Nasirun leaves much room for interpretation<\/p>\n
By Amir Sidharta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It would seem inevitable that the New Order
\nregime exerted a tremendous effect on Nasirun.<\/p>\n
The painter was born in Cilacap, Central Java, on Oct. 1,
\n1965, the very day that Soeharto supposedly crushed an abortive
\ncommunist coup. Practically all of his life has been subject to
\nwhat the New Order has molded him to be.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Nasirun has not become merely a child of the New
\nOrder's dictates. His work tends to question New Order politics,
\nincluding the dominance of Golkar and the military, although he
\ndoes it in a subtle manner. It is evident in the works he is
\nexhibiting together with Pupuk Daru Purnomo at the Galeri Santi
\nin South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Among the most impressive of the works is a large painting
\ntitled Angon-angon Cucu. He described it as a rendition of a
\nceremony that was once considered very important in the area of
\nBondowoso, East Java. In this procession, grandparents would take
\ntheir grandchildren around the village and then buy presents for
\nthem at the shops they passed. The ceremony meant a lot to
\nNasirun, especially because he never had grandparents who would
\nbuy him anything.<\/p>\n
\"Today, whenever I am able to buy something, I always consider
\nit to be a present from my grandparents.\"<\/p>\n
Although Nasirun claims the painting merely depicts a ceremony
\nthat is now becoming extinct, there are hints that Angon-angon
\nCucu portrays something else.<\/p>\n
To the right on the canvas, a tall figure, dressed in a black
\nsuit and sarong, stands dominating the painting. A kopiah cap
\nhides the prominent figure's white hair, while he walks aided by
\na walking cane embellished with a serpentine ornament. Both
\nelements -- the white hair and the walking stick -- conjure up
\nboth the old man's dignity and his frailty. Depicted in three-
\nquarter view typically used in the portrayal of wayang kulit
\nfigures, this grandfather wears white shoes much like Dutch
\nclompen. In the wayang pantheon, figures depicted wearing the
\nshoes are associated with divinity.<\/p>\n
\"My works are indeed influenced by the Javanese wayang,\" the
\npainter explained. It is almost certain that the figure is meant
\nto represent a specific individual in mind, and not just any old
\ngrandfather figure.<\/p>\n
To the left of the figure, families march in the procession.
\nSome seem to be common villagers, but others are raksasa (giant)
\nfigures derived from characters in shadow puppet plays.<\/p>\n
In the background toward the upper part of the picture,
\nsomething rather strange is happening. It does seem to be part of
\nthe Angon-angon Cucu procession, but there are a number of
\nsymbols that hint at a chaotic and riotous situation.<\/p>\n
The most prominent symbol is placed right in the middle of the
\nscene. Depicted in a rather eerie fashion, the elongated female
\nfigure is dressed in black and seems to be floating in space. To
\nthe right of the floating figure, there is another female figure
\nwho seems to be assaulted by a dark colored figure. To the
\ncentral figure's left, there are three black figures who appear
\nto be attempting to assault the central figure.<\/p>\n
Above this scene, further chaos is apparent. These seem to be
\nreferences to the May riots. If this is the case, the scene
\nsuggests the riotous situation in the background is part of the
\nAngon-angon Cucu procession depicted in the foreground.<\/p>\n
Nasirun offers no comment regarding any other reading about
\nthe painting than the depiction of the scene itself, but he does
\nnot deny the possibility of other interpretations. His paintings
\nleave much room for various interpretation by viewers.<\/p>\n
Whatever the interpretation of the viewer may be, Nasirun
\nfirmly states that he has no intention to demean anyone.<\/p>\n
\"I don't like condemning people! I am just presenting a
\nsituation which I think is interesting and relevant to our life
\ntoday.\"<\/p>\n
In this exhibition, Nasirun does not only present works that
\nhave social or political content, but he also deals with things
\nthat are more personal and metaphysical.<\/p>\n
In Gagat Esuk, the painter explores his perception, both
\nmetaphysically and emotionally, about the meaning of the period
\naround dawn, the time between night and morning.<\/p>\n
It is handled rather differently from the others. While in
\nAngon-angon Cucu, he has a rather clear idea about the
\ncomposition, in Gagat Esuk Nasirun he apparently did not have a
\nclear conception of how the painting would evolve.<\/p>\n
Instead, he emerges as he paints the picture. The work shows
\ntremendous spontaneity and a kind of otomatism of the
\nsubconscious seems to be working in the painting.<\/p>\n
\"I think that there is a distinct period of time between the
\nfirst crow of the rooster before dawn, and the second crow that
\nhappens at dawn\", said the painter, \"I believe that this is the
\ntime when the spirits return to the underworld.\"<\/p>\n
Through the execution of the painting, he also explores this
\nmysterious period of time.<\/p>\n
The composition of Gagat Esuk is almost as chaotic as it is
\nspontaneous. There is no clear focus, nor is the starting point
\nof the scene clear.<\/p>\n
\"I have even forgotten where I started on the canvas!\" Nasirun
\nclaimed.<\/p>\n
In the lower middle of the canvas, there is a figure, depicted
\nin yellow and red, acting as a kind of focal point. It apparently
\nrepresents the sun or dawn. To the right of the figure, the
\nyellow, orange and red colors of day start to confront the blues
\nand greens of night.<\/p>\n
As the colors and what they symbolize interact, forms start to
\nemerge. The forms metamorphosize into the spirits and creatures
\nof the underworld.<\/p>\n
There is a kind of centrifugal energy that is creating
\nmovement in the canvas, rotating away from the figure
\nrepresenting day toward the upper part of the painting. As the
\nenergy moves upward, more spirits and creatures are shown.<\/p>\n
The upper part of the painting is dominated by a reclining
\nfemale figure depicted in red. Below this figure is another
\nfemale figure, this time partially winged. The two figures turn
\nthe upward movement back down toward the bottom left corner of
\nthe canvas.<\/p>\n
In addition, there is also an imaginary line moving
\ndynamically in a diagonal, starting from around the head of the
\nred figurine in the upper right corner of the canvas toward the
\nlower left corner of the picture or vice versa.<\/p>\n
Toward the lower half of the painting, a dark blue streak
\neither emerges from or disappears into a small terra-cotta
\nmartavan. A human-headed stylized eagle descends towards the
\nvessel, supporting the suggestion that the blue streak of the
\nnight is returning into the earth to make way for day to emerge.<\/p>\n
Nasirun leaves much room for viewers to continue their
\nexploration of the scenes depicted on the canvas and discover
\nperhaps even more meanings than the painter actually intended.<\/p>\n
Frankly speaking, the two paintings are perhaps the best of
\nNasirun's work in the show. While certainly there are also other
\nworks of his that are quite good, there are a couple of his other
\nworks that have parts that somehow remain unresolved. Nasirun is
\nnot reticent to admit that many of his works are filled with
\nexperimentation.<\/p>\n
Nasirun's persistent search for new ways of expression in
\npainting, by experimentation, will ensure his artistic
\nadvancement. He is an artist to watch for in the years to come.<\/p>\n
The writer is the curator of the Museum Universitas Pelita
\nHarapan at Lippo Karawaci.<\/p>",
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