SAGE Residency #2: Yogyakarta

Sangkring Art Project
cordially invites you to the opening of
SAGE RESIDENCY #2: 'Yogyakarta'

Christopher H. Zamora (Philippines)
Josef Zean Cabangis (Philippines)
Choiruddin (Indonesia)
Nugroho Heri Cahyono (Indonesia)
Chong Kim Chiew (Malaysia)
Suddin Lappo (Malaysia)

Monday, 11 July 2011 at 07 pm
Dialogue & Artist Talk : Tuesday, 12 Juli 2011, Jam 16.00 wib

SAGE residensi 2011 : sebuah catatan ringkas

Yogyakarta, menjadi tempat singgah ke 2 program SAGE (Southeast Asia Group Exchange) Residensi 2011. Adalah sebuah program pertukaran seniman, program residensi, yang melibatkan kelompok seni visual dan perupa dari negara-negara di Asia Tenggara. Program ini bertujuan untuk menjalin hubungan sesama seniman, sekaligus membuka kesempatan untuk membangun jaringan kesenian di antara negara-negara yang terlibat. Program residensi ini digagas oleh Tenggara Artland (Indonesia), House of Matahati (Malaysia), Project Space Pilipinas (Philipina).

Menyertai mereka selama proses residensi, saya mencatat beberapa hal menarik dari proses kreatif yang telah dilakukan. Suasana Yogyakarta yang hiruk pikuk dengan kehidupan seni rupa, menjadi bagian menarik sepanjang pelaksanaan residensi. Lawatan ke studio seniman, menyaksikan event pembukaan pameran, obrolan dan diskusi bermalam-malam menjadi energi tersendiri. Wacana kesenian, market hingga perkara-perkara teknis penciptaan, menjadi bahan diskusi yang menarik untuk memahami kondisi medan seni rupa di negara masing-masing. Berpijak dari obrolan dan diskusi ini pula mereka mengancang karya-karya kolaborasi, di mana pertukaran gagasan, isu yang hendak dituju, pokok perupaan yang hendak dituangkan hingga pertimbangan material dan teknis penciptaan menjadi poin tersendiri. Kebiasan praktik kerja masing-masing seniman yang berlainan juga melahirkan negosiasi dan sharing kerja yang sangat menarik.

Menemani proses mereka berkarya, saya melihat ruh dan spirit yang sama dalam tajuk kekaryaan mereka, sebuah spirit dari masyarakat negara berkembang yang kritis dan terus bergeliat. Persoalan identifikasi diri, identitas, sejarah, akar kultur hingga persoalan modernitas dan globalisasi menjadi pertanyaan-pertanyaan kritis yang mereka lontarkan. Seperti Chong Kim Chiew menggunakan peta sebagai bahasa untuk mempertanyakan sejarah wilayah. Bagaimana kekuatan sosial politik, mampu merubah teritori, perbatasan hingga kontur demografis manusianya. Dengan media akrilik dan spidol boardmarker, ia pertemukan semua teks wilayah, jalan dan sungai, dan nama tempat dari seluruh wilayah dunia dalam selembar kertas. Carut marut tanda itulah yang menarik kita pada batas-batas memori akan ruang yang telah tererosi, sekaligus mengajak kita untuk menilik ulang konstruksi identitas. Ingatan akan kampung halamannya, Malaysia, menuntun Suddin Lappo untuk terus mengungkapkan kondisi negaranya saat ini. Bagaimana perjuangan rakyat Malaysia menegakkan demokrasi yang bersih disiratkannya dalam figur potret diri memegang kartu kuning. Warna yang identik dengan kompensasi pelanggaran dalam permainan sepak bola, di mana warna kuning juga menjadi simbol perjuangan rakyat Malaysia saat ini. Sebagai seniman, ia termasuk seniman yang kritis. Nada satire akan kebijakan negara berikut tingkah laku para aparatusnya seringkali tersemat dan terdengar dalam karya-karyanya.

Zean Cabangis, seniman muda dari Philipina ini banyak mencermati kontur lingkungan dari suatu tempat yang dikunjunginya, untuk kemudian disatukannya secara acak dalam bidang kanvas. Mulai dari figur, pohon, hingga benda-benda yang identik dengan tempat tersebut disusun dengan pendekatan teknik realism yang dipadu dengan corak-corak grafis sebagai elemen pendukung. Zean lebih banyak menyoal tentang identifikasi ruang berikut tegangannya dengan psikologi masyarakatnya, hingga respon audiens saat karya itu dipresentasikannya. Sementara Christopher Zamora asyik berkolaborasi dengan Nugroho Heri Cahyono. Persoalan globalisasi dan modernitas yang melanda dunia ketiga, telah menyebabkan masyarakatnya terkapar dengan kondisi ini. Konstruksi baja berbentuk diamond dimaksudkan sebagai ikon dari modernism, menindih sosok figur manusia yang menahannya tak berdaya. Seolah gambar bercerita, tubuh sang figure itupun layuh pada panel berikutnya. “Inilah gambaran masyarakat yang tidak sanggup menanggung beban modernitas dan globalisasi, mereka menyerah dan jatuh terkapar”, demikian ungkap Heri. Sementara persoalan art scene saat ini yang chaotic coba diungkapkan Choiruddin dalam potret seorang gadis yang dikelilingi buih. Samar-samar terlihat sobekan kertas bertulis ‘galeri’, suatu tanda yang mengundang konflik visual tersendiri. Apakah wacana art scene yang terkesan konseptualistik, molek dan cantik, hanyalah buih-buih basa yang hadir untuk menutupi kepentingan market yang sebenarnya?

Merangkai setiap gagasan visual dan pemikiran mereka, saya menangkap sebuah gajala kritis mereka atas perkembangan seni rupa kontemporer saat ini. Bagaimana seni kemudian hadir sebagai sebuah strategi diplomasi kebudayaan yang menarik, beririrng dengan perputaran kapital yang maha dahsyat. Bukan untuk menafikkannya, akan tetapi menjalin sebuah pemahaman bersama untuk kemudian bersikap kritis dan seksama. Ada sebuah strategi kesenian yang mesti dibangun secara bersama-sama, tidak saja dalah satu teritori, namun melintas sekat pembatas negara. Upaya kerja jaringan ini harus terus diupayakan dengan tetap berpijak pada identifikasi diri, meyakini identitas asal dan akar kultural serta menjalin kerja kolektif yang kontributif. Senyatanya setiap gagasan karya mereka mengancang pada persoalan identitas yang terbelah dan problematik. Setiap karya hadir dalam nuansa dan wacana yang dalam. Proses kerja mereka selama residensi menunjukkan karakter yang beragam. Layaknya sebuah motivasi, mencermati perspektif mereka terasa ad upaya identifikasi diri yang lebih, reposisi wacana kekinian, hingga upaya pemetaan posisi seni rupa kontemporer Asia Tenggara dalam peta seni dunia.

Program residensi SAGE ini merupakan sebuah program kerja jaringan yang sangat baik dalam membuka peluang komunikasi dan hubungan lintas budaya. Bagaimana seniman mampu membaca, memahami dan berkarya secara kontekstual di mana pun mereka berada. Adanya spirit akar rumpun yang sama juga memberikan motivasi yang menarik dalam melihat dan mencermati fenomena global yang ada. Berbincang dengan mereka senyatanya saya menangkap sebuah mimpi bersama, Asia Tenggara menjadi kiblat seni kontemporer dunia suatu hari nanti. (Hendra Himawan. kurator)

Organizer by
TENGGARA, House of MATAHATI (HOM), Project Space Pilipinas

Sangkring Art Project
Nitiprayan Rt.1 Rw.20 No. 88 Ngestiharjo, Kasihan Bantul Yogyakarta, 55182, Telp. (0274) 381032; 081227675678

The exhibition will continue until 23 July 2011

NEAR Artist: Junyeong Jang (Korea)

Christopher Zamora Solo Exhibition

A tool ceases to be one the moment it morphs into a lifestyle. It begins to have an essence of its own. It breathes. It thinks. And then it consumes.

Christopher Zamora reveals the unquestioned dominance of contemporary lifestyle over our collective psyche. His canvas transcends a subculture conceived by an illusory will to connect and be part of something bigger than the individual. Zamora's art exposes the self-defeating dependence on “having,” as a product of diminishing one's “being.”

Zamora's work delves into the minds of the very real and living people simply called by technology pimps as “target demographics.” Raw emotions that were once channeled through actual interaction with more raw emotions are filtered by the entanglements of fiber optic lines, wireless networks, and the evolving boob tube. Reality is continually modified and re-modified with the introduction of the eternal concept of “upgrades,” further enslaving the fragility of the youth's need for self-determination. What is left is a landscape of blurred purposes – a barren dessert of plastic, microchips, lenses, shiny discs, keyboards, touch screens, and the organic ether of a lost generation's dreams.

A silent paradox is the ultimate portrait of this artist's theme. Aired are contradictions between the claimed benefits of “making the globe smaller” and the actual fruits of depriving a generation or more of the reality that is not virtual. This unreal reality is then reinforced by the willingness of indolent minds to not discern between purpose and consequences. And as the machine enslaves the acquiescing consciousness, a self-sustaining cycle of blind adherence prevails.

Zamora has carved his name in contemporary art through his solo exhibits including Sorrowful Mysteries (Project Space Pilipinas) and Infectious (West Gallery) in 2009, Silip (Boston Gallery) in 2005 and Everybody Wants to Feel Better (Kulay Diwa Art Galleries) in 2003. He has also participated in numerous notable exhibitions here and abroad including We Was There (Yuchengco Museum, Manila) 2011, Yeosu International Art Festival (Yeosu City, Korea), Art Triangle (Soka Gakkai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Reflections (Bupyeong Art Center, Incheon, Korea), Studio Parade (Incheon Art Platform, Incheon, Korea), Media Concert ‘Love’ (Topohous Art Gallery, Seoul) in 2010, Tenggara: Recent Paintings from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines (Novas Gallery, London), Plastic Syndrome (Art Space Plastic, Incheon, Korea) in 2009, 2nd Hand Smoke (Cultural Center of the Philippines) in 2006, Buklod (Kulay Diwa Art Galleries, Manila) in 2003, and EMO (Boston Gallery, Manila) in 2001. His works had been part of an ensemble of art pieces presented in Art Beijing in 2008 and Daegu Art Fair in 2010. Zamora was artist-in-residence at Project Space Pilipinas in 2008, Neo-Emerging Artist Residency (NEAR Seoul) in 2009, International Artist Studio Program, IASK Goyang National Art Studio, Korea in 2010. He is currently taking part in the Southeast Asian Art Group Exchange Residency (SAGER), an exchange residency among artists from Kuala Lumpur, Yogjakarta, and Manila. (-Lloyd Llaga)

Freshly Brewed at Republikha Art Gallery

Republikha Gallery in collaboration with Project Space Pilipinas is proud to present Freshly Brewed, a group exhibition showcasing works by Carlo Gabuco, Amer Mira, Joey Cobcobo, Ian Carlo Jaucian, Ranelle Dial, Tristram Miravalles, Caloy Gernale, Joe Geraldo, Zean Cabangis, and Marc Cosico.

Freshly Brewed takes a fresher look on the variety of artistic concerns, as each artist respond to the round format as a dynamic visual device. As noted by Rudolf Arnheim in his book, The Power of the Center, “A frame can be intimately connected with the composition it encases. It can act as a window through which one sees a more or less distant scene, extending beyond and beneath the limits of the frame.”

The round or circular shape on the other hand, breaks away from the usual spatial continuum reinforced by the more structural angled frames. The adaptation of diverse narratives and metaphors in the circular border places the picture more, as a symbolic object or an idea, rather than a window to see through. Arnheim also added that, “roundness is the suitable shape for objects that belong nowhere and everywhere, it is impregnable and unconcerned. Having no angles and no edges, it points nowhere and has no weak spots.” And these, make the circular shape the most fitting format in presenting freshly brewed and inviting ideas in art.

Freshly Brewed runs until June 8, 2011.

Black Gate: Caloy Gernale / Tristram

Just tell the tricycle driver, “Manong, sa Arayat St. po, du’n sa apartment na may itim na gate, katapat ng puno ng balete,” and without any trace of uncertainty on his crude face, the driver takes you to the place. It is impossible to get lost as the description of how to make it to Project Space Pilipinas (PSP) is as striking as the current national situation. And among the apartment units, it is the only one that has a black gate guarded by the mystical balete tree.

What is the meaning of the color black?

Similar to the balete tree, the color black is usually associated with mystery and fear of the unknown. People tend to correlate the color black with their unexplained and/or imaginary experiences that typically take place during the night. Filipinos have the idealist notion that creatures travel from the underworld to the world where we live through passageways such as the balete tree or anything dark or black. The color black also connotes death and the evil. This is why black is the color preferred by people who grieve for the loss of a beloved.

Idealist beliefs are constructed and the color black is utilized to establish such beliefs. Meanwhile, opposite the balete tree, behind the black gate, materialist ideas are formed through the paintings of two of probably the most underappreciated artists in the archipelago today—Tristram Miravalles and Carlo “Caloy” Gernale. Their ideas do not come from the unknown or unexplained. Their ideas are rather derived from personal and collective experiences, socio-political occurrences and recent history. Both artists utilize art to achieve a particular goal—to study society. One artist uses art to communicate his personal encounters; the other artist uses art to examine the collective encounters.

Dog spelled backwards is God.

Tristram Miravalles uses the already loaded image of the dog as the central theme of his works. According to him, “Ang aso ay parang tao rin, hindi ba? Halos wala namang pinagkaiba ang aso sa tao.” This is true in many ways.

As if the canvas was an open journal, Tristram retells his very unfortunate encounter with the people who vowed to “serve and protect.” For an illegal deed he did not commit, he was detained for ten days by forces of District Anti-illegal Drugs (DAID). For an artist like Tristram, his experiences inside this shithole inevitably become a rich source of insights.

In some of Tristram’s works, the image of the dog is used as a symbol of misused power and abused authority. In his other pieces, the dog’s figure is used to represent Tristram himself, like a self-portrait.

Tristram’s works exude the kind of angst that is as lethal as the rabies that causes acute inflammation of the brain. His works will remind the viewer of a familiar juvenile anguish provoked by the putrid elements of the bureaucratic system.

To better understand what Tristram’s rhetoric means, this is where the author of this paper finally says, “Let his paintings do the barking.”

Caloy Gernale, on the other hand, employs the idea of “god” or “messiah,” using the “messiah complex,” which refers to “the irrational desire of a human being to take care of others, practically disregarding the other person’s willingness to be helped out or be taken care of,” as springboard for the meaning that he wants to convey through his paintings. Incorporating the contemporary image of the messiah (e.g. the game show host who is adored and believed by the masses, or the transnational fairytale blondie whose kiss is believed to relieve the socio-economic misery of the victimized nation, or the “yello baby” who promises to be our savior) becomes a clever way to describe the recurring socio-political situation of semi-feudal, neocolonial Philippines.

Caloy’s paintings remind the viewer of how we were deceived by the “benevolent forces” which colonized us for 40 years and patiently trained local puppets to secure their influence on Philippine economy, politics, and culture. These “benevolent forces” say they wanted to help us because we, according to McKinley, “were unfit for self-government.” This is what they wanted us to believe so they could justify their feat.

Caloy attempts to put an exclamation point to the burning question, “Do the Filipinos have collective messianic complex?” Do we really believe that our salvation relies on the institutions established by the ruling elite? If so, how did we come up with such a notion? Is this idea innate to us or is it actually a product of the material condition of the Filipino nation? Is this belief an offspring of the banging forces and relations of production?

Through his paintings, Caloy agitates the viewer’s tendencies to be complacent. Caloy encourages the viewer to understand society from their point of view, make informed opinions and hopefully transform these opinions into organized actions.

Let the god in Caloy’s paintings guide your eyes to find the answers. The completeness of meaning does not solely rely on the painter. Meaning is completed when the viewer has significant response to the images or symbols which he/she tries to make sense of.

Do not knock. Just enter.

The artists-in-residence did not leave the gates locked. Knocking will be unnecessary. You would just have to enter and brace yourself to the thought-provoking works of Tristram Miravalles and Caloy Gernale.

Tristram’s dog would be barking at you. And Caloy’s god will be there too.


-Andang Juan, General Trias, Cavite, 06 May 2011