This story is from February 28, 2021

NIFT TEA students attempt Limca book of records with mandala art

NIFT TEA students attempt Limca book of records with mandala art
Image used for representational purpose only
COIMBATORE: At 6 am on Saturday, 23 first students of NIFT TEA Tirupur sat down on a large white canvas in their college verandah working on a Limca book of records attempt to create India’s largest mandala art within 24 hours. The students will work on it through the time limit taking breaks only for meals. The artwork, inspired by covid-19, tries to document all the viruses that hit the world in the last century.
The canvas which is made of ivory paper is 1,089 sq ft large will sport the artwork which will be done with black and red ink pointed markers with different types of tips, says assistant professor, G Boopathy Vijay who guided them.
Mandala art is a complex abstract design that is usually circular, also considered a spiritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the belief that life is never-ending and everything is connected.
These students decided to do a bit of research and found 21 different viruses, including covid-19, that have hit the world in the last 100 years including HIV, encephalitis lethargica, smallpox virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, yellow fever among others. “The students managed to get an image of each of their cell structures and found that they were all markedly different,” said Vijay. So, they have decided to make each circle with one virus’s physical structure. “We also identified the origin of each virus and included that also in the artwork, as MERS originated from camels and bats, so we have included their silhouettes, H5N1 virus originated from hens, so we have included the front view of a hen’s face among others,” said one of the students working on the piece, Sneha Adriala.
Students said they chose viruses as the topic for their artwork, after witnessing the extent to which covid-19 impacted human life, the economy, and communities across the world. “The art documents the fact that many other viruses have done the same, at different points in the last century,” said Adriala. The attempt is being video recorded for submission. The artwork’s display is also yet to be decided due to its massive size.
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