The theatre of life presents itself with visual intensity for N.S. Harsha, whose expressions are almost always satirical about the human experience particularly in the interconnectedness to systems of knowledge, belief and cosmic or constructed power. Harsha renders esoteric concepts with wit and whimsy while investing in the humble tensions of everyday experiences that are fuelled with ambiguity inasmuch as profundity. In the Capitalist’s Underbelly, from a series of ‘shelf-life’ sculptures made out of steel carton boxes, Harsha notes the origin of the folding carton box design to Robert Gair, at a Brooklyn-based paper-bag making factory in early 1893. Gair’s invention catapulted the branding, packaging and shipping industries to an unprecedented scale, allowing products to travel further and wider than they previously had, flooding the remote corners of world cultures. In this sculpture, Harsha speculates on the underbelly of capitalism and technology, presenting a carton box in its open form, where its folds pose as wings, concealing a missile within. He wishes to connect form to the ideology of invasion, likening branded boxes to weapons of mass destruction, both with the ability to sustain monumental change through prolonged outreach. 

‘Capitalist underbelly’ is not a ‘blame art’ on any one person or times we live in. It is rather a form created to remind the hidden force behind capitalism in its actual avatar. While looking into the origin of box as a product I got informed about Robert Gair. It would not be fair to pin down the merits of any invention by its effects on human societies. This sculpture draws attention on the situation we all face today around weaponized food and essential commodities.