A Ford Fiesta becomes a squatting Transformer in this new sculpture by Hetain Patel. Photo: Hetain Patel
Hetain Patel: Who am I? Think again
Today’s talk isn’t so much a “talk” as a hilarious topsy-turvy performance by Hetain Patel that reflects on an identity forged as much from Spider-Man comics and Bruce Lee movies as by a father who emigrated from India to the United Kingdom in the 1960s. An excerpt from his latest stage work, Be Like Water, this talk introduces us to Patel’s art, which looks at identity as a game of imitation.
As his talk goes live, Patel has just unveiled a brand new work, his very first sculpture. For it, Patel converted an old Ford Fiesta — his first car — into a squatting Transformer. This was a huge undertaking for Patel, made especially meaningful because he was only able to do it with the help of his father, who works in hearse construction. Patel’s father has been a prime source of inspiration for his art over the years. (See Patel grow a mustache like the one his father sported in the 1960s.)
Below, Patel tells us all about this very cool piece.
My first car was a 1988 Ford Fiesta gifted to me by my father as I turned 17. Born in the U.K. to immigrant Indian parents, the passing of a car between generations provided me with my first taste of independence. In this new work, I’ve reworked a newly acquired 1988 Ford Fiesta, of the same specifications as my original car, to create my first sculpture. Manufactured in England, this car stands as a symbol of working class Britain — a native body, albeit a metal one.
This car was Hetain Patel’s first, a gift from his father. Notice that the license plate almost reads ‘family.’ Photo: Hetain Patel
Another significant influence for this work: Transformers, an American film and toy franchise since 1984, and a widely recognisable pop culture reference that reaches far back in my memory. In this new sculpture, Transformers have been made manifest, physically, in a literal transformation of a car into a large-scale, squatting, human-like figure. For me, these ‘robots in disguise’ (as per the cartoon’s theme song) stand as a metaphor for the other, in a fantasy world where they can transform out of a marginal position into one of empowerment.
I created this sculpture together with my father, with additional help from my engineer brother and fellow Transformers enthusiast, Pritum Patel. My father, whose day job is to convert cars into hearses and limousines for funerals, has carried out all the fabrication and structural work with me. This work is the third in an ongoing collaboration between us. (Other works are: the video “To Dance Like Your Dad,” 2009, and the live performance “Me and me Dad and me Wife,” 2012, both presented in 2012 at the Tanks at Tate Modern.)
Unlike the popular toys and films, however, the car here is not a high-powered sports car or truck transformed into a powerful warrior, but rather a small, inexpensive Ford Fiesta transformed into a human, calmly squatting. This posture is a recurring image in my work and forges a link between the lower classes in India and my immigrant family in the U.K., both of whom sit comfortably this way. Naturally this introduces a tension in this sculpture between the seemingly submissive nature of the squat and, in this case, its oddly larger than life scale.
As an artist who is most often the main protagonist in my work, this sculpture is the first time that my representation of the body is not immediately visibly linked to my ethnicity. The material and aesthetic of the work lend themselves to wider interpretations and contradictions around identity, exploring the increasingly murky ground between reality and fantasy, fixed identity and transformation.
Hetain Patel, his father, and the Fiesta Transformer. Photo: Hetain Patel
I first had the idea for this Fiesta Transformer in May, but no idea how to finance it. Normally, it could take a year or two to do something like this. But then came TED Global 2013 in June … and, lucky for me, I was able to have lots of amazing conversations that week with some incredible people. One such person was Asha Jadeja. Her brilliant organization, the Rajeev Motwani Foundation, invests in and develops new learning and education technologies for children.
Asha and I quickly bonded over our common personal interests in parent-child relationships and the influence of migration and globalisation on this. Our dialogue continued beyond the conference, and led to her generous support in the realisation of this dream project – my first sculpture, created in collaboration with my father. From idea to exhibition in less than six months: that’s unheard of for me! I’ve literally just gotten back from France, having installed it in the Galleria Continua. It will be on display there until December 22.
As the project went on, this family endeavor grew, as even my brother got involved. As you’ll see, even the number plate on the car is perfect, almost spelling out ‘family.’ That’s the original, untouched number plate of the car.
Watch an amazing timelapse of the making of this Transformer:
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Steven Addis shares his father-daughter tradition at TED2012. Photo: James Duncan Davidson
He is a part of you. Whether you are close or not, whether he was a constant part of your life or not, he impacted who you are today. You love him – except maybe when you can’t stand him. For better or worse, he is your dad. Celebrate this Father’s Day with these nine TED Talks about the importance of dads. From what Steve Addis did to maintain his relationship with his daughter to what Adam Garone grew to help dads everywhere, these talks inspire, comfort and remind us just how important a father’s love can be.
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In his TEDxToronto talk, Adam Garone speaks about how a dare in a bar lead to $126 million for prostate cancer research. |
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In Tony Porter’s emotional and personal talk from TEDWomen, he entreats men to teach their sons how to escape the “man box” to end the violence against and victimization of women. |
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Camp Diva works to unite young girls with their fathers, but, as Angela Patton’s funny and engaging TEDxWomen talk shows, when fathers are under extenuating circumstances everyone must help that relationship prosper. |
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In his bold TEDxFiDiWomen talk, Jackson Katz explains why violence is tied to the definition of manhood and why it is up to everyone, men and women, to call out intolerable behavior and redefine what it means to be a man. |
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Fatherhood exposed Colin Stokes to the diverging moralities of movies marketed to girls and boys. Movies for his daughter stressed cooperation; movies for his son had undertones of violence. In his TEDxBeaconStreet talk, Stokes calls for movies with positive messages of teamwork for boys. |
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Child prodigy, Adora Svitak is tired of being called “childish.” In her TED2010 talk, she explains why being childish is just the thing adults need to be. |
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When Bruce Feiler was diagnosed with cancer, he worried about who would father his girls if he should die. In this inspiring TEDMED talk, Feiler talks about his “Council of Dads” and how friends helped him capture the essence of fatherhood. |
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In his TEDxHouseofParliament talk, Lemn Sissay struggles to unite literature idealization of orphaned children with his own life as a foster child. |
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Photographer Steve Addis’ most treasured photos are ones strangers took. In his TED2012 talk, Addis explains how one father–daughter tradition helped bond him and his daughter forever. |
Twelve girls enter the Richmond City Jail for a father-daughter dance, called “A Dance of Their Own.” Photo: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post
It’s not the norm to see pink balloons, brightly colored dresses and sequined shoes in the halls of the Richmond City Jail. But on March 16, a dozen girls ranging in age from 6 to 16 entered the facility to bring cheer to their incarcerated fathers. The occasion: the second father-daughter dance at the jail, thrown by Camp Diva.
Angela Patton: A father-daughter dance ... in prison
At TEDxWomen, Camp Diva founder Angela Patton told the heart-warming story of how she came to throw a father-daughter dance in prison. The idea began with a group of girls brainstorming ways to help their fathers better understand them. Solution: a father-daughter dance! After a few years of dances, a Camp Diva girl revealed a hesitation: Her father wouldn’t be able to attend because he was in prison. So Patton asked Richmond City Sheriff C.T. Woody. He agreed to try holding the dance in his jail, because he felt, as Patton says, “when fathers are connected to their children, it is less likely that they will return.” In Patton’s talk, you can see images from the first father-daughter dance ever held at Richmond City Jail.
The Washington Post was on hand for the second father-daughter dance, titled “A Dance of Their Own,” with photographer Marvin Joseph capturing a beautiful series of images of the event. Sheriff Woody also shared with the paper his rationale for greenlighting the very unusual dance.
“People may think it’s crazy to have this in a jail,” he said. “But it builds respect. You wouldn’t believe what it does for these men’s confidence to dress them up. This dance can have a ripple effect.”
Pairing up for the dance. Photo: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post
Now, Patton tells the TED Blog that she would like to continue the tradition — and to encourage it in jails around the country.
“The questions I get asked most are, ‘How did you do this?’ ‘Why did the sheriff say ‘yes?’ and ‘How did you get inside the bars?’” says Patton, who didn’t have time to talk much about process given the time limit of her TEDx Talk. “It wasn’t just the letter that made it possible, it was the relationship that we built. We put a curriculum in place … These fathers have to participate [in a class] so that they will be prepared for this visit and this opportunity with their daughters.”
Patton also hopes to share the stories of fathers and daughters who’ve participated in the dances — both the two held in City Jail and the six held so far in communities around Richmond, Virginia. To that end, she has created a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary, Locked In NOT Locked Out. To be directed by Patrick Gregory, Patton is crowdfunding an initial $10,000 to fund the film. So far, she’s raised $5,000 with 25 days to go.
“We’re going to follow four fathers, two inside the bars and two outside,” Patton tells the TED Blog. “We’re going to show the common thread between four different types of fathers that have the same need and desire to have good relationships with their daughters.”
The dance, in full swing. Photo: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post
Patton put the question to the girls themselves. And they came up with a fascinating concept — a father-daughter dance. The dance was such a hit the first time around that Camp Diva decided to make it an annual event. But as they started planning the dance a year later, Patton ran into a glitch — one of her camper’s fathers was in jail and wouldn’t be able to attend.
As Patton shares in today’s talk, filmed at TEDxWomen, another girl in the group had a bold idea.
“She suggested, ’Why don’t we just take the dance to the jail?’” recalls Patton. “Most of the other girls doubted the possibility of that. They said, ‘Are you crazy? Who is going to allow a bunch of little girls, dressed up, to come inside a jail and dance with their daddies?’”
Luckily, Patton found someone crazy enough to allow this — Richmond City Sheriff C.T. Woody.
“He is a very special sheriff,” explains Patton. “He contacted me immediately and said that whenever there is an opportunity to bring families inside, his doors are always open. One thing he knows is that when fathers are connected to their children, it is less likely that they will return.”
And so, a father-daughter dance was held in the Richmond City Jail with 16 inmates and 18 daughters invited.
“The girls were dressed in their Sunday best. The fathers traded in their yellow and blue jumpsuits for shirt and ties. They hugged … they laughed together,” remembers Patton. “It was beautiful. The fathers and daughters experienced the opportunity to have a physical connection … [The fathers could] extend their hand for a dance. Even the guards cried.”
Patton hopes this evening will create permanent change for these families.
“We have created a forum for girls who have heavy questions on their heart to be in a position to ask their fathers those questions, and given the fathers the freedom to answer,” says Patton. “A father who is locked in should not be locked out of his daughter’s life.”
To hear more about this incredible dance, and the wonderful ideas Patton and her girls had for continuing the father-daughter bonding, watch today’s talk. And after the jump, check out some photos taken at this unique dance.
In a room inside the Richmond City Jail, the girls wait for the dance to begin. Because several of them had their ride fall through, a lieutenant colonel at the jail went to pick them up himself.
As soon as the dance began, all 16 inmates and their daughters took to the dance floor.
This father invited his twin daughters to the dance. Here, he holds one of them as the group gets a salsa lesson.
9-year-old De’Brianna Richardson poses for a photo with her father, Faiz Lawton, who was in jail for auto theft-grand larceny. Lawton tells Richmond Magazine that the best part of the dance was, “Just being able to embrace [De’Brianna]. Being able to hug her, hold her, squeeze her, kiss her, talk to her closely, share a meal with her.”
All of the father-daughter pairs at the dance got to borrow FlipCams, allowing them to record video messages for each other.
A father-daughter pair cut a rug on the dance floor. Because his daughter did not get to the dance until late, this father was worried she wouldn’t show at all. In addition to dancing, the fathers held a contest where they made up rhymes about their daughters on the spot.
Lin’Asia Harris hugs her father, Linwood Harris, who was serving 90 days for failure to pay child support. Harris was released shortly after the dance and told Richmond Magazine, “She knows from her heart that I’m not a bad person.”
The dance wrapped with the fathers and daughters dancing to Luther Vandross’ “Dance with My Father.” As the daughters left the Richmond City Jail, they exchanged journals with their fathers, each book full of messages for the other to read when they felt distant.
Photos by Jay Paul Photography and Angela Patton.