The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma Ep 441: Ravikumar Kashi Is in Play Mode
Ravikumar Kashi, Indian contemporary artist, writer and educator known for paper, printmaking and installations. He talks about tactile curiosity with materials, turning private mourning into public multisensory work, and treating the studio as an experimental lab. He discusses teaching as lifeline, archiving Bangalore’s flex banners as social data, and resisting a fixed signature style while embracing scale and craft.
03:35:44
Artist Books Became Rituals For Processing Loss
- After his parents died Kashi made artist books weaving objects, typewriters, cloth and sound to process loss and create shared entry points for viewers.
- The show with fragile Hanji torso and typewriter sounds evoked strong public emotional responses.
Use Teaching To Protect Artistic Independence
- Use teaching as a sustainable income stream so you don't compromise your artistic vision to chase market sales.
- Frame teaching as reciprocal: classroom experiments inform studio work and extend practice.
Teach To Deepen Your Own Mastery
- Teaching is the fastest way to deepen understanding; designing briefs and repeating classes forces you to clarify fundamentals.
- Structure briefs, iterate methods, and require students to produce plans to accelerate learning.
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Intro
00:00 • 4min
Meeting Ravi: first impressions and selves
03:41 • 6min
Early life in Malleswaram
09:55 • 12min
The pull of art and first prizes
21:54 • 2min
Materials, printmaking and tactile curiosity
23:30 • 4min
Transition to paper and lab-like studio
27:20 • 1min
Family, conflict and My Father Said
28:33 • 14min
Private mourning made public
42:20 • 9min
Art's private act vs public reception
51:29 • 6min
Ephemerality and the creative moment
57:24 • 9min
Childhood choices and multiple possibles
01:06:14 • 6min
Advice to young artists and defining success
01:11:54 • 8min
Avoiding signature style: onion not jackfruit
01:20:00 • 5min
Ephemeral installations and the experience
01:25:04 • 2min
Artistic development and key works
01:26:42 • 9min
Making a living: teaching as lifeline
01:35:15 • 8min
Rethinking art education and pedagogy
01:43:31 • 9min
Teaching informs practice
01:52:37 • 6min
Documenting visual culture and politics
01:58:33 • 7min
Flex banners as raw social data
02:05:54 • 5min
Breadth over art history
02:10:34 • 4min
The Glasgow residency and paper obsession
02:14:40 • 4min
Pulp, fibers, and papermaking techniques
02:19:00 • 5min
Making-as-thinking and idea seedbank
02:24:10 • 12min
Scale, studio and material control
02:36:38 • 4min
Kannada, bilingual practice and writing
02:40:55 • 11min
Translation, AI and language pitfalls
02:51:40 • 2min
The art market boom and bust
02:54:00 • 6min
Gatekeepers, Instagram and changing ecosystems
03:00:26 • 8min
Magic versus lasting vision
03:08:30 • 6min
Age, crystallized intelligence and future work
03:14:50 • 7min
Advice to younger self and values
03:22:20 • 2min
Recommended reading and music
03:24:47 • 10min
Outro
03:34:53 • 48sec
#72557
How to Have Creative Ideas
62 exercises to develop the mind
Edward de Bono
Edward de Bono outlines 62 different games and exercises built around random words chosen from a list to encourage creativity and break habitual thought patterns.
The book presents creativity as a learnable skill rather than an innate talent, providing simple, fun methods like the 'Random Input' technique to generate ideas for problems, such as new restaurant concepts.
It draws on de Bono's pioneering work in lateral thinking to help individuals and teams develop new solutions and explore possibilities systematically.
#96002
What You Say After You Say Hello
Unknown
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#68602
Paper Trails: Reflections on Practice
Ravikumar Kashi
Paper Trails collects the artist's reflections on the material practice of handmade paper, detailing techniques, experiments, and conceptual approaches developed over decades.
It connects craft knowledge to contemporary art practice and situates papermaking as both medium and subject.
The publication includes images of works, process documentation, and essays that consider paper's materiality and its role in memory and fragility themes.
It serves as both an artist's notebook and a resource for other practitioners interested in paper as an active medium.
(Entry drawn from episode resources and exhibition documentation. )
#76451
Flexing Muscles
Flexing Muscles brings together an essay in English and Kannada by Ravikumar Kashi, reflecting on his observations of the medium, format and content of political flex banners in Bangalore.
Ravikumar Kashi
Flexing Muscles documents and analyzes the flex-banner culture and visual politics of public display in Bangalore, combining photographs, commentary, and the artist's observations.
Kashi examines how public imagery signals power, identity, and aspiration, using the ubiquitous flex banners as primary material.
The book blends field documentation with reflections on iconography, representation, and social change in urban India.
Through close observation and visual analysis, it reveals how grassroots visual practices register broader political and social shifts.
The work serves both as an archive and a critical provocation about popular visual culture and civic life.
#114
• Mentioned in 173 episodes
From Strength to Strength
Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life
Arthur C Brooks
In 'From Strength to Strength', Arthur C. Brooks addresses the inevitable decline in abilities that comes with aging and provides a practical guide on how to transform this period into an opportunity for growth.
Drawing on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and eastern wisdom, as well as interviews with everyday men and women, Brooks advocates for refocusing on priorities such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others, and spiritual progress.
He argues that by adapting our expectations and focusing on these areas, we can achieve increased happiness and purpose in our later years.
#9783
• Mentioned in 6 episodes
Gut
The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ
Giulia Enders
In 'Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ', Giulia Enders breaks down the latest science on the digestive system, discussing topics such as gut bacteria, the brain-gut connection, and the role of the gut in conditions like obesity, allergies, depression, and Alzheimer's.
The book is illustrated by her sister Jill Enders and has become an international bestseller, translated into over 30 languages and selling more than 3 million copies worldwide.
#6347
• Mentioned in 8 episodes
Immortality
The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization
Stephen Cave
In this book, Stephen Cave delves into the human quest for immortality, categorizing the various attempts into four narratives: staying alive, resurrection, soul, and legacy.
He explores how these narratives have shaped human history, influencing art, religion, and civilization.
Cave argues that the pursuit of immortality is a foundational aspect of human achievement but also critiques the idea, suggesting that true immortality would be devoid of meaning and potentially destructive.
The book concludes by offering a positive vision of life without immortal aspirations, drawing on philosophical and historical examples such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Stoics.
#4933
• Mentioned in 11 episodes
Nutmeg's Curse
Amitav Ghosh
Amitav Ghosh's "Nutmeg's Curse" explores the historical and ecological consequences of globalization, focusing on the spice trade and its impact on various societies.
The book delves into the complex interplay between colonialism, capitalism, and environmental degradation.
Ghosh's work challenges conventional narratives of progress and development, highlighting the often-overlooked consequences of global trade.
The book uses the story of nutmeg to illustrate the long-term effects of exploitation and the interconnectedness of global systems.
"Nutmeg's Curse" is a significant contribution to the understanding of the historical roots of contemporary environmental and social challenges.
#121
• Mentioned in 165 episodes
The selfish gene
Lalla Ward Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
In 'The Selfish Gene', Richard Dawkins presents a gene-centred view of evolution, arguing that genes are the primary units of selection and that they behave selfishly to ensure their own replication.
The book explains concepts such as kin selection, inclusive fitness, and the evolutionarily stable strategy, highlighting how these mechanisms can lead to altruistic behaviors in organisms.
Dawkins emphasizes that the 'selfishness' of genes is a metaphorical concept, describing their evolutionary consequences rather than any intentional behavior.
The book has been influential in shaping modern evolutionary thought and remains relevant today.
#824
• Mentioned in 45 episodes
The Blind Watchmaker
Richard Dawkins
In *The Blind Watchmaker*, Richard Dawkins presents a comprehensive explanation of the theory of evolution through natural selection.
He argues against the creationist metaphor of the skilled watchmaker by introducing the concept of a 'blind watchmaker,' where natural selection acts without foresight or purpose.
Dawkins uses examples such as the evolution of the eye and computer simulations to illustrate how complexity can arise from simple organisms through cumulative selection.
The book also addresses common criticisms of evolution and argues against the existence of a divine creator, emphasizing that the Darwinian world-view is the only known theory that could explain the mystery of our existence.
#9195
• Mentioned in 6 episodes
The Garden of Forking Paths
Jorge Luis Borges
The story revolves around Dr. Yu Tsun, a Chinese spy working for the Germans during World War I, who must transmit a crucial message by killing a man named Albert.
The narrative intertwines with the concept of Ts'ui Pen's unfinished novel and labyrinth, which are interpreted as a single project representing multiple possible futures.
The story explores themes of time, reality, and the infinite possibilities of choice, foreshadowing concepts from quantum mechanics and chaos theory.
#11
• Mentioned in 465 episodes
Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari
This book surveys the history of humankind from the Stone Age to the 21st century, focusing on Homo sapiens.
It divides human history into four major parts: the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the Unification of Humankind, and the Scientific Revolution.
Harari argues that Homo sapiens dominate the world due to their unique ability to cooperate in large numbers through beliefs in imagined realities such as gods, nations, money, and human rights.
The book also examines the impact of human activities on the global ecosystem and speculates on the future of humanity, including the potential for genetic engineering and non-organic life.
#4757
• Mentioned in 11 episodes
Ways of seeing
John Berger
In 'Ways of Seeing,' John Berger and his co-authors argue that the way we see art has been manipulated by a privileged minority to preserve their social and economic dominance.
The book, based on a 1972 BBC television series, consists of seven essays, four of which use words and images, and three that are entirely pictorial.
Berger critiques traditional Western artistic and cultural canon, particularly focusing on the male gaze, the portrayal of women in art, and the impact of mechanical reproduction on art.
The book has had a profound influence on feminist readings of popular culture and art history, and it remains a seminal work in the field of art criticism.
He's one of India's great artists, and a Renaissance man you cannot put inside a box. Ravikumar Kashi joins Amit Varma in episode 441 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about life and art. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ravikumar Kashi on Instagram, LinkedIn and his own website. 2. Flexing Muscles -- Ravikumar Kashi. 3. Engaging With Visuals -- Ravikumar Kashi's 15-part lecture series. 4. Handmade Paper Making Process (English parts one and two; Kannada parts one and two)-- Ravikumar Kashi. 5. 12 Layers of Hanji -- Ravikumar Kashi. 6. Paper Trails: Reflections on Practice -- Ravikumar Kashi. 7. We don't end at our edges -- Exhibition by Ravikumar Kashi. 8. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 9. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 10. Francisco Goya's Black Paintings. 11. The Light in Winter — Episode 97 of Everything is Everything, where Amit talks about Goya. 12. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das — Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot -- William Kentridge. 14. Songs of Surrender — U2. 15. Varun Grover Is in the House — Episode 292 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. Paris, Texas -- Wim Wenders. 17. What Do You Say After You Say Hello? -- Eric Berne. 18. The Blind Watchmaker -- Richard Dawkins. 19. Wounds -- Somnath Hore. 20. Roger Von Oech's Four Roles of Creativity. 21. The Garden of Forking Paths -- Jorge Luis Borges. 22. The Overton Window. 23. Puliyabaazi -- Pranay Kotasthane, Saurabh Chandra and Khyati Pathak's Hindi podcast. 24. Sturgeon's Law. 25. Marysia on Twitter/X. 26. From Strength to Strength — Arthur Brooks. 27. Ways of Seeing -- John Berger. 28. How to Have Creative Ideas -- Edward de Bono. 29. Gut -- Giulia Enders. 20. The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins. 21. The Nutmeg's Curse -- Amitav Ghosh. 22. Sapiens -- Yuval Noah Harari. 23. Immortality -- Milan Kundera. 24. Jagjit Singh, Rammstein and Agam on Spotify. 25. William Kentridge, Sudhir Patwardhan, Rameshwar Broota and Arpita Singh. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit is travelling through Italy these days and blogging every day from there. Follow his Italian Dairies here. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: Detail from 'Untitled, 2008' by Ravikumar Kashi.