ticketsMember | Make a donation

In Search of Vanished Blood II

2012/2017
Not on view
In Search of Vanished Blood II is the most consummate and compelling example of Malani’s "video shadow plays" series that she has been developing since 2001. An immersive kaleidoscopic environment, the installation is comprised of five reverse painted rotating mylar cylinders and six video projections with sound. While its title comes from a poem by the Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the piece itself is inspired by Christa Wolf’s novel Cassandra (1983) and Rainer Maria Rilke’s book The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (1910). The visuals are accompanied by a soundscape made of a collage of lines from Heiner Muller’s drama Hamletmachine (1977), Samuel Beckett’s play Krapp’s Last Tape (1958), and Gayatri Spivak's English translation of the social activist and writer Mahasweta Devi’s short story Draupadi (1997). The work touches on the condition of women in India, and, on a broader level, the dynamic and condition of disembodiment and social individuation today.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: In Search of Vanished Blood II
  • Artist: Nalini Malani (Indian, born Karachi, 1946)
  • Date: 2012/2017
  • Medium: Six-channel video installation, color, sound, 11 min. and five painted acrylic on Mylar cylinders
  • Dimensions: Variable
    Each Mylar sheet: 65 in. × 12 ft. 5 1/2 in. (165.1 × 379.7 cm)
  • Classifications: Variable Media, Ivories and Bone
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Gioconda King, by exchange, 2018
  • Object Number: 2018.202
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Nalini Malani
    Courtesy Galerie Lelong
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Fall, Sudhir Patwardhan Indian, Acrylic on canvas
Fall
Sudhir Patwardhan
1998
The Lightning Testimonies, Amar Kanwar Indian, Eight-channel digital video installation, black-and-white and color, sound, 32 min., 31 sec.
The Lightning Testimonies
Amar Kanwar
2007
Seven ponds and a few raindrops, Ranjani Shettar Indian, Muslin, stainless steel, tamarind and natural dyes
Seven ponds and a few raindrops
Ranjani Shettar
2017
The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia, Ho Tzu Nyen Singaporean, Single-channel digital video installation, black-and-white and color, 5-channel sound, algorithmic editing system; LED lights, computer
The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia
Ho Tzu Nyen
2017–ongoing
Untitled, Kazuko Miyamoto Japanese, String and nails
Untitled
Kazuko Miyamoto
1977

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.