tree of life
Five-floor High
Tallest, Largest
Indoor Staircase Mural.
11,500 Sq. Ft. Total Painted Surface.
5,000 Sq. Ft. Glass Facade.
a World Record
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.
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.”

First Phase : the artist invites his audience |
the beginning | the wide expanse | extending the experience deep |
taking it forward conceptualising | Second Phase : the master’s strokes | the evolving storyline | consolidating and conceptualising | negotiating the 2D vs. 3D site specifics |
bibliography

The Big Picture by Manav Gupta
Times of India
Page One, Delhi Times, Times of India
June 13, 2010
By Suruchi Sharma
If you visit the sprawling Bharti Cellular office at Gurgaon, be ready to be pleasantly surprised by a five storey high magnum opus – a painting.
As you enter, you’ll be greeted by the 5,000-square-foot Tree of Life right in the centre of the building, showcasing the five elements of nature.
Painted by Manav Gupta, this mega mural, formally inaugurated this week, is a first of its kind piece of art – in Delhi at least. And it took Manav (with a good dose of help from the employees, whose office it is, of course) just two months to finish the project. It took more than a 1,000 employees, investing some 2,000 man-hours, and around 400 cans of acrylic paint and preservatives to give a lovely structure to a blank five storey staircase.
Ask Manav as to how the project came about and he says, “I used to do jugalbandis between art, music and poetry. This time, I thought of bringing the spontaneity of the masses to the fore, and that’s how I thought of collaborative art.” He adds, “I could have created the mural alone, but I wanted the involvement of the employees. Each person who has contributed even so much as a brush stroke would have a sense of bonding with the huge space. Their learning and their experience would be unique – something they would carry back with them.”But how were so many employees told how to make an artistic whole? Manav says he’d allot them spaces to paint. Sometimes he guided them, sometimes they were asked to go wild with figures. “The concept was challenging but at the same time creative, as each person was with his/her unique thought. Some wanted to paint bleeding hearts, some wanted to paint books or rangoli,” says Manav. And how did he ensure that all they painted looked like one artwork at the end of the day? “The employees would come between 11 am and 5 pm. After they left, I worked on their art, transforming multifarious hues, shapes, colours and idioms into a composite mega canvas that spoke one language,” says Manav. The mural shows the five elements of nature, one on each floor. The ‘Tree of life,’ a symbol of earth, on first floor; the ‘Peacock’ on second, symbolising water and celebration; a horizon and ‘Leaves’ on the third, denoting air; an introspecting ‘Gaze’ on the fourth, as a symbol of space; and the ‘Glow’ on the fifth denoting fire. The employees are all too happy with the result. “What we have created is a masterpiece and I can proudly say that I am a part of it,” says Manish Khare.

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