Love Kill (2014-2015)
Since the unrest in Bangladesh in 2013, political murders and disappearances have been the order of the day. This situation led Sarker Protick to create images of violence. He visited film sets at the BFDC (Bangladesh Film Development Corporation) and took images of notorious crime bosses and prisoners. The series ‘Love Kill’ is inspired by the Dhallywood film ‘Love Me or Kill Me’, with warm colours illustrating the extreme sentiments that can be evoked through image saturation. The images are straightforward and flamboyant, aggressive and charming, oscillating between the real and the imaginary. The series closely matches the contrasts of the Bengali films Protick grew up with; the loving and killing, visual violence combined with comic sound effects.
Sarker Protick has developed a practice that combines the roles of image-maker, teacher and curator. He is interested in themes such as alteration of land and border, colonial relics and modern ecological emergencies and his works revolve around the subjects of time, light and space. Working with photography, video and sound manipulation, Protick has formed a body of work that is built on long-term surveys rooted in his home country, while simultaneously exploring ideas that blur the notion of geopolitical boundaries.
