29, Empty your cup is a visual essay about the experiences with my brother’s autism, seeing the world through him, often reimagining. Living with someone who’s on the spectrum can often make you question the point of this grand scheme of things, which we often label as life. The project is a rumination on this intertwined life of which one is an inevitable part of, with no choice of theirs. It's a story of contradictions and of never happenings, of me trying to find the traces of myself in a ballad of consequences which began in November, ‘98. The proposed project began in August 2023 and given the long term nature of this project I visualise it in the form of chapters touching upon various aspects of autism spectrum disorder. As the project has been in an exploratory stage, Chapter 1 begins from January 2025 and I hope to conclude it by March 2026 with an exhibition. The scholarship money would give me the required financial assistance to establish goals associated with the completion of Chapter 1 which are creating 5 different edits containing 20 photographs each, experimenting with photo sculptures and mixed media works as alternative implementations, creation of dummy photo books, visiting local mental institutions to research and expand my understanding of the developments happening around Autism and Neurodiversity and finally showcasing the works in an exhibition.
