ਬੰਦੇ  ਚਸਮ  ਦੀਦੰ  ਫਨਾਇ  ॥ Bande chasm deedn fanaai || (2021)

Simranpreet Anand and Conner Singh VanderBeek

Sculpture and Mixed Media

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ਬੰਦੇ  ਚਸਮ  ਦੀਦੰ  ਫਨਾਇ  ॥ Bande chasm deedn fanaai ॥  is a body of works comprised of found Sikh textiles and sacred objects. In Sikh practice, objects that come in contact with the Guru Granth Sahib - the sacred scripture that is regarded as a living entity - are considered to be imbued with the Guru’s sacred energy. These objects are cremated at the end of their life cycle through a ritual called agan bhet seva, or an offering to fire performed in a purpose-built structure. Due to the pressures of globalization and the replacement of slow handicrafts with mechanization and mass-production, materials that were historically made of natural materials have been replaced with synthetic, plastic-laden fabrics that off-gas toxic fumes when cremated. This shift has also led to an abundance of Sikh textiles that are given as offerings in gurdwaras. In Canada, excess textiles are stored in warehouses and ceremoniously cremated.The majority of the textiles used in this exhibition were found in a warehouse at a Sikh facility in Canada. The textiles have been taken with permission from the facility director and used in consultation with friends and fellow Sikhs.In the title for this work, Guru Arjun Dev declares that all which humans can see with their eyes will perish (Ang 723). The pieces within all draw inspiration from passages in Gurbani that discuss the spiritual emptiness and material wealth and the transience of the physical body. These passages help illuminate the tensions between the messages of the Gurus and how those ideas have been misinterpreted, ignored, or forgotten in contemporary Sikh material practice.