Zero Zero Zero!

Hand embellished giclee print 'Zero Zero Zero!' by Chila Kumari Burman, 2017, showing the number zero in the form of a man's face with the third eye Hindu chakra above. The frame embellished with mirror pieces.

Made of giclee print, somerset velvet paper, glitter, plastic beaded thread, rhinestones, cotton shapes, felt bindis.

The number zero was first recorded in Indian mathematics by Brahma Gupta in the seventh century CE, but it's use may date as far back as the second century. Here Burman presents the zero in the face of a sage, drawing out the philosophical basis of Indian mathematics that allowed the idea of nothing to be countenanced. Zero in Sanskrit is 'Shunya', which also means void.

One of 29 works produced by Burman as a commission to accompany the Science Museum’s ‘Illuminating India’ season in 2017-18. The works respond to objects and narratives in the history of science in India particularly to the exhibition ‘5000 Years of Science and Innovation’, as well as to the wider religious and cultural history of the sub-continent. This was Burman's first significant engagement with the history of science and medicine, with the works ranging across print, collage, photography and mixed-media, including experiments with iPad technology.