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Art as intermediary between media and reality
Visitors observe Washington D
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Visitors observe Washington D.C 1956 (left) and Cendana, Jkt 1967 by Agan Harahap. courtesy of Selasar Sunaryo Art Space
The fourth installment of art exhibition Nu-Substance Festival by Common Room Network Foundation is aimed at showcasing work from multimedia artists from the country and overseas.
With a tagline of "The Loss of the Real", the exhibition makes an effort to reflect on development of new technology and new media. The basic primary idea of the exhibition was that media which once connected humans, now has separated us from the real, alienating people from one another, distancing people from objects and other tactile experiences.
The director of the Bandung-based Common Room Network Foundation, Gustaff Harriman Iskandar, said that the exhibition aimed at shedding light on the novel context in the relationship between human life and fast-changing media.
"The way we see and experience our surroundings nowadays is no longer the same from the way we perceived it before when we interacted directly with people or objects around us without an intermediary. Now, the reality is mostly understood through the media, notably digital media," Gustaff said.
The exhibition at the Selasar Sunaryo Art Space Gallery, features contemporary artworks, exploring the different use if old and new media is viewed from an artistic point of view.
The exhibition showcases works from Indonesian artists including Agan Harahap, Deden Durahman, Dimas Arif Nugroho, Prilla Tania, Widianto Nugroho as well as is art collectives like the Bandung Oral History and Forum Lenteng. From overseas countries, the exhibition enlists artists Amar Mahboob from Pakistan, Daito Manabe and Takao Minami from Japan and Benjamin Laurent Aman and Romain Osi from Japan.
Curator Agung Hujatnikajennong said the theme "The Loss of the Real" was a form of sarcasm, aiming at raising awareness on the contribution of the new media in dragging people from reality. The world becomes more transparent, but the reality has shifted from tangible object-based realities toward a mediated environment shaped by the global media such as television, Internet and the digital culture, he said.
The concept artists presented their work using features of the new digital media. Some of the works resort to basics by displaying the human body, as in the work of Prilla Tania, using analogue technology as in Java's Machine-The third realm, a simple machine in Resonance by Dimas Arif or bio technology in the House of Natural Fiber: Intelligent Bacteria.
"Instead of focusing on the primacy of the technology, the exhibition emphasizes the instrumentality of the messages, as well as aesthetic and social approaches toward the real and the imaginary," he said.
In the eyes of casual art buffs, the works featured in the exhibition may be hard to digest let alone appreciated. Case in point, the work of French visual artist and avant garde musician Benjamin Laurent Aman.
It will take some time to grasp the meaning, if any, behind his installation work titled S.S. Stage (Reconstitution) which is made of stone, bricks, a 12" vinyl, steel, table, graphite and lights.
Aman said that his work represented the microcosm recreating the reality that surrounds him. All of the objects shown were taken or found near the gallery or the gallery itself.
"This installation is like a monologue. The place where you are trying to say something, that's the reason why all the objects I use in this work come from the gallery and its surroundings," Aman told The Jakarta Post.
The use of vinyl for instance refers to the sound and idea of recording. It explains the basic concept of noise and represents the silence or the absence of sound in this work. And consistent with the theme of the juxtaposition of the new and old media, Aman opts to use conventional technology for his work.
Prilla Tania, a Bandung-based artist, showcased a work titled Voluntarily Dictated.
She presented her work in a pitch black wall. Next to the wall was a video installation with a small screen showing Prilla working on the wall, trying to draw an object that looked like a television set.
This work shows her concern for the strong influence of media on our modern day reality. She emphasizes the power of media to an individual when making a decision.
"Basically this work is aimed at bringing conscience to people, their functions and their needs above all the external factors around them," she said.
Another head-scratching work is a sound installation produced by House of Natural Fiber. Showcased is the sound of fruit fermentation to produce alcohol.
Intelligent Bacteria is a complicated work involving collaboration between artists and scientists in a research program called the Education Focus Program.
Idea for the work comes from news that three people in the Central Java town of Kudus died after consuming home-brew liquor. The death results from the government's decision to raise the tax for alcoholic drinks which makes it more difficult for the poor to consume them.
The sound from the fermentation is a constant monotone sound. "It is like a music ensemble played by a group of carbon dioxide," Agung said.
Nu-Substance festival started in 2007 as part of a program to support the development of electronic arts and media culture in the local context through a series of programs involving workshops, discussions, art exhibitions and electronic music concerts.
The 2010 festival is organized under the title Floating Horizon and is aimed at encouraging the use of the communication technology to reflect on contemporary culture and urban ecology.
The festival also featured Expert Meeting for New Media, Civil Society and Environmental Sustainability involving artists, designers, philosophers and media practitioners from Asia and European region.
"The Loss of the Real"
July 19-Aug. 1 (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space
Jl. Bukit Pakar Timur, No. 100, Bandung, West Java
