gallery - University of South Australia

SASA
GALLERY
April 3 - April 27 2007
Artist: Heri Dono
Collaborators: Roy Ananda, Luke Bahr, Margit Brunenner, Sarah Jane
Cook, Margo Clark, Sonia Donnellan, Peter Dyson, Robin Elhaj, Billal
El-Youssef, Annika Evans, Catherine Evans, Peter Fraser, Liz Hetzel, Matt
Huppatz, Sue Kneebone, Steve Leishman, Brigid Noone, Kellylee Paul,
Francis Phelan, Jessica Sanguesa, Niki Sperou, Samuel Sperou, Juniper
Van-Den-Ende, Tushar M. Wahab, Naomi Webb, Mei Sheong Wong, Ly
Yiv, video producers Barry Wraith and Kay Wraith, and the musicians of
the Sekar Laras Gamelan Orchestra
Curator: Dr Pamela Zeplin, Head, Art & Design History & Theory, SASA, UniSA
Editor: Mary Knights, Director, SASA Gallery, UniSA
Catalogue Design: Fred Littlejohn, Senior Lecturer, SASA, UniSA,
Danna-Lee Stoic, DBVC, SASA; Ryan Neville, DBVC, SASA
Catalogue Essays:
Dr Pamela Zeplin, Head, Art & Design History & Theory, SASA, UniSA
Jim Supangkat, art critic and Chief Curator, CP Foundation (Indonesia)
Front cover: Heri Dono, Flying Angels (detail), 2006, Multi media / installation
Back cover: Heri Dono, Gamelan Goro Goro (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
2
Heri Dono, Born and Freedom (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
Contents
5
Introduction
Mary Knights
7
Winged horse dreaming:
Heri Dono in Adelaide
Dr Pamela Zeplin
16
Odyssey in the Space of Change
Jim Supangkat
26
Menjelajahi Perubahan
Jim Supangkat
37
Acknowledgements
3
4
Heri Dono, Flying Angels (detail), 2006, Multi media / installation
The Dream Republic, curated by Pamela Zeplin, is the culmination of a seven week residency undertaken by
Indonesian artist Heri Dono in Adelaide. Dono has developed an international reputation for his work that
is both unsettling and whimsical. In his art practice, which embraces installation, wayang puppetry, video,
performance and collaboration, Dono engages with contemporary social and political issues and explores
the position of the individual in society.
Introduction
The Dream Republic includes work that deals with free-speech and art terrorism. Five videos depicting
Indonesian artists who have been repressed &/or jailed play simultaneously. Provocatively, a gun has been
pointed at each of their heads. A large ramshackle Trojan horse, built in collaboration with others out of
cardboard, string, bamboo and other found materials, suggests the capacity of artists to subversively
engage in activism and political actions; infiltrate organisations, institutions, and cross boundaries
under the cover of art.
The Dream Republic is the second in a series of exhibitions that invites external scholars, as well as interstate
and international artists and designers, to participate in the SASA Gallery’s exhibition and publication programs.
As well as writing one of the catalogue essays, while in Adelaide, Indonesian art critic, curator and theorist
Jim Supangkat will contribute to critical debate on the arts through lectures, discussions and talks. Supangkat
has gained renown in the South East Asian region for his active support of contemporary art in Indonesia and
promotion of Indonesian art internationally. He has been involved in establishing regional art forums and has
curated Indonesian art for major exhibitions and international biennials and events.
The SASA Gallery supports a program of exhibitions that focus on innovation, experimentation and performance.
With support from the Divisional Research Performance Fund the SASA Gallery is being developed as a leading
contemporary art space publishing and exhibiting high-quality research based work, and as an active site of
teaching and learning. The SASA Gallery showcases South Australian artists, designers, writers and curators
associated with South Australian School of Art and Louis Laybourne Smith School of Architecture in a national
and international context.
The SASA Gallery has received immense support toward the development and implementation of this
exhibition and catalogue. The residency by Indonesian artist Heri Dono has been developed by staff at the
South Australian School of Art with the support of the Helpmann Academy. The fine wine served at the
opening was supplied by Perrini Estate and the printing of the exhibition catalogue was generously funded
by the Gordon Darling Foundation.
Mary Knights
Director, SASA Gallery
5
6
Heri Dono, Fermentation of Mind (detail), 1994, Multi media / installation
Winged horse dreaming: Heri Dono in Adelaide
by Pamela Zeplin
It all began in the sky. When the Trojan horse flew low over the city
of Adelaide, with small, strange objects spilling from its belly, crowds
of people gasped in astonishment, at first mistaking its flight path
for that of an inward bound 737. How could this massive, clumsy
sculpture that grew and grew and grew inside the SASA Gallery escape?
So many artists and students over seven weeks had glued, screwed,
nailed, banged, papier-mâché-ed and tied this monster together and
tethered it sturdily between the gallery’s two immense supporting pillars.
Indeed the construction was so robust, many were cynical that it could
ever be dismantled. And now, as if by magic, it was gone.
A horse of sorts with wings and a tail plane attached - was this a bird,
a plane or a mass hallucination induced by chemical spillage? Or was it
even a horse, someone asked, after glimpsing a unicorn horn on its head.
After examining the discarded cargo, someone else suggested that either
Heri Dono was in town or it was a dream.
In fact, Dono was visiting Adelaide at the time. He was constructing a
Trojan horse for his exhibition entitled The Dream Republic and, of course,
I am writing metaphorically - although I did experience this dream.
Flight, whether in oneiric, metaphorical or actual form, has long been
a persistent theme in Dono’s work, populated as it is with a throng of
sky creatures. At once celestial and terrestrial; terrifying and absurdly
humorous, they appear in the form of angels, devils, aeroplanes,
garudas1, winged steeds, becak chariots2, dragons, griffins and unlikely
combinations of all the above. Even Terry Toons’ flying marble horse, Luno
the White Stallion of the 1960s would feel at home in this galaxy. Almost
anything can be made to fly in this artist’s cosmology.
A frequent and enthusiastic flyer, Dono’s seven week residency
and exhibition at the South Australian School of Art was determined
by a hectic international flight itinerary between Berlin, Helsinki,
Jakarta and Krakow. Uncannily and fortunately, this schedule only
narrowly avoided the fateful Garuda Flight GA200, Jakarta-Yogyakarta
on March 7, leaving behind in Yogyakarta art work planned for this
exhibition. As with much of Dono’s art, flight is always about risk.
On landing safely in Adelaide, Dono set about grounding himself in a
local society that was, in large part, already well acquainted with
him. This was his third visit, having presented wayang about the 2005
tsunami, Bayang bayang dalam bayangan (Shadows upon shadows) at
Flinders University in 2006 and a workshop at South Australian School
of Art. Engaging with grass roots as well as broader global concerns in
2007, he attracted an even wider range of people to work collaboratively
in creating highflying projects. Along with an installation of seven
Broken angels refashioned by local art students and Interogasi, a series
of DVD’s featuring persecuted Indonesian artists, the idea of a Trojan
horse took wing in the imagination of local artists and in their individual
responses. This manifestation of the Greek myth where the city of Troy
was defeated by stealth3, however, would, with the addition of historically
inaccurate flying apparatus like wings and a tailplane, become subject
to further complex layers of contemporary political, social and historical
interpretation. What was being smuggled in, by whom and why?
The first citadels to be destabilised during the residency were
mindsets concerning the artist-as-isolated-hero, centre-periphery
models of cultural value, and the global art gospel of new-ness.
During his sojourn in South Australia, Dono’s presence has challenged
conventional understandings of relations between trans-national art
politics, local communities and individual practice. Although small
communities such as Adelaide or Yogyakarta might consider themselves
marginal and in dialectical relation to metropolitan ‘centres’, meaning,
value and agency are not solely determined by the hegemonic apparatus
of art world fashionability. Local, regional and inter-regional linkages
or nodes of interest (such as Yogyakarta-Adelaide networks) can
and do thrive regardless of, or in line with, dominant international
trends. Moreover, continuing western fetishisation of originality and
‘the contemporary’ as the sole hallmarks of quality have been openly
questioned by Dono’s practice which flies in the face of assumptions
about global art production and the stereotypical role of jet-setting,
cosmopolitan artists.
7
It is often assumed that low cost air travel, multi-national capital and
electronic systems of communication have created the recent international
phenomenon of itinerant ‘tribes’ of artists, curators and critics, ever on
the wing between major biennials, triennials and residencies around
the world. Such trans-national art projects facilitate rapid flows of ideas,
points of cultural contact - including the ‘slippery lubricants’4 of cultural
diplomacy - and, most significantly, markets for a veritable caravanserie
of art commodities and related products. The global nomads ‘produced’
by this development participate in a dizzying constellation of major art
programs circulating throughout the world, of which Yogyakarta-based
Dono is a foremost exemplar.
In this residency, however, that’s not the whole story; the
taken-for-grantedness of ‘recent-ism’ pervading current art practice
is subjected to close scrutiny. In particular, we are reminded that
recent internationalisation of contemporary art does not necessarily
rupture artists’ originating cultural influences and belief systems, nor
does it render them generic. Dynamic and adaptable, many ancient
traditions continue to cross-fertilise, as well as problematise, modern
concerns, often in surprising ways.
In recent times the forces of globalisation have, at experiential,
theoretical and metaphysical levels of understanding, accelerated
our awareness of global flows of capital and information while the
aeronautics industry has opened up sophisticated forms of cross-cultural
contact. As these processes collapse the integrity of geo-political borders
and and compress the experience of time, cultural groupings within
nation states like Indonesia or Australia or localities such as Adelaide
or Yogyakarta become increasingly complex and ‘contaminated’. As
cultural identity assumes more fluid dimensions, paradoxically, the
specificities of place intensify under the ubiquitous pressure of
homogenisation and standardisation.
We should not, however, assume these phenomena are the exclusive
province of technological innovation over the last few decades; trade
and curiosity have always stimulated cross-cultural exchange. Similarly,
multi-national entities may seem to have arisen as a consequence of
late capitalism but international corporations have plied their trade,
politically and economically, since at least one and a half millennia
before the Dutch East India Company set up its base in Batavia (now
Jakarta) from 1619 and dominated world commerce until the nineteenth
century. It was, incidentally, within this vast trading enterprise that Abel
Tasman encountered that large navigational obstacle later to be named
New Holland5, the Indigenous inhabitants of which had been trading
and visually recording exchanges, for centuries - and perhaps longer - with
sailors and merchants from Makassar (Macassar) which is now part of
the Republic of Indonesia6.
8
On a lighter note, aeronautical flight is at least as old as marine forms
of transport so that, mythologically speaking, artists’ air travel is anything
but ground-breaking. Prior to the invention of the powered aeroplane,
winged horses, angels, chariots, garuda birds, phoenixes and a fabulary
of other exotic beasts regularly transported artists, gods and elixers
of creativity across the celestial sphere with frequent stopovers on
terra firma. What differs from today’s aircraft, apart from mass flight
opportunities, crowded airspace and occasional crashes is less comfort,
diminished exhilaration and higher prices (whoever heard of deities
issuing tickets?). As well as representing flight from earliest times, artists
have been highly adept at negotiating and embracing those principles
that are so quintessentially aerial; fluidity, contingency and mobility. This
was occurring long before cultural theorists of the 1990s enthusiastically
adopted these notions, officially expelled essentialisms and decreed the
doctrine of boundary dissolve7.
Artistic blurrings often showed scant respect for those demarcation
zones so germane to the ‘purity’ of the modernist canon - craft, theatre
and the social domain. Artists of the 1960s and ‘70s (and earlier) in the
‘west’ actively challenged divisions between performance and the plastic
arts while over thousands of years ‘the rest’ had been invigorating older
traditions by violating art form purity and exceeding ethnic restrictions.
Artistic mobility and cultural transmission across disciplinary and national
borders, then, are not new: it’s just that recent manifestations of
globalisation have speeded things up.
Dono acknowledges and incorporates these longer histories into
his work. For someone who spends so much time hurtling across
the heavens between international engagements, his approach appears
paradoxical, or, as he explains, ‘dialectical’8. While his methodology
of fragmentation and mobility is now widely acknowledged as a model
for contemporary art practice, it nevertheless exists within deeply rooted
practices and collaborative traditions that sustain and nourish its apparent
modernity. According to the artist, the deeper the roots, the more likely
is survival during times of drought - climatic or artistic9. In Dono’s oeuvre
Hindu literature, wayang puppetry, animism and Javanese metaphysics
meet Fluxus10, Indonesian activism and sustainable (but often dodgy11)
third world recycling techniques for discarded technologies. And then
there are occasional references to Flash Gordon comics. Add to this a
wicked sense of humour, a palpable distaste for pretentiousness and
abuse of power allied with a commitment to social relations and social
justice and the scenario is set for a Dono work of art to emerge. Above
all, this art concerns people, politics, the power of humour and a high
degree of risk.
Travelling with these aspects of Yogyakarta/Indonesian culture and
‘other’ traditions, his artistic baggage exceeds the conventionally
prescribed limits of ‘Biennale International Club Class Art’12 that is
usually typified by lightweight postmodern pastiche. As a ‘long-distance
cultural specialists traversing the globe in both physical and aesthetic
ways’13, Dono’s multi-faceted approach to art making and his steadfast
commitment to relational aesthetics ensures that his sojourns in different
places, and particularly in smaller regional cities like Adelaide, constitute
much more than stopovers on a one-way trans-metropolitan itinerary.
Acknowledging the inherent fluidity of culture and its recent rapid
diffusion is not to deny important links existing between artists and
their immediate local communities, originary or adopted. Nor does
it deny lateral connections between geographically distant and
distinctive societies such as Yogyakarta and Adelaide. It is not as if
globalisation has flung trans-national artists into a state of enforced
postmodern placeless-ness: rather, encounters take place within and
between expanded concepts of real and ‘imagined communities’14.
In addition to the familiar grand narratives of global and national
histories, Kanaga Sapabathy has championed local specificities and
called for regionalist art histories in counteracting the ‘magnetic pull
of the centres on the Atlantic seabord’15 as well as ‘turfs circumscribed
by national boundaries’16.
Heri Dono, Gamelan Goro Goro (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
Space does not permit a fuller study of cultural and political alliances
between Adelaide-Yogyakarta regions and visiting artists like Heri Dono
but a brief background to this South Australian community’s interaction
with the artist and his Yogyakarta ‘locale’ may, hopefully, begin to
counter prevailing myths about regionality and larger institutional claims
of ‘discovery’. The circumstances surrounding the Adelaide residency
came about in the first instance not because of the artist’s international
reputation - or his passion for air travel - but through specific and
established groups of people or, in contemporary parlance, a cultural
‘node’ connecting two cities. These entangled alliances, essentially modest
in scale and layered with traces of conviviality and hospitality, helped to
sustain and enrich Dono’s latest visit. Within the whirl of global dynamics,
such delicate social webs are too often underestimated in making sense
of new ‘fields of possibility’ that transcend national borders. As Nikos
Papastergiadis suggests, it is by ‘... considering the little connections that
slip between cultures, and the small degrees of overlap between different
people’ that we get ‘a glimpse of cosmopolitan consciousness’17.
9
10
Heri Dono, Dewa Ruci (detail), 2001, Multi media / installation
Existing since at least the 1960s in Adelaide has been a loose
network bringing together artists, craftspersons, academics, dancers,
writers, language teachers and others in this city and Yogyakarta.
This is often the case with cultural exchanges. Constructed over time,
these criss-crossings, re-visitings and overlapping of individual paths
are commonly overlooked in the sweep of global art history, even
though the tenacity of small scale, people-to people associations
and interventions are significant in initiating later and larger
institutional traffic.
To a large extent, Heri Dono’s wider exposure to Australian audiences
since 1993 has been through regular participation in Queensland Art
Gallery’s Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT)18. As ‘the’
gala gig on Australia’s art calendar, it has also featured a number
of Dono’s Indonesian colleagues, many of whom are based or have
studied in Yogyakarta. Prior to this illustrious event which regularly
refreshes and expands Australian-Indonesian networks, was another
vital but unacknowledged field of expertise that made this participation
possible; the Adelaide based Australian Indonesian Association and
Perth based ARX (Artists Regional Exchange, 1987-1998)19 brought
together many South East Asian and Australian artists and although
Dono was the first Indonesian artist to be selected in 1987, he was
unable to participate20.
Therefore, even before arriving in Adelaide thirteen years ago for
the Adelaide Festival of Arts Biennial, Adelaide Installations21, Dono and
many residents of this city were already well known to each other, having
worked together, shared mutual acquaintances or met in Yogyakarta or at
the APT. These affiliations also had an historical context in that Australian
political and educational support for Indonesia dated from 194922 and by
the 1960s Indonesian ex-Colombo Plan students established the Australia
Indonesian Association in Adelaide23. From the 1970s many Adelaide
artists studied in Yogyakarta24, including Jenni Dudley25, Colleen Morrow26,
Su Elliott27, Brita Miklouho-Maklai28 and Libby Basuki29, and with Dono’s
ASRI colleague Tok Basuki who migrated to Adelaide in 1984, they
became key figures in galvanizing ‘an Asian [and particularly Yogyakarta]
focus’. From the 1970s Indonesian cultural activities centred around
Flinders University’s Asian Studies Department30 which hosted eminent
Indonesian academics, performers and writers including W.S. Rendra,
Sanento Yuliman and Jim Supangkat.
Lectures at the School of Art by Semsar Siahan, and residencies by
Dadang Christanto (1991) and F.X. Harsono (1992) were followed
in 2002 by artists from the Yogyakarta collective, Taring Padi35. These
regular contacts with (mostly) Javanese artists broadened the School’s
undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum36 and led to a series of
public forums on Asian art from 1998-2003 with industry partner,
Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre37. These included key Indonesian critic
and art historian, M. Dwi Marianto38 and curator, Rifky Effendi39.
Dono’s residency forms an integral part of and accumulates these
local strands of association while maintaining critical immersion in
contemporary Indonesian culture and critical subversion of indifference,
pretension and social injustice at home, abroad and in the host society.
It is obvious to many beyond their shores that Australians are not living in
a Dream Republic; they may be living in a dream but not yet in a republic.
It is important to note that Dono’s approach, while highly
socialised, deeply networked and immensely convivial in nature
is not a utopian dream. Nor does it constitute community art in a
conventional sense. Indeed, the artist’s seemingly irreverent position
can be challenging and uncomfortable at times for local diasporic
Indonesians and other afficionados of ‘pure’ Yogyakarta culture,
for some, traditional ‘authenticity’ is compromised when, with this
artist, gamelan orchestras go ‘bangelan’40 and wayang narratives
move out of the pendopo to take on current political issues.
Relational methodology can present down sides, as well, for the most
recently formed of Dono’s communities - those working with him on
the current project. Undoubtedly, open-ended processes offer the
‘dynamic of encounter, exchange dialogue & [sic] interactivity’41, with
an enormous potential for transformation and ‘sparkle’ of many kinds.
Here the artist describes his role within these social processes as ‘making
motivation‘ or ‘making brave’42. Alternatively (or additionally), for gung
ho proponents of western individualism such ‘amorphous cultural space’43
can represent a ‘foreign’ and even bewildering work environment; there’s
mess, uncertainty and exhaustion at times but, perhaps most dangerous
of all, there’s the sure knowledge that during this process the seepage of
life into art offers a terrifying degree of freedom. A bit like flying, really.
If 1970s Adelaide ‘discovered’ traditional Yogyakarta culture, the 1980s
and 1990s saw a second wave of exchange with contemporary Indonesian
artists, generated through the South Australian School of Art31, Adelaide
TAFE32 and through the efforts of artist and Asialink resident, Damon
Moon33. Ironically, this vigorous Indonesian exchange occurred against
a local background of little if any mainstream art interest in Asian of Pacific
art, compared with other Australian cities’ embrace of art in the region;
in 1999 Adelaide was described as ‘the black hole of the Asia-Pacific’34.
11
Nicolas Bourriaud has coined the term ‘semionaut’ to describe
the artist working in an open-ended and discursive way44, a kind
of entrepreneur who ‘...map[s] trajectories between signs’. According
to Glenn Bach, however, the term ‘socionaut’ is more appropriate in
that, unlike Bourriaud’s designation, the latter word acknowledges
the crucial social dimension of this kind of practice45. Extending this
definition even further, Dono becomes literally and metaphorically an
aeronaut who subscribes to W. S. Rendra’s declaration that artists live
somewhere between earth and sky46. This can be a difficult concept in
secular western culture as the heavens tend to be regarded as unsafe
empty space or, in aesthetic terms, a site of insubstantial (read ‘airy
fairy’) goings on. Not so in Dono’s airspace.
It is precisely this oscillation between the ineffable and the banal
that has attracted so many artists to work, play and negotiate the
structure of Dono’s (winged) Trojan horse project. Combined with
a staggering amount of collaboration and trust, liberally applied
absurd humour and more than a touch of mysticism, Dono’s work
offers a significant platform for current socio-political concerns,
local and/or international in nature. In particular, the monstrously
scaled and ridiculous cardboard horse-creature asserts:
the artists’ capacity to subversively engage in activism and
political actions; infiltrate organisations, institutions, and
cross boundaries under the cover of art47.
This is no mean feat in the current Australian political climate where
bureaucracy has raised fascism to new heights and universities are
suffocating under the weight of corporatised and legalistic systems
based on fear and mistrust. ‘Horsefeathers’ might provide a fitting
description48.
In a bold gesture of defiance, Dono’s winged equine juggernaut
offers another platform as well; this Trojan horse literally allows
visitors to enter its belly and experience a range of art works
and statements by collaborating artists. Created on site in the
gallery-as-open-studio, these interventions represent the result of
activity that has been organically generated between artists, art
and crafts students from three local art schools and Dono’s existing
Indonesia-phile local networks. For a time this blended community
was able to dissolve disciplinary boundaries and demonstrate what
an art school could be, notwithstanding some temporary ‘trashing’
of SASA’s pristine gallery in the process.
12
In Adelaide Heri Dono has not only discombobulated notions of
nation and community, tradition and modernity, and the so-called
global ‘construction’ of high flying artists; he has, at a time of
contracted hopes and dashed dreams, expanded our sense of what
is possible through art. Given the widespread enchantment of this
project and the artist’s affinity with animism, who knows, an aerial
sighting of the Trojan horse might yet occur. There is after all,
a formidable fart machine attached to the beast’s hindquarters.
1. Garuda. A flying creature from Hindu mythology.
that was carrier of the god Vishnuu. It is now the
official symbol of the Republic of Indonesia and of
the Kingdom of Thailand. Garuda is also the name
of Indonesia’s national airline.
2. Becak. Indonesian for pedicab.
3. Lindemans, M., ‘Trojan Horse’, Enclyclopedia Mythica,
Online: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/trojan_
horse.html Accessed 11/04/2007. ‘When the Greeks
had lain siege to Troy for ten years, without results,
they pretended to retreat. They left behind a huge
wooden horse, in which a number of Greek heroes,
among whom Odysseus had hidden themselves.
The spy Sinon convinced the Trojans, despite the
warnings of Laocoon to move the horse inside the
city as a war trophy. In the following night, the
Greeks left the wooden horse and attacked the
unsuspecting and celebrating Trojans, and finally
conquered Troy.’ ‘Trojan horse’ is also the name of
a computer program ‘that unlike a virus contains
or installs a malicious program (sometimes called
a the payload or ‘trojan’)’. Like the Trojans’ ill-fated
decision to bring the horse inside their gates, these
programs ‘depend on actions by the intended
victims’. ‘Trojan horse (computing)’, Wikipedia.
Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_
%28computing%29 Accessed 30/03/2007.
4. Poshyananda, A., ‘The future: post-cold war,
postmodernism, postmarginalia (playing with slippery
lubricants)’, in Turner, C. (ed), Tradition and Change:
Contemporary art of Asia and the Pacific, Queensland
Art Gallery, Southbank, Brisbane, 1993. p. 9.
5. Gates, M., ‘Damon Moon/Steven Goldate’, Patterning
in contemporary art: layers of meaning, Asialink
Centre: University of Melbourne, 1997, p. 12
6. Makassar (Macassar) Straits divide South Sulawesi
from Kalimantan (Indonesia). Evidence of sustained
contact in the region between Indigenous Australia
and Makassar - and which pre-dated western trading
blocs - is documented in 1948 and c1974 Indigenous
bark paintings from Australia’s ‘top end: See
Minimini Mamarika, The Malay prau, 1948,
Umbakumba, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
and, Attributed to Nandabitta, Makassan prau and
trepang curling, c 1974, National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra. One of the main trading commodities was
bêche-de mer (trepang).
7. See, for example, Bhabha, H., The location of culture,
Routledge, London and New York, 1994. See also:
Hollinshead, K., ‘Tourism, hybridity, and ambiguity:
the relevance of Bhabha’s “third space” cultures’,
Journal of Leisure Research, Vol. 30, 1998;
‘Wuthnow, J.,Deleuze in the postcolonial: On
nomads and indigenous politics’, Feminist Theory,
Vol. 3, No. 2, 2002, pp. 183-200.
8. Dono, H., Conversation with author, Adelaide,
31 March 2007.
9. Dono, H., Conversation with author, Adelaide,
13 March 2007.
10. ‘Fluxus is not a moment in history or, an art
movement. Fluxus is a way of doing things, a
tradition, and a way of life and death ... The research
program of the Fluxus laboratory is characterised
by twelve ideas: globalism, the unity of art and
life, intermedia, experimentalism, chance, playfulness,
simplicity, implicativeness, exemplatavism, specificity,
presence in time and musicality.’’. See Friedman,
K., ‘Forty years of Fluxus’, p. 1. Online: http://
w.w.w.artnotart.com/fluxus/kfriedman-fourtyyears.
html. Accessed 6/04/2007.
11. Dodgy. Australian vernacular referring to something
questionable, not quite right, suspect or ‘on the
nose’. In this case, many of Dono’s reconstituted
motors from personal fans, for example, would not
pass western health and safety standards for
electrical wiring.
12. Fuller, P., cited in Hill, P., ‘Build on it and they will
come’, online: http://www.theage.com.au/news/
arts/build-on-it-and-they-will-come/2006/06/2911511
Accessed 6/07/2006, p. 1.
13. Harris, C. ‘The Buddha goes global: Some thoughts
towards a transnational art history’, Art History,
Vol 29, No 4, 206, p. 699.
14. Anderson, B., Imagined communities : reflections on
the origin and spread of nationalism, Verso, London
& New York, 1991 (Rev. and extended ed., 2nd ed.).
15. Sapabathy, T. K., ‘A Syncretic Perspective’, Praxis M
(‘’Traditions and Narratives: ARX ‘87 Post Event
Issue’), No 18, p.25. Sapabathy, spoke of the need
to construct new micro-histories to adequately
convey the ‘hydra-headed nature’ of ‘multiple,
often-times competing, colliding impulses that
characterise the art worlds in Southeast Asia’.
16. Sapabathy, T. K., ‘Introduction’, Modernity and
Beyond: Themes in Southeast Asian Art, Singapore
Art Museum, Singapore, 1996, p. 8.
17. Papastergiadis, N., ‘Glimpses of cosmopolitanism
in the hospitality of art’, Broadsheet, Vol 35, No 2,
2006, p. 112.
18. Significantly, Heri Dono is the only artist, to date,
who has been invited to participate in three out of
five APT events. His work was included in APT1:
(1993), APT3: Beyond the future (1999) and APT4:
(2002). In APT1 Dono ‘represented ‘Indonesia with
eight other artists: F.X Harsono, Dadang Christanto,
Ivan Sagito, Nyoman Erawan, A.D. Pirous, Dede Eri
Supria, Sudjana Kerton and Srihadi Soedarsono.
APT2 did not include Dono. Indonesian artists
selected were: Nindityo Adipurnomo, Agus Suwage,
Anusapati, Arahmaiani, (Yani) and Marintan Sirait.
APT3 positioned Dono as a collaborator with the
Elision performance ensemble within the ‘Crossing
Borders’ category, alongside Dadang Christanto,
the Brahma Tirta Sari Studio and Utopia Batik. Other
Indonesian artists grouped by country were: Mella
Jaarsma, Moelyono, Tisna Sanjaya and S. Teddy D.
and particularly Yogyakarta since 1977. She
maintains extensive links with Indonesian culture and
contemporary artists, including Heri Dono. Lawyer
and artist, Bill Morrow has also been actively involved
in developing Australian-Indonesian relations.
27. Su Elliot is a designer and dancer who has lived in
Indonesia and continues to foster these cultural links
in Adelaide.
28. Miklouho-Maklai, B., ‘The cryptic image: The
‘Surreal’ in Contemporary Indonesian Art of
Yogyakarta’ Unpublished MA thesis, Visual Arts/
Indonesian Studies, The Flinders University of South
Australia, 1998. See also ‘Seni Rupa Baru and
beyond: Contemporary Indonesian art since 1966’,
Unpublished dissertation, Dip. Social Sciences (Asian
Studies), The Flinders University of South Australia,
1988. Miklouho-Maklai met Heri Dono in 1991. Lee,
B., email to author, 7 March 2007.
29. Libby Basuki (nee Pollard) lived in Yogyakarta and
studied at ASRI from 1979 to 1984.
30. Through the work of Keith Foulcher and later,
Anton Lucas, these activities were mostly of a
political, performance and literary nature. Lucas’
enthusiasm for central Javanese culture resulted in
a purpose built Pendopo (open pavillion) for gamelan
and dance, in which Heri Dono’s ‘experimental’
wayang performance, Bayang bayang dalam
bayangan (Shadows upon shadows) took place in 2006.
31. From 1985 ‘Cross Cultural Studies’ was introduced
into the Art School curriculum, followed by ‘AsiaPacific Arts’. Independent artist and designer, Jenni
Dudley, with the author, introduced Semsar Siahan,
Dadang Christanto and F.X. Harsono to the School
of Art. In 1994 Head of School, Max Lyle, with the
assistance of the Helpmann Academy for the Visual
and Performing Arts, gifted a printing press to Institut
Seni Indonesia (ISI) in Yogyakarta. This was followed
by visits by the author in 1995 and 2000. In 1995
Lyle taught the first bronze casting workshop at ISI
and was invited by M. Dwi Marianto and ISI to
exhibit with Dwi Antoro in a joint sculpture exhibition
in the grounds of Pak Djoko Pekek’s residence.
32. Barrie Wraith worked in Indonesia in 1981-1982,
subsequently taught ‘Asian Art’ at AIT Arts College
(TAFE) and organised an exhibition in Yogyakarta
of work by Helpmann Academy art students
from Adelaide.
33. Adelaide-based Damon Moon is a potter and
curator and was an Asialink resident in Indonesia
in 1997. In 1998-99 he co-curated the landmark
international touring exhibition AWAS!: Recent Art
from Indonesia that travelled to Melbourne,
Yogyakarta, Tokyo, Germany and Holland. Ironically,
this exhibition was not shown in Adelaide, despite
approaches to the University of South Australia
Art Museum and other contemporary art spaces in
Adelaide. See O’Neill, Lindsay (eds), Awas! Recent art
from Indonesia, Indonesian Arts Society, Melbourne,
c. 1999.
34. Manton, N., Interview with author, APT3, Brisbane,
September 1999. A former cultural attaché in South
East Asia, Neil Manton was a founding member of
the APT Board. See Manton, N., Cultural relations:
The other side of the diplomatic coin, Homosapien
Books, 2003. Apart from Nexus Multicultural Arts
Centre, mainstream contemporary art spaces in
Adelaide and the Art Gallery of South Australia rarely
showed interest in contemporary art by Asian artists
(within or residing outside Australia). The Art Gallery
of South Australia had no Curator of Asian Art from
July 2001 until the appointment in November 2003
of James Bennett, a curator, scholar and educator of
note who curated the landmark travelling exhibition,
Crescent Moon in 2006. See Bennett, J., Crescent
Moon: Islamic Art & civilisation in Southeast Asia,
Bulan Sabit Seni dan Peradaban Islam di Asia
Tenggara, Art Gallery of South Australia and
Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, Adelaide, 2006.
35. This visit was part of the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade’s Adelaide Festival of Arts Cultural
Residency Program in 2002. Yustoni Volunteero,
Hestu Ardiyanto and. Aris Prabawa from Yogyakarta’s
Taring Padi collective presented workshops and
lectures and painted banners at South Australian
School of Art, Flinders University and AITArts (TAFE).
The Adelaide artists’ collective, Indonesia Australia
United Artists was also associated with the visit.
36. See, for example, Wraith, B., ’Tragicomedy in the
sociopolitical protest art of Yogyakarta’, Unpublished
MA thesis, South Australian School of Art, University
of South Australia, 2006.
37. These forums were funded by the Helpmann
Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts.
38. ISI lecturer, M. Dwi Marianto inaugurated these
forums with a lecture on Reformasi immediately
following the fall of Suharto. The visit assisted by
Damon Moon. Marianto also delivered addresses at
the 1998 Australian Art Association Annual
Conference hosted in Adelaide by the Art Gallery of
South Australia and The South Australian School
of Art and has been an examiner for the School’s
postgraduate program.
39. Rifky Effendi was an Asialink Arts Administration
resident based in Adelaide in 2000 and is now a
prominent Indonesian curator.
40. Dono regularly encourages experimentation in
wayang and gamelan traditions. In 2002 he
conducted a children’s workshop, creating a
‘bang-elan’ percussion orchestra at Queensland
Art Gallery in Brisbane.
41. Cocker, E: ‘Galleries, artists, art’, The Profession,
p. 1. Online: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:
INVqMWXaVuIJ:www.engage.org/(kutkhx55a4
Accessed 6/04/2007.
42. Dono, H., Conversation with the author, Adelaide,
5 April 2007.
43. Author unknown, ‘Online events’, Tate, p. 2.
Online: http://w.w.w.org.uk/forums/message.
jspa?messageID=7846 Accessed 6/10/2007.
44. Bourriaud, N., Relational aesthetics, Les presses du
Reel, Paris, 2002. Relation aesthetics is defined as ‘a
set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical
and practical point of departure the whole of
human relations and their social context, rather than
an independent and private space’.
45. Bach, G., ‘SoundAsArt: Blurring of the boundaries’,
urbanNovember. Online: http://www.urbannovember.
org/conference/viewabstract.php?id=19&cf=2
Accessed 6/04/2007.
46. Dono, H., (after W. S. Rendra), conversation with
the author, Adelaide, 11 April 2007.
47. Knights, M., Press release, SASA Gallery,
University of South Australia, 12 April 2007.
48. Horsefeathers: ‘ nonsense’; ‘makes no sense‘; ‘The
fur at the coronet of a horse’s hoof’; a politically
correct substitute for horse shit’. Horse Feathers is
also the title of a Marx Brothers Film of 1932.
Urban Dictionary. Online: http://www.urbandictionary.
com/define.php?term=horse+feathers.
Accessed 11/04/2007.
Heri Dono, Watching Marginal People (detail), 2000, Multi media / installation
APT4 featured Heri Dono as the sole Indonesian
artist. He also participated in the 2002 ‘Kids APT’
program. In APT5 Eko Nugroho was the sole
Indonesian artist.
19. Originally standing for Australia and Religious
Exchange, the title was changed in 1991 to reflect
a less Australia-centric position, Artists’ Regional
Exchange. This was the same year John Clark staged
a landmark conference in Canberra, Modernism and
Postmodernism in Asian Art. Indonesian artists
formed a significant part of four out of five ARX
programs between 1987 and 1998. Dono’s ARX
compatriots included: Tonny Haryanto (1987);
Gendut Ryanto, Nyoman Nuarta, Sri Melela, Jim
Supangkat (1989); F.X. Harsono, Moelyono (1992);
Arahmaiani, I Made Djirna, Moelyono, Totua
Magdalena Pardede, Agoes Hari Rahardjo
(Agoes Jolly), Enin Surpriyanto (1995).
20. Dono was refused permission to participate in
ARX by his art school lecturers at ASRI (Akademi Seni
Rupa Indonesia) in Yogyakarta on the grounds that
the interdisciplinary nature of the event was too
radical. Dono, H., Conversation with the author,
Adelaide, 2 April 2007.
21. Dono’s work for this major 1994 visual art program
included a large scale outdoor performance with fire,
Kuda Binal; Tau Tau, an outdoor sculptural
installation along the Torrens River Parklands and an
installation, Fermentation of Minds, at an abandoned
city warehouse, the Gerard & Goodman building.
22. Australian unions strongly supported Indonesian
independence against Dutch colonialism in 1949.
23. From 1950 The Colombo Plan provided aid to the
Asian region, mostly from Australia, Canada and New
Zealand through technical and educational assistance
as well as capital aid projects. By 1967/8 the Plan had
enabled ‘8007 Asians’ to study in Australia.
Australia’s International Aid, Department of External
Affairs, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra,
January, 1969, pp. 8-9. Cited in Greenwood, G.
Approaches to Asia: Australian Postwar Policies
and Attitudes, McGraw-Hill, Sydney, 1974, pp. 37 ff.
The Adelaide based Australia Indonesian Association
attracted a broad range of Australian-Indonesian
residents, such as Pak Djako Sutratmo, Pak Nusbar
and Pak Suharto (amongst many other) and nonIndonesian Australians with an interest in political
and cultural aspects in Indonesia, with a strong focus
on Yogyakarta arts and culture.
24. After a period of political tension in the 1960s,
Indonesia became a magnet for young Australians
seeking alternative life styles during the 1970s.
Expanding their travel horizons, cultural curiosity
and linguistic skills, many students and artists desired
counter cultural experiences beyond the constraints
of bland Anglo Adelaide. Bali and Yogyakarta’s rich
traditional heritage of visual and performing arts
offered ready and convivial access to performance,
music and craft skills such as batik, weaving, etc.
25. Artist and designer Jenni Dudley lived in Yogyakarta
in from 1973 to 1974 and, returning to Adelaide,
was instrumental in teaching batik and facilitating
exchanges with Yogyakarta artists, a number
of whom she introduced to Australian artists and
institutions. From the 1990s, she made two films
about Yogyakarta artist, Lucia Hartini. See Dudley, J.,
Pusaran Nortex: From the kitchen to outer space: The
paintings of Lucia Hartini (1993). See also Delandeys,
Jennifer, Perbatasan (Boundary) (2000-2002).
26.Artist and textile collector, Colleen Morrow has
created significant networks throughout Indonesia
13
14
Heri Dono, Shock Therapy (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
Heri Dono, Dewa Ruci (detail), 2001, Multi media / installation
15
Odyssey in the Space of Change
by Jim Supangkat
At the end of 2005, Artlink announced that Heri Dono was one of
the artists who have been most often invited to eminent international
biennales or triennials during the period of 1993 – 2005. Artlink reached
that conclusion after observing 64 editions of 45 international biennales
and triennials in America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Heri Dono was on the second rank, alone. On the first rank were three
artists: Yang Fudong, Cai Guo-Qiang and William Kentridge. Meanwhile,
on the lowest rank (the eighth one) were such prominent artists as Joseph
Beuys, Marina Abramovic, Yayoi Kusama, Gilbert & George, Richard Serra,
Gu-Wenda and Trinh T. Minha.
Heri Dono managed to reach that rank not only because he is one of
the Asian artists who have today gained prominence in the international
art world (according to Asialink, almost 70% of the artists who have
been most often invited to international biennales are Asian), but also
because he almost never rejects invitations for exhibitions. Even in his
most hectic schedule, he invariably manages to prepare new works for
new exhibitions—especially if it is for a biennale or triennial, which he
considers important.
Heri Dono is an artist who is actively travelling all over the world. He is
a tireless rolling stone. In a given year, he will be in his country merely
for a month or two. For the rest of the year, he is anywhere but home.
He travels to maintain his relationships with his artist colleagues, with
curators, critics, gallery owners and art historians in many corners of
the world. Heri Dono has a multitude of friends in the international art
circle, and he wishes never to disappoint them. Not only does he respond
to invitations for exhibitions; he also travels to join workshops, artists’
exchange programs, meetings and residence programs.
Observing his travel schedule, it is hard to imagine how Heri Dono
manages to create his works. It seems impossible to have a time to think,
develop ideas and create works in such a hectic schedule. Heri Dono,
however, has a system that enables him to keep working; a system that
other artists might not think about.
Heri Dono is not an artist bounded in his studio. He works when he is on
residence programs or during workshops. He takes his works wherever he
goes. He flies to a place with half-made works, or send the materials for
his works to that place. He then finishes his works there, and sends them
to yet another place for display. He generally takes some works abroad
and comes home with new ones.
16
Isn’t it true, however, that he wastes a lot of time travelling from one
country to the next, which often takes more than 24 hours of his time
every time he goes? Apparently, he even works during flights. The long
flights he takes never bore him, because he uses his hours on the flight
to note down ideas—in sketches with scribbling—in a little book that he
always carries with him.
Heri Dono has had the habit of noting down ideas since very early in
his artistic journey; it is thus not a new habit acquired to spend time
during his many travels. He does not simply note down ideas, but also
develops ideas in the form of drawings and sketches. Many of these notes,
therefore, are in series.
In the beginning of our acquittance, Heri Dono often showed me his
sketches. “Why don’t you go making them, then?” I asked him. “No
money yet,” he would answer. And indeed he would go buy materials
for his works as soon as he received some money. Besides canvasses
and paints, he also collects used objects from flea markets.
As long as I know him, Heri Dono lives simply and uses almost all his
money to create works—some of them are now in the collections of
leading museums in the world. “I used to be haunted by the fear of not
having enough money to create my works,” he said once. Today, however,
I think Heri Dono can be confident that he can create his works whenever
he has the chance.
I cannot avoid the impression that this artist has an unusual passion
in turning the ideas in his notebook into reality. There is a natural drive
that makes him dedicate his life to art. I think this is also the basis for
his enthusiasm to fulfil all the requests for holding exhibitions all over
the world. Heri Dono considers such invitations as a calling to create
new works or to turn his myriad ideas into reality.
Heri Dono’s daily life for the past twenty years is far from the public
image of an artist at work. He does not work in his studio, and even not
in his country. It seems as if he does not need a familiar place to maintain
the continuity of his contemplations. He works during his travel and
almost always in places that are alien to him, in new vicinities where he
must meet new people and communicate with them. Perhaps this is why
he does not mind the long travels: to find new places where he can work,
to seek foreign places and new friends. I think Heri Dono is exploring the
possibilities to find the conditions that bring him uncertainties. I think he
is on an odyssey.
Heri Dono, Klinic Primata (detail), 2001, Multi media / installation
17
This shows that communication is an important aspect in Heri Dono’s
creative process. The desire to communicate—the passion to have
dialogues with others—is reflected in his works and serves as his
forte as the works are on display. His works, therefore, are almost
always enchanting—especially his theatrical performance works that
almost invariably involve many people. As a vagabond artist who
travels to all corners of the world, equipped with the passion to work
with communities, Heri Dono acts contrary to the myth about the artist
who works alone in his or her studio and focuses on the strength of
the individual contemplation. Although he does not wish to prove any
art discourse in the contemporary art today—and neither is he aware
of such discourses—Heri Dono’s opinions and belief turn out to
deconstruct many of the myths that have influenced art developments
in the twentieth century.
Heri Dono grew up in a certain community—the Indonesian urban
community—where many art concepts are mixed up. In such a condition,
myths reveal their ugliest impact. Myths, which people tend to believe
at face value, are often taken as principles. In such an environment,
artists might lose their beliefs and doubt their own expressions, which
actually are already meaningful as they arise from their own mindsets
or perceptions.
Heri Dono tries to break the domination of such myths. He follows his
intuition and applies a method that is normal in such a search—i.e. the
method of thinking in reverse. “Observing the many peculiar facts using
an orderly logic will cause all those peculiarities to appear wrong. If we
observe such facts using an upside down mind, however, everything will
seem logical,” he explains.
Heri Dono emerged during the mid-70s, when the art developments in
Indonesia are showing changes. At the time, the belief in the Indonesian
identity, which had given rise to traditionalism and veneration to past
glory, was being questioned. The practice of de-politicising the art—which
had emerged as a reaction against the previous practise of politicising the
art—was in turn being criticised. Meanwhile, the principles of modernism,
which had influenced art developments at the time, faced strong criticism,
as those principles had actually not been fully understood.
Such conditions provided an opportunity for Heri Dono. He rejected all
the beliefs and opinions existing at the time. With an upside-down mind,
he maintained a distance with both the criticised and the criticising views.
Such an attitude of not taking sides did not give him a secure place—on
the contrary, he received attacks from every possible direction.
18
Heri Dono immediately attracted the attention of the Indonesian art
world when in the beginning of his career as an artist he took on the
theme of cartoons—from the cartoon movies and the comics. People
thought that he was not being serious, or even making pranks. The
conservatives thought that he was making fun of art because he adopted
the theme of kitsch. Meanwhile, the rebellious artists who were the
proponents of the contemporary art thought that he was teasing them.
At the end of the 1970s, works of contemporary art in Indonesia tended
to present strong and even violent social commentaries—inline with the
strengthening power of the repressive government at the time.
Actually, at the time Heri Dono was simply exploring his intuitions and
those allegations could not be further from the truth. He did not intend
to criticise anyone. In fact, Heri Dono could truthfully explain why he took
on the theme of cartoons and comic art.
“I’ve been interested in the cartoons because the world of cartoons isn’t
a wholly logical world. There, human beings have no central position, and
animals and things have personalities, just like humans do. They also have
soul, spirit and feelings,” Heri Dono explains. “This is like the world of the
animists, where every object has a soul, the chair can walk, the animals
can talk, and the world of toys is like that of humans.”
It is through the world of the cartoons that Heri Dono presents
humorous works containing social criticism. Albeit being sarcastic at
times, the criticism does not seem harsh because it is humorous. Even
slapstick jokes are never dramatic on the world of cartoons. “Although
the jokes can be harsh at times, they’re never painful—they’re even funny
and entertaining,” Heri Dono says. “The cartoon creatures, even if they’re
knocked flat, never die.”
Heri Dono’s artistic journey did not stop there. He became interested
in the Indonesian puppet theatres, and, again, drew controversy.
Some observers thought that he took the path of the conservative artists
who advocated traditionalism in the search for an Indonesian identity.
Again, the allegation was wrong as Heri Dono was actually following
his intuitions and viewed the puppets with a distinct, personal view. It
turned out that Heri Dono found similarities between the cartoons and
the Indonesian puppet theatres.
His interests grew out of his meeting with a Javanese puppet master
and puppet maker named Sukasman in 1978. He was originally
interested because he and Sukasman had something in common.
Sukasman, who lived in Yogyakarta, was known as an eccentric puppet
maker who had long been creating controversies. People knew Sukasman
as a puppet maker who dared to change the forms and symbols of
the leather puppets.
Heri Dono, Born and Freedom (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
19
For the Javanese, the puppet theatres—especially that of the leather
puppets—is a masterpiece that cannot be further developed. The leather
puppet theatre is a form of art whose shapes and symbols are full of
religious meanings. Some of these symbols are believed as mystical
and sacred.
For the Javanese, therefore, their puppet show is no mere entertainment.
The show invariably contains moral values and has political power. It was
thus understandable that people reacted to the changes that Sukasman
had made. There were controversies, because the puppets Sukasman
created revealed intricate visual patterns. One could not deny that
Sukasman had mastered his art.
Heri Dono is a Jakarta-born Javanese. Although he grew up in the
metropolitan city, he is familiar with the Javanese culture. His mother has
always taken the Javanese culture seriously. In 1980, Heri Dono moved to
Yogyakarta to study at the Indonesian Art Institute, one of the two leading
education institutions for the art. He left the institute in 1987 without
gaining his diploma, but decided to live in Yogyakarta. Until today, Heri
Dono is known as a Yogyakarta-based artist.
Heri Dono learnt informally from Sukasman for several years since 1978.
After that, he helped Sukasman make leather puppets for his shows.
Through this, Heri Dono found a concept for his works, which we can
see to this day. As we all know, he adopts the forms of the leather
puppets in cartoonish and comical shapes. Besides using such forms
in his paintings, Heri Dono also shows his cartoon ‘puppets’ in his
performance, installation and media works.
In 1992, Heri Dono worked on a major performance work with the theme
of “Crazy Horse”. In this project, he combined the leather puppets and
paper horses, which were the main props of the traditional street theatres
known in many Indonesian towns.
Working hard in his studio, Heri Dono created all the props for the
show—i.e. several paper horses (half-bodied horses), gigantic puppets
(used as a kind of banners), and costumes with an emphasis on the masks.
In this project, his tendency to work with the community was strongly
revealed for the first time. Heri Dono chose to work with the community
living around his house, including the children.
Heri Dono directed the show. The players were members of the street
theatre troupe that usually performed all around Yogyakarta. During the
show, performed several times in public places in Yogyakarta, Heri Dono
allowed the troupe to distribute an upside-down hat to collect money
from the audience, just as they had always done.
20
The show was not unlike the usual street theatre performances. It,
however, gave a strong impression among the audience, as the dominant
properties of the show made it seem like a gigantic painting by Heri Dono,
always moving and changing.
The year, 1992, also marked Heri Dono’s entry to the international art
circle. The first step he took was joining the regional exhibitions in Japan
and Australia. His name was becoming well known when he joined the
exhibition of New Art from Southeast Asia at the Metropolitan Museum,
Tokyo, in 1992. A year later, he made quite a name among the Australian
public as he joined the First Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in
Brisbane. He presented a funny show entitled The Chair, involving local
Australian students. Albeit funny, the work contained political issues. In
the following year, 1994, the show of Crazy Horse was performed again
at the Adelaide Art Festival.
Since then, Heri Dono has been receiving invitations to join exhibitions
in many Asian and Australian cities. His involvements in the series of
regional exhibitions in the early 1990s proved to be his entrance to the
international art circle.
As he entered the international circle, Heri Dono was again confronted
with major changes in the international art world. Armed with the
approach he had developed locally in Indonesia, he again showed works
that deconstructed various myths, using that ‘upside down mind’ of his.
This time, his works deconstructed the myths existing in the developments
of the art in the world.
Heri Dono did not change his approach. He still followed his instinct and
seemed to be neither surprised nor shocked by the developments of the
contemporary art. He did not feel the need to adapt his opinions with the
popular philosophy, beliefs, creeds and idioms of the contemporary art
at the time.
He, for example, did not try to adapt his performance with the criteria
of the performance art. Neither did he seem to care when people
debated whether his show could be categorised as performance art.
In the contemporary art developments, performance art is an expression
using the artist’s body as the media. This idiom reveals the effort to
de-materialise artistic expressions. This philosophy is a strong reaction
towards the dominant belief that had held sway until the middle of the
twentieth century, especially in Europe and the US, which stated that art
could only be meaningful when realised in a material form.
Heri Dono, Political Clown (detail), 1999, Multi media / installation
21
Heri Dono was not aware of such philosophy, which mainly arose in
the debates on the aesthetics. It was not easy for him to understand the
reactions that emerged through the concept of de-materialising art. He
thus had no need to follow the concept of performance art that had been
born out of such reactions. For Heri Dono, his show was simply the result
of his efforts to expand his awareness as a painter.
“When I was exploring the world of the puppet theatre, I realised that
the audience of the traditional puppet shows actually gained complicated
sensations. I then corrected my understanding of art expressions, which
had been focused on the fine arts. Suddenly, I felt the need to develop
other sensibilities aside from that of sight. I realised that the puppet
theatre is an artistic expression knowing no boundaries between the
visual arts, music, theatre, and the literary arts,” Heri Dono explains.
He then tries to develop a whole awareness on artistic expressions.
He concludes that such an expression celebrates the culture, and finds
justifications in the art phenomena of the ethnic cultures—the dances,
music, theatres, literary arts and the visual arts (which find forms in the
props)—that are invariably related to the philosophy of the culture.
Heri Dono thus believes that art expressions are statements having a
cultural context. “Art borrows signs and symbols from the culture, and
must return them to the culture and evolve within the culture,” he says.
“Therefore, an artist must have a cultural stance and clear perception
about what culture actually is.”
He continues, “If we take the culture as, say, a big cake, then the arts
will serve as the pieces forming the cake. These pieces, however, can’t be
taken away just like that, because if all the artists take these pieces, the
cake will eventually be eaten up. On the contrary, the pieces must make
the cake grow and this can happen if activating art simultaneously mean
activating the culture.”
With such a belief, Heri Dono deconstructs the myths that have influenced
his perception on art. Previously, he also believed in the myth saying that
art phenomena involved specialisations and were not directly related with
the culture. He had also been affected by the myth that believed that
artistic expressions found their roots in the strength of the individuals.
Heri Dono’s efforts to break through the myths turn out to be inline
with new philosophies on art that have emerged in the developments
of the contemporary art. Such new philosophies even delve deep into
the fundamental matters and rethink the art ideologies that had held
sway since the nineteenth century and were influential until the middle
of the twentieth century.
22
The art ideology that is now being re-analysed believe that artists have
distinct ways—or peculiarities—in catching the Muse and transfer her
into their works of art. A work of art, therefore, is believed as having
an intrinsic value.
The new philosophy that now deconstructs such ideology arises especially
among the neo-Wittgensteinian thinkers who question the definitions of
art. Stephen Davies, one of those thinkers, writes:
We might question whether the Western ideology of art
corresponds to its reality? That ‘artists’ names a spiritual
calling? That art making is unaffected by the market? That
artworks are appreciated only when abstracted from the moral,
political, and social settings within which they are generated?
Art charaterize what has come to be known as fine or high
art. The fine arts were described and typed at the close of
eighteenth century, and associated notion of the artist as genius
unfettered by the rules of craft, as well as by social conventions,
was presented at much the same time. Along with this went the
idea that the aesthetic attitude is a psychologically distinctive state
of distance contemplation. (Stephen Davies, “Non-Western Art
and Art’s Definition,“ in Noël Carroll [ed.]. Theories of Art Today.
The University of Wisconsin Press Wisconsin: 2000.)
Davies asserts that art phenomena in all cultures are actually related
with story telling, picture making, sculpting, songs, dances and
theatrical performances. All of these art practices are related with
complicated aesthetic experiences that cannot be detached from the
problems of meanings and values. Such art practices, according to
Davies, are still being performed in the non-Western world and art,
therefore, has social functions. Such practices are connected with
rituals and the purifications of objects, which can be perceived as
preservation efforts and record making.
Davies says that in the Western world, art is differentiated from craft,
which is not considered as part of art because it displays beauty that
is taken as lowly. Davies himself does not tend to differentiate them
into art and not-art; rather, he views it as Art with a capital ‘A’ and art
with a lower-case ‘a’. Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari are works of
art with lower case ‘a’. “Such works are not categorised as work of art
because they do not meet the qualifications of the art institutions in
the West,” explains Davies.
Heri Dono, Born and Freedom (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
23
According to Davies, in the non-Western cultures Art with the capital
‘A’ and art with the lower case ‘a’ are not differentiated, and beauty is
not considered as lowly. Beauty is not only believed as creating feelings
of happiness, but also containing values. Therefore, the meanings of
art in the non-Western cultures can be far-flung and art itself is closely
connected with the culture.
Such theories are trapped within a bipolar frame of thought that places
‘beauty’ and ‘beyond beauty’ in opposing poles. This results in the absence
of a standard to explain what is actually meant by ‘beyond beauty’, as
such a symptom is diametrically in opposition with ‘beauty—something
that is taken as lowly. Confusion easily arises because ‘beyond beauty’
is not the same as ‘ugliness’, which is the true opposition of ‘beauty’.
Heri Dono says, “All the problems within my works are the problems of
beauty. In exploring the world of beauty, I immerse myself in the sensibility
that enables me to seek spirituality. In this realm, I’m forced to question
all my views on the reality, which have been influenced by others’ views.”
According to him, such a process does not present a rational awareness;
instead, it brings to the fore a cultural awareness that accommodates
illogical matters. If we judge such an awareness using our logic only,
it will seem paradoxical.
Heri Dono views ‘beauty’ as the ‘root’ of an artistic expression (to which
people attribute the label of ‘beyond beauty’). If we take such an artistic
expression as the “fruit” of a plant, then this “fruit” cannot be detached
from the results of the work done by the “roots”—and there are plants
whose “fruits” are found in their roots. Therefore, there are no substantial
differences between the beauty and the beyond-beauty. We cannot
separate one from the other, much less placing them in opposing poles.
“In Yogyakarta, there are many small workshops repairing transistor radios
for re-sale. I invite the technicians to work with me creating works of art,
because I think their work carries signs of art that are closely related with
the traditions and the culture,” says Heri Dono.
Heri Dono views such radio technicians and craftsmen as creative
and innovative people. They create toys and ready-made objects
from Coca-Cola cans, used cardboards, packaging boxes and discarded
broken objects. Heri Dono thinks that the sensibility of such technicians
and craftsmen is the sensibility to perceive beauty as has been developed
in the world of traditions.
“Their works reveal innovations. The objects they make aren’t perfect,
indeed, but innovations are never perfect anyway. Perfection is merely
a continuation of an invention having no innovative contents,”
says Heri Dono.
Together with the technicians and craftsmen, Heri Dono creates his best
works—e.g. Watching the Marginal People (1992), Ceremony of the Souls
(1995), Flying Angels (1996) and Flying in a Cocoon (2001). These works
are already in the collections of museums all around the world.
Heri Dono’s observations that are inline with Stephen Davies’s
views, deconstruct the myth that take beauty as something lowly.
The deconstruction of such an influential views brings up the awareness
that all the theories supporting such a myth are never actually able
to explain what is meant by ‘beyond beauty’—as revealed in the
disputes about “what is art”, which goes on until today.
24
In Heri Dono’s observations, the aesthetic experience cannot be detached
from humans’ experience in understanding life, and here art expressions
are the sophistication of the aesthetic experience when one is confronted
with the beauty. This, according to Heri Dono, takes place in the realm
of emotions. Thus beyond beauty is beauty, when taken as an aesthetic
experience instead of visual experience only. Here the fundamental
premise of world art is questioned.
Jim Supangkat
The Dream Republic, SASA Gallery, work in progress, 2007, photograph: Billal El-Youssef
25
Menjelajahi Perubahan
by Jim Supangkat
Akhir 2005 lalu, Artlink menetapkan Heri Dono sebagai salah satu
seniman yang paling sering diundang ke Biennale/Triennale internasional
terkemuka, selama periode 1993 – 2006. Peringkat ini ditetapkan setelah
Artlink mengamati 64 edisi dari 45 Biennale/Triennale internasional di
Amerika, Eropa, Afrika, dan Asia-Pasifik.
Heri Dono menempati peringkat kedua, sendirian. Pada peringkat
pertama muncul tiga nama yaitu Yang Fudong, Cai Guo-Qiang, dan
William Kentridge. Sementara itu pada peringkat terakhir (kedelapan)
bisa ditemukan nama-nama besar seperti Joseph Beuys, Marina
Abramovic, Yayoi Kusama, Gilbert & George, Richard Serra, Gu-Wenda,
dan Trinh T. Minha.
Peringkat itu dicapai Heri Dono bukan cuma karena ia satu di
antara seniman Asia yang sekarang ini berkibar di lingkaran seni rupa
dunia – hampir 70% seniman yang paling sering diundang ke Biennale
internasional dalam hitungan Asialink adalah seniman Asia. Peringkat
kedua ini dicapai Heri Dono karena ia tidak pernah menolak undangan
pameran yang datang dari mana pun. Bahkan pada waktu-waktunya
yang paling sibuk, ia selalu bisa menyiapkan karya baru untuk
memenuhi undangan pameran, apalagi Biennale atau Triennale
yang dalam persepsinya merupakan pameran penting.
Heri Dono seorang seniman yang sangat aktif melakukan perjalanan
ke luar negeri. Ia seorang “rolling stone” yang tidak pernah lelah.
Dalam setahun, hanya satu atau dua bulan saja ia berada di tanah
airnya. Selebihnya ia ada di tempat-tempat lain di berbagai penjuru
dunia. Perjalanan ini dilakukannya untuk memelihara hubungannya
dengan sesama seniman, dengan kurator, kritikus, gallery owners,
dan, art-historians di berbagai bagian dunia. Heri Dono punya sangat
banyak kenalan di lingkaran seni rupa dunia dan ia tidak pernah mau
mengecewakan mereka. Bukan hanya undangan mengikuti pameran
yang ia jawab; ia juga melakukan perjalanan ke berbagai negara untuk
mengikuti workshops, artists’ exchange, pertemuan-pertemuan dan
program residensi.
Kalau melihat jadwal perjalanannya tidak bisa dibayangkan bagaimana
ia bekerja membuat karya-karyanya. Rasanya mustahil ia memiliki waktu
untuk berpikir, mengembangkan ide-idenya dan kemudian membuat
karya-karya. Namun Heri Dono punya manajemen berkarya yang mungkin
tidak terpikirkan oleh seniman lain.
26
Ia bukan seniman yang terikat pada studionya. Ia berkarya ketika
mengikuti berbagai program residency atau penyelenggaraan program
workshop pada suatu pameran. Ia membawa karya ke mana pun ia pergi.
Ia terbang ke suatu tempat dengan karya-karya yang masih setengah jadi,
atau mengirim sejumlah bahan karya ke tempat yang ia tuju. Ia kemudian
menyelesaikan karya-karyanya di tempat ini, lalu mengirimnya ke tempat
lain lagi untuk dipamerkan. Biasanya ia membawa karya ke luar negeri
dan pulang dengan membawa karya-karya baru.
Tapi, apakah ia tidak membuang banyak waktu untuk perjalanan
antarnegara bahkan antarbenua yang seringkali memakan waktu
lebih daripada 24 jam? Ternyata bahkan di pesawat terbang pun ia
bekerja. Penerbangan panjang tidak pernah membuat ia bosan karena
ia memanfaatkan waktu berjam-jam di pesawat udara untuk mencatat
ide-ide karyanya –sketsa yang diimbuhi berbagai catatan – pada sebuah
buku kecil yang selalu dibawanya ke mana-mana.
Kebiasaan mencatat ide-ide itu sudah dilakukan Heri Dono sejak awal
kariernya dan bukan kebiasaan baru untuk membunuh waktu dalam
perjalanan. Ia tidak hanya mencatat gagasan. Ia mengembangkan
ide-ide pada gambar dan sketsa ini. Karena itu, banyak di antara
catatan ide ini berseri.
Pada awal perkenalan saya dengannya Heri Dono sering menunjukkan
sketsa-sketsa ide itu. Saya tanya, “Mengapa tidak dilaksanakan?” Ia
menjawab, “Belum punya uang.” Dan ia memang segera membeli
bahan-bahan bagi karyanya begitu mendapat uang. Selain kanvas dan
cat, barang-barang bekas yang didapat dari pasar loak adalah bahan
karya yang sering dikumpulkannya.
Heri Dono sejauh saya kenal hidup sederhana dan mengggunakan
hampir semua penghasilannya – sejumlah karyanya sudah dikoleksi
museum terkemuka di dunia – untuk membuat karya. “Dulu saya selalu
diburu rasa takut tidak punya uang untuk membuat karya,” katanya suatu
kali. Namun sekarang ini, setahu saya, Heri Dono sudah merasa tenang
karena bisa membuat karyanya setiap saat ada kesempatan.
Heri Dono, Dewa Ruci (detail), 2001, Multi media / installation
27
Saya tidak bisa menghindari kesan, seniman ini punya passion yang tidak
biasa dalam melayani keinginannya melaksanakan ide-ide yang ada pada
buku catatannya. Ada dorongan alami yang membuat ia memberikan
hidupnya untuk seni. Saya kira, spirit ini juga yang mendasari jadwalnya
yang ketat memenuhi semua undangan dari berbagai penjuru dunia. Heri
Dono melihatnya sebagai panggilan membuat karya atau melaksanakan
ide-idenya yang bertumpuk.
Yang terjadi pada Heri Dono adalah ia berusaha menerobos dominasi
mitos-mitos itu. Ia mengikuti intuisinya dan menerapkan policy yang lazim
dalam pencarian semacam ini, yaitu berpikir terbalik. Ia mengemukakan,
“Melihat kenyataan-kenyataan aneh dengan logika yang benar akan
membuat semua kenyataan aneh ini akan terlihat tidak benar. Tapi bila
kenyataan-kenyataan ini dilihat dengan upside down mind, semua
kenyataan ini akan terlihat masuk akal.”
Kehidupan sehari-hari Heri Dono itu, yang dijalaninya hampir 20
tahun terakhir, jauh dari image umum tentang proses berkarya seorang
seniman. Ia tidak bekerja di studio, bahkan tidak di negaranya. Ia
seperti tidak memerlukan ruang kerja yang akrab dengannya untuk
menjaga kontinuitas kontemplasinya. Ia berkarya “di jalan” dan hampir
selalu di tempat-tempat yang asing baginya, di lingkungan baru tempat
ia harus berhadapan dan berkomunikasi dengan orang-orang baru.
Sangat mungkin ini mendasari kesukaannya melakukan perjalanan jauh
untuk mencari tempati berkarya. Mencari lingkungan yang asing dan
kenalan-kenalan baru. Dalam pandangan saya, Heri Dono menjelajah
mencari kondisi yang membawa uncertainty baginya – suatu odyssey.
Heri Dono muncul pada pertengahan 1970-an ketika perkembangan seni
rupa Indonesia sedang memperlihatkan perubahan-perubahan. Ketika itu
kepercayaan pada identitas Indonesia yang melahirkan tradisionalisme dan
pemujaan masa lalu pada ekspresi seni, dipertanyakan. Depolitisasi seni
sebagai reaksi pada politisasi seni pada perkembangan sebelumnya sedang
dikecam. Sementara itu prinsip-prinsip modernisme yang memengaruhi
perkembangan seni rupa pada waktu itu menghadapi kritik keras karena
prinsip-prinsip ini ternyata tidak sesungguhnya dipahami.
Kenyataan ini menunjukkan bahwa komunikasi merupakan faktor
penting pada proses berkarya Heri Dono. Keinginan berkomunikasi
ini – passion berdialog dengan orang lain – tecermin pada karya-karyanya
dan merupakan kekuatan ketika disajikan pada publik. Karena itu, karyakaryanya hampir selalu memesona. Khususnya karya-karya performance
yang theatrical dan hampir selalu melibatkan banyak orang. Sebagai
vagabond artist yang berkelana ke seluruh penjuru dunia dan punya
passion bekerja dengan komunitas, Heri Dono menyangkal mitos tentang
seniman yang bekerja secara individual di studio dan memusatkan
ekspresinya pada kontemplasi yang percaya pada kekuatan individualitas.
Kendati tidak melalui kesadaran dan keinginan membuktikan berbagai
pergolakan art discourses pada perkembangan seni kontemporer
sekarang ini, pandangan-pandangan dan keyakinan Heri Dono ternyata
membongkar berbagai mitos yang berpengaruh dalam perkembangan
seni rupa abad ke-20.
Heri Dono berkembang pada sebuah masyarakat – masyarakat urban
Indonesia – di mana konsep-konsep seni bercampur simpang-siur. Dalam
keadaan semacam ini mitos-mitos memperlihatkan dampaknya yang
paling negatif. Mitos yang memang selalu diyakini tanpa sikap kritis
seringkali diperlakukan sebagai azas-azas. Dalam lingkungan semacam
ini, seniman sangat mungkin kehilangan keyakinan dan seringkali
menyangsikan ekspresinya sendiri yang sesungguhnya sudah bermakna
karena muncul dari mind-set dan persepsinya.
28
Kondisi semacam itu merupakan peluang bagi Heri Dono. Ia mengambil
sikap tidak percaya pada semua pendapat dan keyakinan yang beredar.
Dengan upside down mind ia mengambil jarak dengan pandangan yang
dikritik maupun pandangan yang mengkritik. Sikap tidak berpihak ini
tidak membuat Heri Dono berada pada posisi aman. Ia malah mendapat
serangan dari semua arah.
Karena itu ia segera menarik perhatian dunia seni rupa Indonesia ketika
pada awal kariernya menyatakan karya-karyanya mengangkat dunia
kartun – film dan komik. Heri Dono dianggap tidak bersungguhsungguh. La bahkan terkesan mengolok-olok. Bagi kelompok konservatif,
ia dianggap menghina seni karena mengangkat kitsch. Bagi seniman
pemberontak yang sedang menegakkan seni kontemporer, pernyataannya
dibaca sebagai sindirian. Pada akhir tahun 1970-an karya-karya seni
kontemporer di Indonesia cenderung menyajikan komentar sosial
yang keras dan berdarah – paralel dengan mengerasnya kekuasaan
pemerintahan yang represif pada waktu itu.
Padahal, Heri Dono sedang menggali intuisinya dan penemuannya tidak
berhubungan dengan kecurigaan-kecurigaan itu. Ia tidak bermaksud
mengkritik siapapun. Pada kenyataannya, ia memang punya jawaban
yang sungguh-sungguh tentang kartun dan komik yang diangkatnya
sebagai bahasa ungkapan.
Heri Dono, Born and Freedom (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
29
“Dunia kartun menarik perhatian saya karena dunia ini tidak sepenuhnya
masuk akal. Di dunia kartun kedudukan manusia tidak sentral, binatang
dan benda-benda merupakan pribadi-pribadi yang sama dengan manusia.
Mereka juga punya jiwa, spirit dan perasaan,” katanya. “Dunia ini seperti
dunia masyarakat animistik, semua benda punya roh, kursi bisa jalan,
binatang bisa berbicara, ada dunia mainan seperti dunia manusia.”
Melalui dunia kartun itu Heri Dono menyajikan humor yang
mengandung kritik sosial. Kendati kadang-kadang sarkastik kritik ini
tidak terasa keras karena bersifat humoris. Humor slap-stick sekalipun
tidak pernah dramatis di dunia kartun. “Walau kadang-kadang keras dan
kasar humor tidak menyakitkan, bahkan lucu dan menghibur,” katanya.
“Makhluk-makhluk kartun yang dipukul sampai gepeng sekalipun, kan
tidak pernah mati.”
Penjelajahan artistik Heri Dono ternyata tidak berhenti di dunia kartun
itu. Ia tertarik pada wayang, dan langkahnya kembali mengundang
kontroversi. Bagi sebagian pengamat seni kontemporer, ia dilihat
mengikuti pandangan seniman konservatif yang mengusung
tradisionalisme untuk mencari identitas Indonesia. Namun, lagi-lagi
dugaan ini tidak benar karena sekali lagi Heri Dono cuma mengikuti
intuisinya dan melihat wayang dengan pikirannya sendiri. Ternyata,
ia melihat kesamaan di antara wayang dan kartun.
Ketertarikan itu berawal pada pertemuannya dengan dalang dan
pembuat wayang kulit Jawa bernama Sukasman, pada 1978. Ia tertarik
karena Sukasman punya kesamaan dengannya. Sukasman yang tinggal
di Yogyakarta dikenal sebagai pembuat wayang eksentrik yang sudah
lama mengundang kontroversi. Sukasman dikenal berani mengubah
bentuk dan simbol-simbol wayang kulit.
Bagi masyarakat Jawa, wayang khususnya wayang kulit adalah
karya agung yang sudah tidak mungkin dikembangkan lagi.
Wayang kulit adalah kesenian yang bentuk dan simbol-simbolnya
sarat dengan makna-makna religius. Sebagian dari simbol-simbol ini
bahkan dipercaya membawa tanda-tanda mistis yang dikeramatkan.
Bagi masyarakat Jawa pertunjukan wayang bukan cuma entertainment.
Pertunjukan ini senantiasa mengandung pendidikan moral dan karena itu
dikenal punya kekuatan politik. Maka, tidak sulit memahami reaksi orang
ketika Sukasman membuat perubahan-perubahan. Kontroversi muncul
karena wayang yang dibuat Sukasman memperlihatkan penataan rupa
yang sangat bagus. Tidak bisa disangkal, ia pembuat wayang yang piawai.
30
Heri Dono adalah orang Jawa yang lahir di Jakarta. Kendati dibesarkan
di kota metropolitan, ia sangat mengenal kebudayaan Jawa. Ibunya
sangat memerhatikan adat-istiadat kebudayaan Jawa. Heri Dono pindah
ke Yogyakarta pada 1980 untuk mengikuti pendidikan seni rupa di
Institut Seni Indonesia, salah satu dari dua perguruan tinggi seni rupa
paling terkemuka di Indonesia. Ia meninggalkan perguruan tinggi
ini tanpa ijazah pada 1987, namun memutuskan untuk tetap tinggal
di Yogyakarta. Hingga kini, Heri Dono dikenal sebagai Yogyakarta
based artist.
Heri Dono belajar secara informal pada Sukasman selama beberapa tahun
sejak 1978. Setelah itu ia membantu Sukasman membuat wayang kulit
untuk pertunjukan-pertunjukan Sukasman. Melalui pekerjaan ini, Heri
Dono menemukan konsep bagi karya-karyanya yang dikenal sampai kini.
Ia, seperti sudah umum diketahui, mengembangkan bentuk wayang kulit
ke bentuk-bentuk komikal dan kartunik. Selain dalam bentuk lukisan,
wayang yang kartunik ini ditampilkan pula dalam bentuk performance,
instalasi, dan media work.
Pada 1992 Heri Dono mengerjakan proyek pertunjukan besar
bertema “Kuda Binal” (Crazy Horse). Pada proyek pertunjukan ini,
ia menggabungkan wayang kulit dan kuda kertas yang merupakan
properti utama teater jalanan tradisional yang dikenal di berbagai
daerah di Indonesia.
Bekerja keras di studionya, Heri Dono membuat semua properti
untuk pertunjukan itu, yaitu beberapa kuda kertas (kuda setengah
badan), wayang-wayang dalam bentuk besar (menjadi semacam banner)
dan kostum pemain yang ditekankan pada topeng. Pada proyek ini
kecederungannya bekerja sama dengan komunitas tampil dengan
tegas untuk pertama kali. Heri Dono memilih komunitas di sekitar
rumahnya, termasuk anak-anak.
Heri Dono menyutradarai pertunjukan itu. Pemainnya anggota grup
street theatre yang biasa berkeliling di Yogyakarta. Pada pertunjukan ini,
yang diselenggarakan beberapa kali di ruang-ruang publik di Yogyakarta,
Heri Dono membolehkan grup teater jalanan yang mendukungnya
mengelilingkan topi untuk mengutip uang tontonan seperti biasanya
mereka lakukan.
Pertunjukan ini tidak berbeda dari pertunjukan teater jalanan. Namun,
sebuah kesan kuat muncul karena properti yang tampil dominan
membuat pertunjukan ini seperti sebuah lukisan besar Heri Dono
yang bergerak dan terus-menerus menampilkan perubahan.
Heri Dono, Klinic Primata (detail), 2001, Multi media / installation
31
Tahun 1992 itu juga merupakan tanda awal masuknya Heri Dono
ke lingkaran seni rupa dunia. Langkah pertamanya ialah mengikuti
pameran-pameran regional di Jepang dan Australia. Namanya segera
muncul ketika ia mengikuti pameran New Art From Southeast Asia di
Metropolitan Museum,Tokyo pada 1992. Setahun kemudian, pada
1993, ia menghebohkan publik Australia ketika mengikuti The First
Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art di Brisbane. Ia menyajikan
pertunjukan berjudul “The Chair” yang lucu – melibatkan anak-anak
sekolah Australia – namun mempunyai muatan politik Pada tahun
berikutnya, 1994, pertunjukan Crazy Horse, dipentaskan kembali di
Art Festival, Adelaide
Sejak itu Heri Dono bertubi-tubi mendapat undangan untuk mengikuti
pameran di berbagai negara Asia dan Australia. Kesertaannya pada
rangkaian pameran regional ini pada awal 1990-an merupakan
pintu baginya memasuki lingkaran seni rupa dunia.
Memasuki dunia internasional, Heri Dono kembali berhadapan
dengan perkembangan seni rupa yang sedang menampilkan
perubahan-perubahan besar. Dengan sikap yang sudah dirintisnya
pada perkembangan lokal di Indonesia, karya-karyanya – yang didasarkan
upside down mind – kembali memperlihatkan pembongkaran berbagai
mitos, kali ini mitos-mitos pada perkembangan seni rupa dunia.
Heri Dono tidak mengubah policy-nya, ia tetap mengikuti insting
dan tidak kelihatan terkejut apalagi shock melihat perkembangan seni
kontemporer. Ia tidak merasa perlu menyamakan pikirannya dengan
pemikiran, keyakinan, kredo, dan idiom-idiom seni kontemporer yang
populer ketika itu.
Heri Dono, misalnya, tidak berusaha menyesuaikan pertunjukannya
dengan performance art dan tidak terlalu peduli ketika pertunjukannya
dibahas apakah terkategori performance art atau bukan. Performance
art yang populer pada perkembangan seni kontemporer adalah ungkapan
yang menempatkan tubuh artis sendiri sebagai media. Ungkapan ini
memperlihatkan upaya de-materialisasi ekspresi seni. Keyakinan ini
merupakan reaksi keras pada keyakinan dominan yang berpengaruh
sampai pertengahan abad ke-20, khususnya di Eropa dan Amerika
Serikat, yaitu keyakinan yang percaya bahwa seni (art) baru berrmakna
apabila diujudkan ke dalam bentuk material.
Heri Dono tidak mengenal keyakinan dominan itu, yang pergolakannya
muncul terutama pada perdebatan aesthetica. Tidak mudah baginya
untuk memahami reaksi yang muncul melalui konsep de-materialisasi.
Maka, tidak ada kebutuhan juga padanya untuk mengikuti konsep
performance art yang lahir dari reaksi ini. Bagi Heri Dono, performance
merupakan upayanya meluaskan kesadarannya sebagai pelukis.
32
”Ketika menjelajahi seluk-beluk pertunjukan wayang, saya menyadari
sensasi yang didapat penonton wayang ternyata kompleks. Saya
kemudian mengoreksi pemahaman saya tentang ekspresi seni yang
terpusat pada seni rupa (fine arts). Saya tiba-tiba merasa perlu
mengembangkan berbagai kepekaan lain, selain kepekaan melihat.
Saya sadar pertunjukan wayang adalah ekspresi seni yang tidak mengenal
batas-batas di antara visual arts, musik, teater dan sastra, ” katanya.
Heri Dono kemudian mencoba membangun kesadaran tentang
ekspresi seni yang tidak terpisah-pisah. Ia menyimpulkan ekspresi ini
secara bersama-sama merayakan kebudayaan. Ia mencari pembenaran
dengan menoleh ke gejala seni (art phenomena) pada kebudayaankebudayaan etnik – tarian, musik, teater, sastra dan visual arts (tampil
melalui properti) – yang selalu berkaitan dengan kebudayaan.
Maka Heri Dono percaya bahwa ekspresi seni adalah pernyataan
(statement) dengan konteks budaya. “Kesenian meminjam tanda
dan simbol dari kebudayaan, dan kesenian harus mengembalikannya
ke kebudayaan serta berproses dalam kebudayaan,” katanya. “Karena
itu, seniman harus punya sikap budaya dan persepsi tentang apa
sebenarnya budaya.”
“Kalau kebudayaan dimisalkan sebuah kue besar kesenian (The arts)
merupakan irisan-irisannya, tapi irisan-irisan ini tidak boleh diambil
begitu saja, karena kalau semua seniman memakan irisan kue ini,
kuenya akan habis. Irisan-irisan kue ini justru harus terus-menerus
memperbesar kuenya dan ini terjadi bila mengaktifkan kesenian
sekaligus berarti mengaktifkan kebudayaan.”
Dengan keyakinan itu, Heri Dono membongkar mitos-mitos yang
memengaruhi persepsinya tentang seni. Sebelumnya ia ikut meyakini
mitos yang percaya bahwa gejala seni mengenal spesialisasi dan
tidak secara langsung punya hubungan dengan kebudayaan. Dulu
ia dipengaruhi juga oleh mitos yang percaya bahwa ekspresi seni
berpangkal pada kekuatan individualitas.
Upaya Heri Dono menerobos mitos-mitos itu ternyata berlangsung
paralel dengan pemikiran-pemikiran baru tentang seni pada
perkembangan seni kontemporer. Pemikiran-pemikiran baru ini bahkan
menyuruk sampai ke persoalan paling mendasar, yaitu pemikiran ulang
ideologi seni yang diyakini sejak abad ke-19 dan berpengaruh sampai
pertengahan abad ke-20.
Heri Dono, Bidadari Turun dari Langit (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
33
Ideologi seni yang dikaji ulang itu percaya bahwa seniman mempunyai
cara tidak umum – dipercaya merupakan keluarbiasan – dalam
menangkap muse dan mentransfernya ke karya seni yang bersifat
material. Karena itu karya seni diyakini mempunyai nilai intrinsik.
.Pemikiran yang membongkar ideologi itu muncul khususnya pada
kelompok pemikir neo-Wittgensteinan yang mempertanyakan definisidefinisi seni. Stephen Davies, salah seorang di antaranya, menulis,
We might question whether the Western ideology of art
corresponds to its reality? That ‘artists’ names a spiritual
calling? That art making is unaffected by the market? That
artworks are appreciated only when abstracted from the moral,
political, and social settings within which they are generated?
Art charaterize what has come to be known as fine or high
art. The fine arts were described and typed at the close of
eighteenth century, and associated notion of the artist as genius
unfettered by the rules of craft, as well as by social conventions,
was presented at much the same time. Along with this went the
idea that the aesthetic attitude is a psychologically distinctive state
of distance contemplation. (Stephen Davies, “Non-Western Art
and Art’s Definition,“ in Noël Carroll [ed.]. Theories of Art Today.
The University of Wisconsin Press Wisconsin: 2000.)
Davies mengemukakan, sebenarnya gejala seni pada semua kebudayaan
berkaitan dengan penuturan cerita, pembuatan gambar, pembuatan
patung, nyanyian, tarian, dan pertunjukan teatrikal. Semua praktik
seni berkaitan dengan pengalaman merasakan keindahan (aesthetic
experience) yang kompleks dan tidak bisa dilepaskan dari persoalan
makna dan nilai-nilai. Praktik seni ini seperti ini, menurut Davies, masih
dijalankan secara utuh di dunia non-Barat dan karena itu seni mempunyai
fungsi sosial. Praktik ini berkaitan dengan upacara-upacara ritual dan
penyucian benda-benda yang bisa dilihat sebagai upaya preservasi dan
pencatatan sejarah.
Davies mengemukakan, di dunia Barat, seni dibedakan dari craft yang
dianggap bukan seni karena hanya menampilkan keindahan yang
dianggap rendah. Ia sendiri cenderung tidak membaginya menjadi seni
dan bukan seni. Ia melihatnya sebagai Seni dengan “S” kapital dan seni
dengan “s” kecil. Maserati, Lamborghini dan Ferrari adalah karya-karya
seni dengan ‘s’ kecil. “Karya-karya ini tidak terkategori karya seni karena
tidak memenuhi kualifikasi institusi seni Barat,” ungkap Davies.
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Menurut Davies, pada kebudayaan non-Barat, Seni dengan “s”
kapital dan seni dengan “s” kecil tidak dibedakan, dan keindahan
tidak dianggap pesona yang rendah. Keindahan yang dipercaya tidak
cuma membangkitkan rasa senang, membawa nilai-nilai. Kenyataan
ini membuat seni di dunia non-Barat punya pengertian yang luas dan
dekat dengan kebudayaan.
Heri Dono mengemukakan, “Semua permasalahan dalam karya
saya adalah permasalahan keindahan (beauty). Dalam menjelajahi
dunia keindahan saya masuk ke wilayah kepekaan di mana saya bisa
mencari spiritualias. Di wilayah ini, saya terbawa untuk mempertanyakan
semua pandangan saya tentang realitas yang mengikuti pandangan
umum.” Menurut Heri Dono proses ini menghadirkan bukan kesadaran
rasional, tapi kesadaran budaya yang mengakomodasi hal-hal yang
tidak selalu logis. Kalau kesadaran ini diukur dengan logika kesadaran
ini akan terasa paradoksal.
“Di Yogyakarta, ada banyak bengkel kecil yang khusus memperbaiki radio
transistor untuk dijual sebagai radio-radio bekas. Saya mengajak ahli-ahli
reparasi radio transistor ini untuk bekerja sama dengan saya membuat
karya seni karena pekerjaan mereka buat saya membawa tanda-tanda
kesenian yang dekat dengan tradisi dan kebudayaan,” katanya.
Dalam persepsi Heri Dono, para ahli reparasi radio bekas itu adalah orangorang kreatif yang sehari-hari menghasilkan berbagai inovasi. Mereka ini
perajin barang bekas yang membuat mainan dan benda pakai dari bekas
kaleng Coca Cola, karton-karton bekas, peti-peti pengemas berbagai
produk industri, dan komponen barang-barang rusak yang dibuang
atau dijual di pasar loak. Kepekaan di balik pemanfaatan barang-barang
bekas pada perajin ini, menurut Heri Dono, adalah kepekaan merasakan
keindahan yang berkembang di dunia tradisi.
“Hasil kerja mereka merupakan kreasi yang memperlihatkan inovasi. Barangbarang yang mereka buat memang tidak perfek tapi inovasi memang
tidak pernah perfek. Perfeksi merupakan kelanjutan dari penemuan yang
kadar inovasinya sudah tidak ada,” katanya.
Bersama kelompok perajin barang bekas itu, Heri Dono menghasilkan
karya-karyanya yang terbaik, antara lain, Watching the Marginal People
(1992), Gamelan of Rumors (1993), Fermentation of Minds (1993/1994),
Ceremony of the Souls (1995), Flying Angels (1996) dan Flying in a
Cocoon (2001). Karya-karya ini sudah menjadi koleksi museum.
Heri Dono, Watching Marginal People (detail), 2000, Multi media / installation
35
Pandangan Heri Dono yang paralel dengan pandangan
Stephen Davies membongkar mitos yang merendahkan keindahan.
Pembongkaran mitos yang sangat berpengaruh ini membangkitkan
kesadaran bahwa semua teori yang membangun mitos ini tidak pernah
sesungguhnya bisa menjelaskan apa yang dimaksudkan dengan
beyond beauty – seperti tecermin pada perdebatan “what is art”
yang tidak pernah selesai sampai sekarang.
Teori-teori itu terjebak pada pemikiran bipolar yang menempatkan beauty
dan beyond beauty pada kutub yang berlawanan. Akibatnya tidak ada
patokan untuk menjelaskan beyond beauty karena gejala ini terpisah
secara diametral dari beauty, gejala yang dianggap rendah. Kebingungan
dengan mudah muncul karena beyond beauty tidak sama dengan ugliness
lawan sebenarnya beauty.
Heri Dono, Born and Freedom (detail), 2004, Multi media / installation
Pada pandangan Heri Dono beauty adalah “akar” dari ekspresi
seni (yang mendapat label “beyond beauty”). Bila ekspresi seni ini
diibaratkan “buah” pada tanaman, “buah” ini tidak bisa dilepaskan
dari kerja “akar” – ada tanaman-tanaman yang “berbuah” pada
akarnya. Maka tidak ada perbedaan substansial di antara beauty dan
beyond beauty. Keduanya tidak bisa dipisahkan apalagi ditempatkan
pada dua kutub yang berlawanan.
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Pada pandangan Heri Dono di mana pengalaman merasakan
keindahan (aesthetic experience) tidak terpisah dari pengalaman
memahami kehidupan, ekspresi seni adalah sofistikasi aesthetic
experience merasakan beauty. Ini, menurut Heri Dono terjadi di wilayah
kepekaan di dunia perasaan. Maka beyond beauty is beauty bila dirasakan
sebagai aesthetic experience dan bukan hanya sebagai visual experience.
Di sini premis fundamental seni rupa dunia dipertanyakan.
Jim Supangkat
The Director, SASA Gallery, would like to acknowledge the contribution
to the development of the 2007 SASA Gallery exhibition program by
the SASA Gallery Advisory Committee and Exhibition Programming
Committee; SASA Gallery staff; Prof. Kay Lawrence, Head of School,
South Australian School of Art, UniSA; Prof. Drew Dawson, Dean:
Research, Division Education, Arts & Social Sciences, UniSA; and Prof.
Michael Rowan, Pro Vice Chancellor, Division Education, Arts & Social
Sciences, UniSA. The Director, SASA Gallery, thanks Tony and Connie
Perrini and family for the generous support of the 2007 SASA Gallery
exhibition program by Perrini Estate.
The Director, SASA Gallery, thanks Indonesian artist Heri Dono; curator
Pamela Zeplin; writers Pamela Zeplin and Jim Supangkat; and designers
Fred Littlejohn, Lynda Kay, Danna-Lee Stoic and Ryan Neville for their
participation and involvement in this exhibition and catalogue. Also Tok
and Libby Basuki for generously hosting the artist in Adelaide.
Acknowledgements
Curator: Pamela Zeplin
Artist: Heri Dono
External Scholar: Jim Supangkat
Catalogue Project Management: Mary Knights & Lynda Kay
Editor: Mary Knights
Catalogue design: Fred Littlejohn, Danna-Lee Stoic and Ryan Neville
Bachelor of Visual Communications (Honours) Students Consultancy, UniSA
Artist in residency project management: Olga Sankey and Pamela Zeplin
Assistant: Margo Clark
SASA Gallery staff:
Mary Knights, Director, SASA Gallery
Louise Flaherty, Gallery Administrative Assistant
Julian Tremayne, exhibition installation and lighting consultant
Published by the South Australian School of Art Gallery
University of South Australia
Kaurna Building
Fenn Place, Adelaide
Adelaide SA 5001
March 2007
ISBN 978 0 9803062 1 7
Printed by Cruickshank Printers
© SASA Gallery, artist and writers
The SASA Gallery has received immense support toward the development
and implementation of this exhibition and catalogue. The residency by
Indonesian artist Heri Dono has been developed by staff at the South
Australian School of Art with the support of the Helpmann Academy. The
contribution by eminent scholar Jim Supangkat has been supported by
the Divisional Performance Research Fund. The printing of the exhibition
catalogue was generously funded by the Gordon Darling Foundation.
37
Experience. The Difference