Contents: Foreword. 1. Passwords. 2. Interface. 3. Random access. 4. Variables. 5. Expanded forms. 6. Trajectory.

"Baiju Parthan, who entered the contemporary Indian art scene as a self-declared 'outsider', is today an acclaimed painter. He is also one of the pioneers of Intermedia Art in India.

Written by the noted art critic, poet and independent curator Ranjit Hoskote, Baiju Parthan : A User's Manual takes the reader on a tour through the artist's diversely populated imagination. It maps Parthan's journey from his childhood in Kerala, through his student years in Goa, to his gradual improvisation of a niche for himself in the contemporary Indian art scenario. This book records Parthan's participation in the countercultural hippie scene his encounters with spiritual teachings and shamanic lore, his formal experiments and his engagement with media flows and alternative reality environments.

Baiju Parthan : A User's Manual includes a monographic essay on the artist by Hoskote, as well as a freewheeling conversation between artist and author, extracts from Parthan's journal, a section on his Intermedia Works, a selection of the artist's occasional writings, and a brief biography." (jacket)