The city gets produced through individuals and their practices. How do these practices and their practitioners embed themselves in the network of the city? There have been several periods of shifts that have moulded and transformed the way in which individuals live and shape their own practices. These practices in turn enhance the newness which slowly takes over the culture
of the city. We tried investigating the recent shifts that have happened around us in the last five to six years, in our own micro contexts and how these have given rise to specific practitioners who are either reimagining traditional practices or giving rise to completely new practices. A major shift and enabler in this process has been the rise of internet and digital media.

 

With these individuals, their stories and their networks, we discussed the complexities of human beings, their thoughts and the larger, macro context in which they place themselves. Each practitioner upholds a deep desire to create new, distinct cultures and usage of oneself which produces a need to be cellularised or separated from everything around him / her. These desire driven practices, which try to capture new senses, beyond seeing and listening, push the question of what is fake to a level where it gets smudged or blurred. The awkwardness thus generated between what is new and what already exists is the essence of the new networks of the community, which are shaping to produce a fragmented, culture based and contractually driven society. Thus the blurring of differences between cultures, the acknowledgement of various individuals and the self, the creation of culture based identities and the breakdown of institutions produces a neo-liberal thinking, which sets in place the morality of this society. This studio was then articulated as a collection of short stories, 'Error 404: not found'.