Sri Lankan digital artist and filmmaker Muvindu Binoy (born 1989) works with different issues facing Generation Y—in his own country, also universally. His major themes include gender, agency and decision-making, status and title, the expectation of traditional values and the modern “emancipated” standards of the digital age.
Muvindu has created an unofficial trilogy that looks at the intersection of consumerism, contemporary culture and violence. “The Holy Merchandise”, “Divine Thru” and “God is a Mesh” carry the same experimental process with different aesthetics.
“God is a Mesh” was exhibited recently at Saskia Fernando Gallery in Colombo. The artist explains: “‘God is a mesh’ is a play on the words ‘God is a mess’. It doesn’t directly imply that all religions are a mess; it is to say that our highest belief is not independently justified but as a collective of all our beliefs. We are on our way to becoming Gods via the digital age and with this need to stay connected and network with our beliefs the ‘mesh’ is formed. In the same process that I find my images for collages, these 3D objects are already on the internet. I assemble them or collage them into new compositions, detaching them from their original meanings/purposes. These compositions are inspired by the Renaissance period and hipster culture.”