Dear friends and colleagues
As I said last Tuesday, I want to talk about three artist’s projects, including one I curated and one I am appearing in.
Firstly, two suggestions or observations.
One, that in an area with very little state support for art and where collectors are generally quite conservative in what they buy, projects and installations are an especially big challenge for artists.
Two, that in this region installation art has developed out of painting rather than sculpture. However, it must be noted that two of these artists could be described as conceptual artists to some extent, and the third was taught by a conceptual artist in her college days, and affected by that.
The week before last was Singapore Art Week where there is a major art fair (Art Stage) and many other events, including this year the Singapore Eye event that I talked about last week. At Equator Art Projects where I currently act as curator we opened two shows: in the main gallery works by Uji “Hahan” Handoko and in a smaller (4.5 x 4.5 metre) space mainly used for artist’s projects a project by S.Teddy. Both are artists from Jogjakarta.
Four paintings from S. Teddy’s project room
As the first part of his project Teddy showed recent paintings that were designed like flags. But representing something other than a nation, a personal situation. Outside he had asked for a structure on which to hang in parallel a number of flags on which he had painted in batik a simplified image of his own head.
Indonesia tends to be a do-it-at-the-last minute nation. The poles he had asked for were ordered and delivered by the Thursday, eg the day before the opening. Teddy has been very ill and not worked out exactly how to make this happen, whilst staying within strict Singaporean rules for temporary structures. As the day was coming to an end and it was beginning to look impossible some friends of his from Jogjakarta who were working at the Artfair as fitters and technicians arrived, their day’s work done, and constructed it in the gathering gloom. I spoke to Hahan about generous this was – they had declined payment and were making it carefully – and with laughter. We call it “Mengabdi” he said. That literally translates as “serve” or “dedicate”, but I thing that is not quite right: yes, Teddy was an important person in the Jogja art scene, but he was also a warm person who helped people when he could. Therefore notions such as friendship and collaboration come in here too – maybe even that Australian virtue “mateship”. It is this sense of working together, improvisation and good humour that makes Jogja so unique as an art centre.
Installing S. Teddy Flag project
As they were building the structure one of them asked if they could put a platform in it so they could add a sound system for the private view. I agreed, of course. As they were finishing it the wind came up and the flags flapped out proudly – or perhaps one should say “defiantly”. The projects was called never raise white flags, a reference to S. Teddy’s fascination with the colour red and his ongoing struggle against cancer. The private view finished at 3AM.
S. Teddy. Never raise white flags
Hahan as DJ
In the art fair itself Wire Tuazon, an artist from the Philippines, founder of the Surrounded by Water Group and an artist whose work oscillates between conceptual art and painting had an installation called performance art versus performance art: paintings of seven famous performance artists performing (Marina Abramovic with Ulay, Bas Jan Ader, Joseph Beuys, Chris Burden, Yves Klein, Yayoi Kusama and Yoko Ono). Arrows hit the paintings and the walls. Mini-figures of the artists scurried around. Appropriating art from the “centre” by artists from the “peripherary” is common: it is a way of interacting. This was a unusually coherent and witty example. Typically, a lot of people who saw it were impressed, but no-one offered to buy it.
Wire Tuazon. Performance art versus performance art.
Having promised a third project events have overtaken me and as its space at the Art Fair Philippines is being rebuilt it is not yet up: the Filipina artist Geraldine Javier sent this letter to 26 dealers and curators she has worked with:
“As you know I am doing an installation at Artfair Philippines. I wanted to make an installation that makes us think about art, and also about what art can mean in an art fair. As you will remember I took/asked for a photograph of each of you. From that I and my assistants have made a doll that represents you. Each doll is about 40 centimetres high. See attached image. Next to it is a “speech bubble.” It is about 17 by 20 centimetres.
During the set up I, or one of my assistants, will come and find you and ask you to write on one of these “speech bubbles” your answer to the question: What is art for you?
Then it will be placed next to the doll of you as in the illustration.
This is the wall text that will accompany the installation:
Let’s Talk About Art
What is Art for you?
Artists are often asked what their Art is about. It is we artists who are exposed and required to make statements or explanations. It is we who are often questioned about our motivations for making Art, never the dealers and gallery owners. But as we work closely with them, I also want to know what their stand on Art is, therefore I have posed this question to several of them:
What is Art for you?
Most of them agreed to answer and, as I requested, first sent a photo of themselves so we could make an embroidered doll of each of them. Then they were given thought-bubbles made of fabric on which to write their response to my question. Then we attached their thought bubble to their doll.
What is Art for you?
Now you visitors have each been provided with a shaped, fabric notepad on which you too can write your response and your name. These will all be hung on the walls of the project space so that all of us can be involved in a conversation about what Art may be.
Why, you may ask, am I doing this? What do I want to achieve or discover?
I want us to all think more deeply about our individual positions.
Why do we do what we do?
During the art fair I will provide many more “speech bubbles” of differing sizes so other people can make a statement on what art means to them. So, during the fair, the installation will grow and hopefully get us all talking. Geraldine.
For now, here are three dolls, including myself. Now you know what I look like!
Empty speech bubble, Keong Ruoh Ling, Isa Lorenzo
Empty speech bubble, Tony Godfrey.
The Art fair Philippines is an unusual one, small but with an unusually intimate and friendly atmosphere. I will report on it next week and, of course, give some examples of what people have written in their speech bubbles!
Wishing you all a pleasant Tuesday
Tony