Moments Of A Long Pause

Read viewing options below before pressing play.

Moments Of A Long Pause was commissioned by the Bronx Museum of Arts towards the exhibition,  Street Art, Street Life in 2008.

Moments of a Long Pause is a two channel video installation based on interviews with men and women on the streets of 5 cities in India (Delhi, Agra, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Calcutta) . The video brings men and women in a conversation about dealing with sexual harassment, sexual violence, flirting, play, wooing, 'teasing'.  The dialogue between the 2 monitors explores feelings of shame, blame, guilt, denial, fear ,resistance. 

Video edit space supported by Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany.

Medium- 2 channel video. duration- 18 minutes loop

Thank you : Annie Zaidi, Hemangini Gupta, Dana Roy, Gogol, Smriti Chanchani, Umang Bhattacharya, Nupur Mathur, Timo Boeker (edit). 

The original two channel video has been edited to be viewed on one screen for youtube only.

To screen Moments Of A Long Pause to a larger group : 
( To view the version above)


i) Permission.
Write to us at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com, subject titled Moments Of A Long Pause.
Moments of a Long Pause is now online, and we encourage you to share
BUT but taking permission prior screening is good practice :)
We promise to be prompt in writing back.

ii) Documentation
Document the screening. Take photos. Videos.
Tweet #MomentsOfALongPause @blank_noise
Write a short report ( 250 words) .
Send it our way.

ii) Support
screening Moments Of A Long Pause, requests a screening fee and we encourage you to contribute generously. Email in for bank details.

If you would like to install Moments Of A Long Pause, as the two channel video installation ( 2 monitors facing each other with audience sat in between), write to us and we can send you the original files along with a tool kit for installation.

email : blurtblanknoise@gmail.com

subject titled " Moments Of A Long Pause "

street tales of love lust and possible misinterpretations

“Neev ibbaru thumbaaa chennagiddira”( the both of you are veeery beautiful). It was perhaps the tone in which they stretched the ‘very’ that just made us girls turn and say “Thank you”! - Naksha Erappa+ Sheetal (friend)

Dear Blank Noise Action Heroes/ BN Guys.
Over the last couple of years we have been discussing issues related to street violence and its impact on us. While continuing to do so , we would also like to build testimonials of another kind...testimonials that address the nature of wanting to 'get to know' someone and therefore take the form of stalking, persistently approaching, not hearing no for no, eye games, mutual flirting, passing remarks in perhaps a way of assuming that one is 'giving compliments' but may or may not have been the same experience for you, as the recipient.

eg: http://actionheroes.blanknoise.org/2009/07/blank-noise-action-hero-shreyasi-kar.html


We want you to blog your street interactions. we will be cross linking your blog post here: http://actionheroes.blanknoise.org/
or at http://bnguy.blanknoise.org


If you don't have a blog, you could email us your story instead.

Yours affectionately
Blank Noise Team

street tales of love and lust and possible misinterpretations

Street Tales of Love/ Lust/ and possible misinterpretations:

" Excuse me?"


if you've got a story on being approached by a random stranger

if you've got a story on approaching a random stranger because you found him or her attractive
write to us.

*


if you've got a story where you experienced sexual harassment from a stranger but now feel that maybe he was trying to stalk you/ talk to you (etc) because that's the only way he could express himself/ or his interest in you...

if you've got a story where you tried to approach someone / make conversation / express interest and you feel that maybe the other person interpreted it as sexual harassment.

write to us


*

feel free to send in movie clips, songs, texts that also look at the different codes and interpretations to street sexual behaviour.

you know where to find us!
blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com

reference blog post and more links here:
http://blog.blanknoise.org/2009/07/street-sexual-harassment-could-be.html

one kind of street sexual harassment could be a series of very 'serious' misinterpretations of codes and boundaries

Being stalked is not fun. Even when you know that it is not dangerous , and harmless. Or maybe it seems like stalking only to me. For many others, including my “stalker”, its trying to woo or flirt. Maybe even being caring and protective. No wonder the whole school was surprised as to why I wasn’t madly in love with my stalker as yet. Action Hero Shreyasi

Do you have a story on how you have been approached? followed? stalked? hit on? 'desired' by a random stranger?

How did you say no. or maybe you said yes? ( in which case it could be street flirting; not necessarily harassment?) In retrospect do you feel that he was 'hitting on you' but it was harassment for you?

Do you (as a male) have a story on how you have approached a female stranger? How did you go about it and what followed?

Tell us. blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com

subject titled: street sexual harassment could be a series of very 'serious' misinterpretations of codes and boundaries. Should you wish to be anonymous you could fill this form instead.

Spread the word:

Post the event on your blog/ on facebook/ twitter. We will link your confirmation towards participating. You could email us your story and or share it on your blog.

Deadline: August 15th.

past reference:
Street Tales of Love and Lust. year 2008.
announcement
food items, songs , other names (bijli. chammak challo), statements


and some more past reference
refraction , jace,
anthonysmirror

Moments of a Long Pause

Moments of a Long Pause is a 2 channel video installation based on interviews with men and women on the streets of 5 cities in India (Delhi, Agra, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Calcutta) . The video brings men and women in a conversation. The conversation is built on the personal street experience of fear, sexual harassment, sexual violence, flirting, wooing, 'teasing'.

The 2 channel video attempts to understand how both men and women approach eve teasing and street sexual violence in their daily lives.

Moments of a Long Pause has been Comissioned by Bronx Museum of Arts ( Street Art, Street Life 2008)

also supported by: Akademie Schloss Solitude.

Moments of a Long Pause can be seen from today Sept 14 until Jan 25 (2008)at the Bronx Museum of Arts, Bronx. NY with the show Street Art, Street Life

confirm on facebook:
http://www.new.facebook.com/editevent.php?picture&eid=24312104661&new&m=1#/event.php?eid=24312104661

Thanking ALL members of the Blank Noise team, Action Heroes, bloggers, supporters who ever raised a question on this subject- each comment either in support or against has given us insight into the issue.

THANK YOU!

We thank Dana Roy, Trippy Scarlet, Hemangini Gupta, Annie Zaidi, Smriti Chanchani, Saurabh, Ravindranath Gutta, Shabnam Virmani, Anjora Naronha, Umang Bhattacharya, Indri, Nita, Narinder, Rupam, Ivan Medenica, Papoo Singh, Chandan +Nupur Mathur( for shooting), Timo Boeker( edit assistance) + many many many Action Heroes

MOMENTS OF A LONG PAUSE has been screened / installed at the following places

Bronx Museum of Art - commissioned for the show Street Art Street Life. 2008

Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver (2010) installed until Jan 25. 2011

3331 Arts Chiyoda via Dislocate , Tokyo(2010)

GSU Atlanta (2010)

MGallery BMB, Mumbai (2010)

Transportraits- Delhi (2010)

Akademie Schloss Solitude (2008)

To buy a copy of the video for screening purposes only please email us at blurtblanknoise AT gmail.com

We will be announcing future screenings on this page.

Some of the others in the mass of people

Listen and read below

In conversation with some men on the streets of Delhi and Bangalore. These men were from across age groups 19- 65 and mostly from a mid income group or low income group. Some were tourist guides, some shop owners, auto rickshaw drivers, student union campaigner.


According to you, what kind of man sexually harasses or 'eve teases' women on the street?


"It's the impulsive type of guy that teases girls"

"It's the youth that eve teases girls on the street. Another person will treat her as his granddaughter or niece. If he calls for her on the street, he will perceive her as a family member".

"The guys who try to act smart are the ones that tease women. I don't know how to be smart or play cool..I am not like them".

"I am telling you. I am from a decent family. I don't do this kind of stuff. I go out to do my work and I come back home straight after that".

"The kind of guy that teases his sister will tease a woman on the street".

"It's the 3rd class or the middle class guy that harasses women".


What attracts you to a woman? what kind of woman? what about her? what do you do then?


" Her figure. Her body. If she has a good figure I am interested in sex, only sex. I am not interested in marriage".

" ...her hairstyle. her removing her hair from her face.."

" She should look fit. Others should find her attractive. Her body- her chest, hips...she should have a flat stomach, other parts of her figure should protrude. She should have nice hips".

" Clothes? I like women in sexy clothes".

" I remember she was wearing a pink colour suit, I remember her hair, I remember her make up, her eyes....I really wanted to approach her. I wanted my eyes to speak to her...and try to approach her".

" I like the simple and sober girls. The girl who wears a simple salwar suit and braids her hair. she should have long hair".

"...I gave her my mobile number and said that your incoming is free and my outgoing is free".

" ...I could sit down on my knees and let her know that she is the most beautiful girl in the world".

" I like foreigner girls".

" I do have a mother and a sister. I dont have a girlfriend or wife. 

   Will you be mine?"

For those of you familiar with how it works in India- the most frequently delivered line to an 'eve teaser' is- ghar mein maa behen nahin hai kya? Don't you have a mother or sister at home?


Credits to Ekta and Rajshekhar from Blank Noise who were instrumental to making this happen.

REACTIONS

How have you felt every time you ignored a stranger's eyes stripping you naked?

How often have you been a mute witness or spectator to street sexual violence?

How often have you whistled, passed remarks, leched, intimidated a female stranger, just for 'fun'?



By sharing testimonials of participating bloggers and members archived at the Blank Noise blog I am not speaking of poor 'victims' and outsiders as a minority. Every woman, girl, young or elderly, from any socio economic background, any skin colour, any body type, 'pretty', 'fair', 'fat', 'ugly', 'slutty', 'modest', 'bitchy', 'smart', 'over-smart', 'shy', 'scared', 'bold' has experienced it. She could be walking alone, in a group, with her parents. It could be 6 am, 7 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 4 pm, 8 pm, 10 pm, and it could happen in your neighbourhood, right outside your house, in the outskirts of town, in the heart of the city. She could be dressed in a salwar kameez, a school uniform, a sari, a pair of jeans and still experience it. Blank Noise clothes campaign " I did not ask for it" has been receiving clothes worn by women at the time of sexual violence. Each sender is taking a stand when she sends in the garment- she says, ' I did not 'ask for it'.

As much as incidents of sexual violence that shock and make news call for an alert alarm, one cannot deny the fact that sexual violation on the streets takes place ever single day by almost every woman in a variety of different forms. It is accepted and normalized because it is 'expected'.

How does the public react to reported incidents of streets sexual violence/ 'eve teasing?' Does this mean more rules for the average Indian male's wife? daughter? sister? Or does this information manifest itself in the financially secure/ independent women incubating themselves in private transport, paying an extra fee per month to block unwanted phone stalkers, carrying pepper spray in bags, mobile phones and being on hyper alert each time they leave home?

Is the public ready to see women as autonomous citizens that can access public space, unapologetically? While I understand and am framed in the cultural construct of being someone's daughter, sister etc I also choose to see myself as a citizen, as a member of public as a non 'victim'. Is society also reinforcing belief systems of men as beings to fear and women as victims that need to be protected?

Protected from whom? Who are the offenders? Violators? Criminals? Perpetrators?

By 2004, 6 months into starting Blank Noise I was able to lift my camera to the 'perpetrator's' face and photograph him. There was a range of encounters. Not only was the camera a defence mechanism/ tool but also the point of dialogue and engagement with the 'offender'.

Since then I have photographed men from different socio economic background for a wide spectrum of 'eve teasing/ molestation' incidents.

At a traffic signal around noon, I see a man making 'sexual gestures' with his tongue towards me from his car window. Shocked, a few seconds later I begin to photograph him. He continues to make gestures, this time suggesting that I am 'mad' and drives off.

While distributing pamphlets in Majestic bus depot one evening, a hand comes to grope. Am already in the 'Blank Noise mode' and the camera is out. I reach out for his collar, pull him, get pushed in return but manage to photograph him. He disappears like most others into the crowd.

Sipping coffee in a café, I can feel someone's eyes on me. I return the look with a glare and ask him if he has a problem. He smiles, nudges his friend and says ' nothing, nothing at all'. This continues for 15- 20 minutes, at the end of which I hand him a Blank Noise pamphlet and photograph him. I spend the rest of the day answering his phone calls. " Sorry. It was only a crush. I liked your eyes. I am not the 'sexual' type of man. It was only a crush." I have to admit, he was not sexually intimidating, he was annoying.

While addressing street sexual harassment it is important to understand the context and the nature of the offence. While interviewing men on the streets of Delhi I got familiar with one kind of 'eve teaser'. He was the hopeless/ helpless wooer. There were a range of responses to the question " how have you approached a woman you are attracted to on the street", many people had responses that would be categorized as ' stalking, and 'unsolicited conversation'. From their point of view they had not committed an offence. A shopkeeper at Sarojini market said I will keep following her and approaching her " kabhi na kabhi toh hasseena maan jayegi". Another young man said he walks upto women and introduces himself, for which he has been slapped on several occasions( his peers added). Likewise one is familiar with love revenge stories behind the acid attacks. Once I met a girl whose throat had been slit for saying NO to a man who desired her. What are the cultural wooing references? With the idea and image of masculinity evolving what are the kind of men and male behaviour our society is creating?

This post has been published at blogbharti for their spotlight series.


YOUR TURN NOW: THOSE RARELY ASKED BURNING QUESTIONS-
Mail any question for Blank Noise to blurtblanknoise@gmail.com or please leave it in the comments section at this post

Excuse Me? Are you singing to me?

Tales of Street Love and Lust :
Tales of Street Love and Lust were compiled after bloggers/ blank noise members/ supporters/ Blank Noise agents emailed us what they were referred as/ called on the street by random male strangers.

This is an effort to compile an 'eve teasing' vocabulary. statements will be uploaded here. Food here. (Don't miss the song from Prema Loka- here comes a girl looking like a lemon)
Movie Songs here (objects / descriptors/coming soon!)

If you have been sung to and felt threatened / 'harassed' or even amused- email us at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com . You are welcome to describe the situation and how you felt. We will add the song to this blog post right away! Thankyou!


Haseena Maan Jayegi: I'm sure if I am persistent one day she will be mine.


Khud ko kya samajhti hai: what does she think of herself/ she is arrogant/ let's have some fun guys.

chhai chhappa chhai- (I had short hair and was wearing a white salwar kameez!) The guys tried to follow me for nearly a couple of blocks singing this song.


ek bar aaaja aaaja aajajaaaaaaaaaaaaaa: come to me just once


o priya priya: someone remembering Priya, his love


babuji zara dheere chalo: go slow mister, I am lightening and I am standing here.


Yeh ladki hai! : Oh that girl!


Khambe jaisi Khadi Hai: She stands like a pole/ is she a girl or a firecracker? she has rage in her eyes and her lips are ready to abuse you.



Akhiyon se goli mare, larki kamaal ki: she shoots me with her eyes/ what an amazing woman. she tortures the guy in love with her.


Aati Kya?: will you come with me? to Khandala? We will go dancing, roaming and chill together.


Aaja Meri Gaadi Mein Beth Ja: Come sit on my car!


Hai Hai Mirchi / Uff Uff Mirchi: oh you hot thing!

Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast: You are such an exciting thing!

Unwanted. Section 354. IPC

The photograph has been readjusted to make the 'perpetrators' unrecognizable.
Blank Noise seeks to build dialogue about street sexual harassment and is not attempting isolate any one person or incident.
date (2009)

Section 354, IPC - Assault or criminal force to a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty - whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine or both.

We handed him the pamphlet
10 phone calls and twenty apologies.

"But it was only a crush."
The fact remains that for some it is the only way of wooing.
Wooing/ teasing and 'patana'/ 'ladki pat gayi'/ (I've got the girl now).

UNWANTED. SECTION 354 IPC

The photograph has been readjusted to make the 'perpetrators' unrecognizable. Blank Noise seeks to build dialogue about street sexual harassment and is not attempting isolate any one person or incident. (2009)

stalker no. 1: " Excuse me, have we met before?" machlee: no Stalker no. 1: Yes we have! On commercial street! I work in a call centre. I am a science graduate." machlee: why are you telling me all this? stalker no. 1: can I have coffee with you? machlee: can i photograph you? stalker no. 1: yes! sure you can! stalker no.1: blah blah blah