Every Journey of a Thousand Hearts starts with a single Beat
Open your mind / Open your heart
Beginning of this year Dadara witnessed a five hour long open-heart surgery. Like an astronaut who sees a different world once he has watched Earth from space, Dadara was profoundly changed when he saw a live heart beating. “I’m always conscious of my brain, but only now have I become profoundly conscious of the continuous beating of my heart.”
This book came to the attention of the cardiologist who was involved in the heart surgery of both of Dadara’s parents. While browsing through the book, the cardiologist realized that something was missing. “Open your mind? Open your heart!” thought the heart specialist. He invited Dadara to come witness an open-heart surgery.
Crown Jewel
Hundreds of thousands of Dadara’s heart beats now lie encapsulated in a pen drawing almost three meters wide: Every journey of a thousand hearts starts with a single beat. A work that he created in Japan over the course of a two-month trip.
Dadara also created a painting of a heart with a ‘Supreme’ logo printed on it, Supreme being one of the most hyped brands of the moment. “The heart is the most personal thing we have, but even this is not safe from hypebeast mania.” The exhibition also features a picture of a meditating heart, trying to keep its peace amid a haywire mandala of raised middle fingers. What’s more, Dadara made a couple of drawings using his own blood. It doesn’t get more personal than this.
Eventually Dadara himself entered an CT scanner, in order to make a three-dimensional cast of his heart. This heart – gold plated silver, with diamonds and sapphires accentuating the veins and arteries – is placed like a crown jewel at the center of the exhibition. Dadara: “My heart is the heart of the show.”