‘A cybernetic vision means the interface when machines and humans interact’, said Vaibhav Jain, the  CoStAAn of the Department of Art, Design, and Publicity (ADP), in an interview with the APOGEE English Press. In this interview, Vaibhav spoke about the functioning of his department and the events to look forward to this APOGEE.

The department  is divided into three teams – painting, structure, and publicity. The publicity team consists of one third year, two second years, and four first years – with Vaibhav himself assisting the publicity team.

The publicity team manages the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram handles of APOGEE and keeps them active throughout the year. ’Recently, our Facebook page reached 50,000 likes. This is a big achievement,” Vaibhav said, mentioning that this has motivated the team immensely. The publicity team also comes up with creative online competitions, like the ”50 Cells Darker” competition on the Facebook page. The competition is fairly popular among BITSians, with a few comments on the posts having more than 250 likes.

Breaking away from tradition, the painting team will not be painting a backdrop for APOGEE. The shift of the fest to February seems to have affected ADP the most, who will now be printing the backdrop. However, the team has painted five panels to make up for this. Along with this, the painting team will be working on campus decoration. They are trying out new art forms – acrylic, glass, and canvas painting to decorate M-Lawns and FD 3 Lawns. They will also hang lanterns on the road from the main gate to ANC circle.  

The structure team is working on four structures. One structure will be of the APOGEE mascot, CY.B. Another structure will be related to the theme – A Cybernetic Vision – with a half-machine and half-human part. The third structure will be based on vision. When asked about the fourth structure, Vaibhav   shrugged, having no clue about the fourth structure. ’The first years are making a structure on their own and they refuse to tell me. It’s a surprise – even for me’, he said.

The ideation process for APOGEE started in the winter break, with the coordinators of the three teams being appointed before the winter break. Their painting sessions began around the 10th of January. Vaibhav agreed that while the time crunch was difficult to handle, his coordinators did a good job. ’I was freaked out, but they handled it well. If the pace is maintained, we may complete our work five days before APOGEE.’

When asked about his experience as CoStAAn, Vaibhav replied that he had received a lot of support and help from the others in his department. He had just to ask for something or instruct someone, and the work would get done. ’My contribution to the department has been minimal this semester, yet work is happening very smoothly’, he said, adding that the department would continue to function this smoothly even in the future.

About his experience in the CoStAA, he agreed that the nine CoStAAns often have different perspectives and it initially took time for everyone to start agreeing on things. However, he added that all the CoStAAns have worked very hard to make the fest a success. ’We have many new things happening this APOGEE – we never had exhibitions before.’ On the exhibition side, there will be bots, tear-gas units etc. On the event side, there is a collaboration with the Indian Drone Racing League. Elaborating on the drone racing event, Vaibhav stated that it will be held in SR Lawns on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th of February. A maze will be built in the lawns and the drone’s point of view will be displayed outside the maze. While there will be pro-pilots coming down for this event, it will be open to public participation as well.

’We had mini-fests in colleges across the country this time – three are done, two more to go. PCr-APOGEE has done a great job. Let’s see about the participation.’ On a parting note, Vaibhav asked all BITSians to stay on campus for APOGEE 2018. “We have a concert by The Local Train this APOGEE – my batch is pretty pumped to see them perform again. Including this concert and N2O, we have 10 major selling points this APOGEE. So I would advise all BITSians to stay on campus’, he said.