Udaan - Collaborative Self Organization
Medium: Textile
As a child often I used to quietly watch sky and patterns of birds in a flock. I used to ask myself … How this is
possible. I keep watching that the bird in front is not a leader-it just happens to end up there. Another one constantly replaces her during the flight. In other words, the flock is organized without an organizer!
When I think about it today the only answer that comes to mind is collaborative self-organization process which can do
wonders and help overcome any adverse situation including flying forward in unknown. To me flock really
teaches a way for collaborative self-organization while. There is no need for a director to oversee the process
nor need of reminding end goal. All that is needed is an appropriate set of simple rules and everyone believes
in and follows them. It appears to me that each bird in the flock quietly follows this set of simple rules, reacting
to the movement of the birds nearby it.
These rules are:
-Avoid bumping into other individuals.
-Move in the average direction that those closest to you are heading.
-Move toward the average position of those closest to you.
One can create great patterns of life by simply:
-Avoidance of self-interest for common good
-Alignment with surroundings for progress of all
-Attraction (unity) for combined goal
These simple interactions between the birds in “Udaan” generate amazing patterns of which none of the
member alone can create.
Artist: J Hariyani
Medium: Textile
Size: 66”x42”
Textile Interpretation: Platypus Design Studio
Images of artist and team in Textile Studio
Note By Artist: J Hariyani
I see our ecosphere as big interconnected web. Things unfold as we pass thru passage of time. Being an Architect and Urban Planner; I have fun working with infinite dimensions. Often Architects try to connect art with architecture, architecture with music so and so forth and we hear quotes such as…. "Architecture is art, nothing else" …. “Architecture is the greatest of the arts” … “Architecture at its best becomes works of art that we can move through and live in” …
To me it is about life. It is about interaction of “jivas” and “natural & built forms”. These interactions create built environment and built experiences. It is about how built environment can make a difference for the progress in individual’s life and for the society at large. The more you practice this phenomenon it grows on you and becomes your nature. At the core what matters is Values you believe in and how it guides “Design” & “Design Process”. It takes you to journey of discovering something, learning something new. It brings joy of thinking, sketching, communicating, making, creating and recreating.
Practicing across the globe and working with many cultures, new materials and new technologies implanted multi-disciplinary approach in me. It has influenced me and how I design and create … be it Architecture or Art. It is impossible for one to be an expert in all aspects. One cannot master every material or every technology and that is where collaboration and collaborative creation comes to play. This is what we do day in and day out while practicing Architecture or Urban scale projects. While travelling and designing projects often I have ideas that are not directly applied on given project, but it sure provides me new avenue to explore them further as fun side projects that leads to my journey as an Artist as well. It takes me to different expeditions … sometimes it is journey of digital sketching using new app and tab, other times it takes me on tour of designing textiles or leads to creating ceramic art and titanium art and so and so forth.
Last year while visiting Nathdwara and Haridwar with family I ran into few art books on miniature paintings. The paintings that excited me most were on life of Lord Krishna and various forms of landscaped environments. Similarly, while on banks of Ganges; an evening Aarti and energy of lights energized me. These left impressions in me that lead to an idea of making digital paintings on Lord Krishna, urban vs rural landscapes and art on energy of Aarti and more. I started experimentation on new app on tablet which resulted in unique style. The creation of about 20+ digital paintings were a consequence of journey to Nathdwara, Haridwar followed by journey of app + tablet. Later interaction with Artist Prakash Vani and his Team of Platypus Lab textile weavers inspired me to work with them to transform my digital arts and canvases into textile and other mediums.
