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‘Excursion’ A look into the inner journey of an artist
Story of Wood by Hendrikus David Arie and Teguh Hadiyanto (JP/Anselmo Jason)“I like to think of an excursion as an [artistic] journey with a mission,” head curator Frigidanto Agung said, explaining the inspiration behind the exhibition’s name in a recent interview
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Story of Wood by Hendrikus David Arie and Teguh Hadiyanto (JP/Anselmo Jason)
“I like to think of an excursion as an [artistic] journey with a mission,” head curator Frigidanto Agung said, explaining the inspiration behind the exhibition’s name in a recent interview.
“Within the mission we can find subjectivity, and that subjectivity is how we act on that journey.”
Going further into the exhibition’s philosophy, Agung believed that the subjectivity of the artists involved could be divided into three main aspects; raga (the body), menjiwai raga (the animation of the body) and jiwa (the spirit within the body).
The “body” aspect of the philosophy refers to the basic bodily interpretation of the artist’s five senses as they engage with the world around them. This includes both social phenomenon and individual affairs.
The “animation” refers to the process of drawing from the inspirations acquired from bodily interpretations and translating said inspiration into an art form. In this process, an artist can draw from an old preexisting interpretation and inject some new meanings into it, or create a new interpretation from the “body” aspect.
Lastly, the “spirit” aspect refers to a look into an artist’s inner self, which includes their philosophy, their religiosity and their psychology. This aspect is more abstract in nature, as artists will then express these concepts in shapes, lines and colors in their respective art forms.
While Agung believed that all of the artworks displayed demonstrated all three aspects of the “excursion” theme, he also believed in categorizing the works based on their individual inclinations toward certain aspects.
“So, from here we can see which of the works perceive the body, which of the works perceive the spirit and which of the works perceive the unity between body and spirit.”
An example of this theme in application can be seen in Famous Figure, one of the paintings showcased at the exhibition.
Famous Figure is an acrylic on canvas painting that resulted from a collaboration between artists RB Ali and Yayat Lesmana. It is distinguishable by its depiction of four grey humanoid figures on each of the painting’s four corners and the presence of thin but pronounced white lines acting as borders for each of the painting’s vivid colors.
Ali thinks of Famous Figure as his take on the presence of “hidden figures” within society that never make a public appearance, opting to work and pull strings from the shadows. This idea is present in the painting, marked by the humanoids’ facial features being obscured or missing altogether.
“There’s a lot of famous figures that have never shown their faces, and yet they have such dominant roles,” said the Lampung-born artist.
“That’s what we’re trying to convey.”
For Ali, this issue of hidden figures is very much real in society.
“Even though for me personally, there’s no need for them to hide,” he stated.
_0.img_assist_custom-780x520.jpg "Look closer: Visitors looking at a painting. (Courtesy of National Gallery of Indonesia)")
“Just state your intentions and purposes,”
“If it’s for the good of the nation, why hide and spy on us like that?”
In regards to his relationship with his collaborator, Ali said that he’d been a longtime friend to Yayat. But even then, he also admitted that the two often argued because of their differing opinions, particularly on politics.
“Based on that, I’d like to express that we have something in common,” said Ali, referring to his friendship with Yayat. “Not everybody is different all the time.”
Regarding the three main aspects of the exhibition’s theme, Ali considered his depiction of society’s hidden figures to be a journey in and of itself.
“It’s about the animation of an understanding of the [hidden] figures’ concept,” Ali explained.
For Ali personally, the three main aspects of the theme fall in line with his principles as an artist.
“An artist can create great works when three sources become one: body, mind and spirit,” explained Ali. “When they fail to come together, their art will become cold, hollow and even unfinished.”
“Oftentimes we feel a work of art is a failure because of the difficulty in bringing those sources together.”
The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
