Time, in a broader framework, is closely related to historical themes. Prihatmoko Moki and Suvi Wahyudianto explore it with their respective approaches and unique choices of techniques and mediums. The two went back and forth between personal history and the history of the larger community. Both want to express how work of art can take us across time through events in the past, how we can talk about things that were once taboo, and help us to imagine a better future.
The past, present, and future are often envisioned in the same line. However, the past and the future are both full of speculation and possibilities. Those possibilities are born from what we live today. Through the textile and crystal experiments that she did on her work, Irene Agrivina, in collaboration with Caroline Rika, invites us to imagine the possibility of the future. About how things around us can grow and live with human intervention and technology. Meanwhile, Lintang Radittya invites us to listen to the past told by the land of Merapi, Nglanggeran, and Parangkusumo. These two works invite us to imagine other ways to talk about the past, the present, and the future.
Wayang Ukur is a work created by Ki Sigit Sukasman with a progressive and visionary outpouring of thought. Through his thoughts and practice, we can find knowledge in almost every aspect of the work, from the process of making wayang, performances, story writing, presentation tactics, and so on. This knowledge is then very important to be maintained and cared for to continue to be inherited.
Standing on the shore and watching the horizon in the afternoon. Barefoot, on the sand. The rest of the waves slowly release the grains of sand from between the toes. The sea breeze blows hard. Our dreams are blown away.
The atmosphere at the end of the beach, gazing at the limit of the sky, the horizon, the color orange, and the sunset that’s sometimes described as a romantic situation. A situation that invites some daydreams about things that have passed. Either they’re over, or we can't get over them. Things that sometimes appear without being ordered and go back into the memory, or the memory actually never leave the head. And he just waits for the right moment to burst in his mind.
A situation like this often appears in various works. An author once made a story about how he stole the sunset to present it to his lover. Even the twilight and the horizon appear and drown in the pop songs all around us.
But in Jompet Kuswidananto's mind, that thing is different. When Jompet stands on the shore and stares at the horizon, his thoughts lead him to the image of infinity. One time he imagined himself as if he was in a painting. Then at another time the atmosphere led him to the image of homeland.
Jompet is known as an artist working with various mediums: from installation works, video, sound, performance, even theater. His works often talk about Indonesian history, political issues, globalization, colonialism, and mass mobilization in the context of post-reform Indonesia.
Through the situation of standing on the beach and gazing at the horizon, Jompet wants to present romanticism in Indonesian history. A history of conquest, of destruction, of resistance, of struggle, of defeat and of victory. About how it all gave birth to rituals, swearing, prayers, and praises. About how all of them are able to give birth to heroes so that we can then identify who we are and who our enemies are.
By laying out an installation that consists of white sand and cracked glass as wide as one can see, the image of the horizon is then presented. Memory may indeed be brittle and fragile. History may indeed be composed of the rubble of chaos, of wounds and its opportunity to injure, continuously make shiny; sparkling and dazzling.
And when we stand staring at it, perhaps the image we originally had of the horizon on the beach will never be the same again. Perhaps in our minds a question arises: what are we really celebrating?
Through the Young Artist Award (YAA), ARTJOG provides access and opportunity for the best young artist under 35 y.o. This program is devised as a way to appreciate and honour their effort in producing the works. It is also an effort to do talent scouting and expand the insight of those young artists and also expand their networks and career trajectory in the art world.
This year, YAA returns with support from the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. Three out of ten young artists participating in ARTJOG received this year's award. They are Bonggal Jordan Hutagalung (Yogyakarta), Nurrachmat Widyasena (Bandung), and Suvi Wahyudianto (Madura). The 2021 YAA judging panel consists of Agus Suwage, Fx. Harsono and the curatorial team of ARTJOG MMXXI.
In this program, visitors will be invited to walk around the exhibition room and gain knowledge about the concept and context of the works displayed and learn about the implementation process. This program is intended to bring artworks closer to the public, as well as a means of public education. The Exhibition Tour will be held online.
TONTON
Meet The Artist facilitates the public to meet and to talk directly to the artists who are involved in ARTJOG. This program encourages an exchange of knowledge and a dialogue between the artist and the public of art.
TONTON