Gaze

Created by Lakshmi Vidyasagar as a Design Project II (Design + Film) immersive exhibit at the National Institute of Design under the mentorship of Biju Kurup, Gaze investigates the boundary between public spectatorship and private vulnerability.

Visitors are drawn through a disorienting, layered corridor hung with semi-translucent fabrics and large-format black-and-white portraits of strained faces. This narrow path gradually funnels the observer toward a warm, amber-lit sanctuary where a resting person (KVSS Varshini) lies asleep beneath a translucent canopy net. The spatial design deliberately casts the spectator as an uninvited voyeur, intruding from the dim periphery into an unguarded personal world.

In documenting the piece, the camera abandons neutral archival distance, operating instead as a pervasive, voyeuristic presence within the room:

• The Creeping Lens: Navigating silently through doorframes and suspended textiles, the camera slowly closes the distance between observer and subject, eventually hovering close above the resting person.
• Fragile Chiaroscuro: Lit primarily by practical candles and weak accent lamps, the visual language relies on deep negative space. Fragile highlights catch only the sheer weave of the canopy, flickering flames, and the quiet breathing of the sleeping figure.
• The Unsettling Encounter: By holding the frame on someone in a state of unmediated rest, the documentation heightens the psychological tension of the gaze—asking how long one can look at an unsuspecting subject before the act of looking turns illicit.