Heri Dono genetically engineers 'wayang'<\/p>\n
By Prasetyohadi and Pandaya<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Lovers of the arts streamed out of Teater Utan
\nKayu giggling, grinning and even laughing out loud when
\ndiscussing the bizarre shadow puppet show they had just seen.<\/p>\n
The one-hour show that correlated the \"conventional\" Javanese
\nwayang with the contemporary form of animation is an experimental
\nart form introduced by Heri Dono, a surrealist painter who
\nproclaims himself an \"art performer\".<\/p>\n
\"Did you enjoy it?\" one friend asked another. \"Hmmm, I liked
\nit but I didn't really get it,\" her friend replied
\ndiplomatically.<\/p>\n
For lay people already familiar with the Javanese traditional
\nshadow puppetry, Heri's wayang is just as mind-boggling as his
\neclectic paintings.<\/p>\n
Heri calls his latest work wayang regen, or genetic engineer.
\nCharacters are distorted and projected on geber (a cloth screen).
\nVisual language is used to interpret them. Messages are prepared
\non texts read out theatrically by Dono and his assistant, Guntur
\nSonggolangit.<\/p>\n
The characters bear no resemblance to the traditional wayang.
\nThey are all deformed to look like creatures from outer space or
\nprobably a result of cloning between the local traditional and
\nforeign culture.<\/p>\n
The odd atmosphere was felt right after you stepped into the
\ntheater, which is often used to showcase experimental arts. It
\nwas dimly lit. A large white screen dominated the area. Three
\nkenong (small gongs) were being slowly struck by mechanical
\ndevices, making sounds like water dripping in a silent night.<\/p>\n
The walls were wrapped in black cloth. A number of adult
\nhuman-sized wayang were suspended from ropes in front of the
\nscreen. Hio incense, used in Chinese traditional rituals, was
\nburning, spreading a strange smell.<\/p>\n
The music and all the noisy sounds were prerecorded. While the
\ndalang played, the puppets were projected on the screen and the
\nbare-chested Guntur walked and danced, reading out a text
\nattached to his chest with by string.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is as difficult as making a glass painting -- you
\ndo it from the opposite side. In Indonesia, facts are twisted and
\nyou will get it wrong if you read it straight.\" Political leaders
\nwere portrayed as hypocrites.<\/p>\n
While the puppets were silhouetted, video images were
\nprojected from the foreground onto the screen: the images of old
\nJavanese aristocrats, late Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung, funky
\ndogs, monkeys wearing fashionable hats and numerous icons
\nappeared one after another throughout the show.<\/p>\n
Avant-garde<\/p>\n
Heri is among few contemporary artists who have gained
\nacceptability overseas, more so than in their home countries, for
\ntheir avant-garde works. The British Council in Jakarta sponsored
\nDono's Tuesday and Wednesday shows.<\/p>\n
He debuted as an art performer in 1999 when he performed Kuda
\nBinal (Wild Horse) in Yogyakarta in 1992. It was a mockery of the
\ntwo-yearly painting biennial (he twisted it into Binal) in the
\ntown that he criticized as efforts to \"formalize\" arts.<\/p>\n
Wednesday's performance was titled Lobi-lobi, after a local
\nfruit. \"The present cultural and political conditions is like
\nlobi-lobi. It looks good and tasty but don't eat it; it's hard
\nand sour,\" Dono said in a discussion.<\/p>\n
The absurd wayang has the basic idea of the Javanese wayang
\nperformance but they turned the whole cosmological concept into
\nsomething that you will no longer recognize.<\/p>\n
Heri was inspired by the art of cartoon animation combined
\nwith another Javanese wayang genre called wayang ukur, which is
\nvery rare.<\/p>\n
The climax was when the artists set fire to two characters of
\nthe traditional puppet figures of evil king Rahwana and Pandawa
\nhero Bima. Heri said, in fact, that Bima was just as sadistic.<\/p>\n
Observers said that Heri's wayang was an \"unfinished\" work of
\nart.<\/p>\n
Traditional puppet master Jlitheng Suparman of Surakarta,
\nCentral Java, described it as \"having no soul of tradition\". He
\nsaid Heri had yet to create the theatrical dimension of wayang.<\/p>\n
Heri readily acknowledged that all his works were about
\n\"imperfection\", as apparent in the deformation that features
\ntherein.<\/p>\n
Collaborator Guntur, himself a puppet master, said the
\ncontemporary wayang had nothing to do with tradition. Dono and
\nhimself had created a new genre of puppet, he said.<\/p>\n
The artists adopted a metaphor of \"genetic engineering\" of
\ncourt-centered tradition to something completely new.<\/p>\n
Heri said one of the new characters of these wayang was that
\nthey had nothing to do with war and violence that is always
\nimportant in the wayang stories.<\/p>\n
The artists said they believed traditional artists should shun
\nrigidity if their works were to be accepted by the modern world.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/heri-dono-genetically-engineers-wayang-1447893297",
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