultaneously. The passion with which thousands of employees created idioms served as the deriving food for thought for me to transform all multifarious hues, shapes, colors and idioms into a composite mega canvas that spoke one language as a work of art.”

Processes

The Conceptual

The Performance

The Collaborative

The Site Specific