Mural project reclaims public space in Yogya<\/p>\n
Farah Wardani, Contributor, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Space has always been a tricky problem for art, particularly
\ncontemporary art, in Indonesia. Many say that the numerous
\ngalleries in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta -- considered the
\nmetropolitan centers of contemporary art -- cannot serve as the
\nonly medium to develop the art form.<\/p>\n
This is because the bigger problem is actually rooted in the
\nlack of a relationship between art and Indonesian society. In
\nturn, this explains the general lack of appreciation for art that
\nexists in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The above thought is based on such questions as: how many
\npeople actually go to art galleries to enjoy and appreciate art?
\nTo what extent can art communicate with people? Does the general
\npublic really care about art -- or conversely, does art really
\ncare about the general public? What is the role of art
\nin society?<\/p>\n
Some might see that art already has a space of its own, or in
\nother words, that it is a private space in itself, an exclusive
\nterritory that not many people can enter. Hence, by maintaining
\nitself as a private space, there is always a big gap between art
\nand the public.<\/p>\n
Some artists try to solve this problem by bringing art to the
\npublic space, thus creating so-called \"public art.\"<\/p>\n
One of the most prominent leaders of this art movement is
\nApotik Komik, a group of young artists from Yogyakarta,
\ncurrently: Samuel Indratma, Bambang \"Toko\" Witjaksono, and Arie
\nDyanto. The group previously included Popok Tri Wahyudi, who left
\nin April 2002.<\/p>\n
Formed in 1997, Apotik Komik has been focusing on this
\napproach of developing popular art mediums (often sneered at as
\n\"low art\") such as murals, graffiti, and comics, and taking the
\npublic space as the site of their creative process.<\/p>\n
Their murals can still be seen at some public places in
\nYogyakarta and Jakarta. Most of their work are usually products
\nof a specific project, which delivers particular messages
\nconcerning the issue of art in the public space, or problems
\nwithin the public space itself.<\/p>\n
Their latest major project was not restricted to members of
\nApotik Komik, but also involved 14 other young Yogya artists, who
\nbecame part of the project by invitation. This massive project
\nwas to create a series of murals in some of the city's busiest
\ndistricts, entitled \"Sama-sama\" (\"Together\", from
\nAugust-October 2002).<\/p>\n
As reflected in the title, \"Sama-sama\" is a collective effort
\nthat aims to affirm the social role of art, as expounded in the
\nintroductory note of the project proposal, which is not merely to
\ndecorate the city, but to create a bond between art and the urban
\nenvironment, as well as to mediate interactions and dialog among
\nthe public.<\/p>\n
Expanding upon this initial idea, several young photographers
\nwere invited to create photographic art stemming from scenes
\ndepicted in the murals, both as response to the work and also as
\ncreative documentation. The resulting photography can be viewed
\nat an exhibition held at Bentara Budaya Yogyakarta from Nov. 12-
\n19, which also marks the completion of the \"Sama-sama\" mural
\nproject.<\/p>\n
Inescapably, public space is a sensitive field, and bringing
\nart to the public means that the artwork itself has to compromise
\nto the constructed rules and order within the selected space. The
\nresulting art cannot go so far as to intervene in the norms (and
\nauthority) of the surrounding vicinity, but still has to stand
\nout somewhere between the obscenity of wild graffiti, the
\nornamental sense of city decorations, and the authoritative aura
\nof monuments.<\/p>\n
The artists' strategy lies in trying to position themselves as
\npart of society, of urban life, instead of as watchers standing
\noutside of society, looking on from a distance. This project
\nattempts to eliminate that distance, or at least, to bridge the
\ndistance.<\/p>\n
So how has the project come out? The most massive work is the
\nseries of murals across the giant pillars and walls underneath
\nthe flyover at Jl. Lempuyangan, the large grim constructions lit
\nup with bright-colored pictures and various scenes from the
\nartists' imagination.<\/p>\n
The artists have turned the public space into a mural of their
\nlaissez-faire. Pleasant-looking absurdities of hybrid figures,
\nmostly drawn in comic-book style, play around before every
\npedestrian's eyes: a weird angel, huge watermelons, surreal
\ncreatures, a muscular giant stretches out his arm like Atlas and
\nholds the bridge, and so on.<\/p>\n
Could this carnival of fantasies be able to give a more
\nhuman touch to the dusty jungle of brick constructions and
\nilluminating electric lights? The general aura created by the
\nmurals seems to represent the artists' unified voice.<\/p>\n
How the works, as a whole, relate to their surrounding
\nenvironment -- as in inviting society to join their spirit of
\nreclaiming the public space -- remains a question. The greater
\nchallenge they have to face in penetrating urban reality is to
\nsurvive all the complexities of urban life -- with all the
\nrigidity and rapidness of the city's hard, fast life, where each
\nelement seems to move in transience to one another.<\/p>\n
The spirit was more easily grasped when the project was still
\nin progress, when the artists could be seen in action, painting
\nthe walls perched on high scaffolds, blending in with sidewalk
\nvendors, cars, motorcyclists, pedestrians and other passers-by as
\nthey were suspended in the attractiveness of their performance.
\nThat was the moment this art\/performance gave a psychological
\nimpact on its surroundings.<\/p>\n
With the project finished, it is left to time to tell how the
\nspirit will endure the fast rhythm of urban life and
\nnot become obsolete, ending up as just another exotic decoration,
\na memorabilia of among the other \"artistic\" activities of Yogya.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the Sama-sama project still deserves to be
\nacknowledged as an act of inviting the public to rethink the
\nmeaning of sharing life together, within the complicated and
\nincreasingly individualistic urban space. It raises the issue of
\nreturning public space to the public, the loss of which perhaps
\ncomes to pass, along with the loss of togetherness in realizing
\nour urban dreams.<\/p>",
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