A room hosting an art installation named Fictional Island by artist Keisuke Takahashi was packed with visitors of the 2017 Jakarta Biennale.

The space was dark, illuminated only by projections of blue, laser-like light beams that exploded in psychedelic lines and dots. A mound of sand lay on the floor, resembling a gleaming, magical hill.

Among the visitors were Sabrina and her cousin Jonathan. They lay down on the slope of the sand hill, then struck several poses for their phone camera.

Sabrina told The Jakarta Post that they had come to the Biennale specifically to take pictures to post on Instagram.

“Art galleries are a great location for taking pictures because they feature things that cannot be found anywhere else,” she said.

The 2017 Jakarta Biennale wrapped up on Sunday after five weeks of exhibitions and attracting more than 111,000 visitors to four venues, including Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem in South Jakarta, Museum Fatahillah and the Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics in West Jakarta, and Institut Francais D’Indonesie (IFI) in Central Jakarta.

“Most of the visitors came to the Biennale solely to take pictures,” said Adelya Intan, an exhibition guide in charge of monitoring visitors inside the gallery. “They come here to use the artwork as a background for their photos, instead of reflecting on the message the artists aim to convey through their art.”

To her, this type of activity defeats the aesthetic purpose of the artwork, because in the resulting photos, they are completely or partially blocked by the people posing in front of them.

“By doing this, they [visitors] are not sharing the artwork they enjoyed with [their Instagram followers],” she said.

Adel added that many visitors were so careless in taking their pictures, that they actually damaged some of the artwork.

Jason Lim’s installation, Under the Shadow of the Banyan Tree, suffered the most damage from people placing their foot on top of the clay piece’s foundation as they struck a pose.

“Lim made the artwork on-site, so it was still wet until the second week [of the Biennale],” Adel said. “One morning, exhibition volunteers carried out their inspection before opening the gallery and we found a shoe print on the clay.”

Furthermore, she said, many visitors did not respect the curators’ decision to display certain pieces in low light.

“Some artworks were made with photo-sensitive materials that can deteriorate when exposed to too much lighting. Many times I had to argue with visitors who insisted on taking pictures using a flash,” she said.

Ade Dharmawan, the Biennale’s executive director, conceded that social media-obsessed image hunters have greatly contributed to the increase in exhibition visitors in recent years — both a blessing and a curse.

“With too many visitors standing in line to take pictures, it is impossible for others to enjoy the artwork in an ideal situation,” Ade said.

However, he pointed out that social media was a great tool for introducing contemporary art to a wider audience. The Biennale embraced this phenomenon by holding blogging and vlogging contests offering shopping vouchers and prize money.

“We encouraged them to make quality commentaries, as well as to share them with their peers. That way, they are educating themselves on art appreciation,” Ade said.

Jakarta State University (UNJ) sociologist Robertus Robet responded to Ade’s vision to make contemporary art seem less elitist and more accessible to a wider public by underlining the fact that elitism indeed played a large role in the growing popularity of art exhibitions.

“They want to distinguish themselves — make believe that they are part of the elite,” he said. “But more often than not, they fail to impress; they are usually considered tacky and fake.”

Adel, on the other hand, was more concerned over the visitors’ lack of appreciation instead of their social media image.

“Taking pictures and uploading them to your Instagram is okay, as long as you also appreciate the artists’ aspirations,” she said. “Smart visitors never forget to read the artwork’s description and maintain the etiquette of enjoying art exhibitions.” (gis)

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