Ashok's recent work has dealt with the intersection of human habitats, and technologies being embedded within them. Recent projects use simple hardware and software combinations towards a broad investigation of "infrastructure", individual agency, and property relations. Such work draws from contemporary computer-based art, conceptual practices, telematics, early and pre-cinema, and architecture. He has been interested in the various thresholds of desire, understanding, and administration that are inscribed in technologies and their use. Ashok and his wife Shaina live in Mumbai, India. His work has been shown widely in recent years. In 2006, he completed large-scale projects in San Jose (US), Lille (France) and at the Singapore Biennale. In 2006 he was artist-in-residence at Sun Microsystems in Menlo Park. In 2007 he initiated a long-term project around electricity and the urban, which involves a number of prototypical “public works” in the electrical medium, mostly in his own neighbourhood. With Shaina Anand and Sanjay Bhangar, Ashok also recently launched CAMP, a collaborative initiative around art, media, and technology practices, responding to a specific city context in Mumbai. He is also involved in other collaborations, including an online open video archive, and a project on the philosophy of design. Recent writing of his has been published in In The Shade of the Commons (Bansal, Keller, Lovink eds. 2006) and on NeMe.org. Upcoming art projects include a one-person gallery show at Thomas Erben in New York, and a project on “the underground” with Arts Catalyst in London. Ashok's work has received several honors, including the Golden Nica (for Interactive art), at the Prix Ars Electronica 2007, and the first prize of the UNESCO Digital Arts Award, 2005. His ongoing work is supported by grants from the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science, and Technology, and the India Foundation for the Arts Grant for Extending Arts Practice.
http://camputer.org