Nyoman Erawan's retrospective: Forebodings come true<\/p>\n
Carla Bianpoen
\nContributor
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Balinese artist Nyoman Erawan is no stranger in the world of art.
\nA painter who contributes to breaking the hegemony of certain
\nworld trends, he is also very well known for his soul-stirring
\nperformance art in which he is not only the designer, actor and
\nstage master, but incredibly transforms himself into the heart of
\nthe matter.<\/p>\n
He proved himself again on the night of Friday, May 2, when he
\nintroduced his prolific retrospective exhibition of 165 paintings
\nand installations at the Bentara Budaya Jakarta in a performance
\nart piece the theme of which is at the core of all his art:
\nDestruction.<\/p>\n
Bamboo installations, in the Balinese style used in
\ntraditional ceremonies, stand to the left and right of the main
\nbamboo cage that holds an upside-down perahu, or boat, covered in
\na white cloth. This is the stage where Erawan, clad like a priest
\nin white, sits on the floor to visualize his apprehension of a
\nworld in shambles.<\/p>\n
To the metallic spatter of falling maize kernels, rice and
\nmarbles dropped on the gong in front, he smears a quid of white
\nsirih, or betel, in brusque movements over his face and head
\nuntil he is transformed into a masque with varying expressions of
\nanxiety, while the beating of the gong sounds out the chaos.<\/p>\n
The performance is an acknowledgement of our disintegrating
\nworld -- of age-old forebodings come true -- but is perhaps also
\na signal of hope for a new, better life. Within each bamboo
\nstructure is a spear pointing at the artist's face.<\/p>\n
Erawan -- considered one of the foremost avant-garde artists
\nwho, in the 1980s, dared to break with the conventional -- never
\nleft the culture and tradition into which he was born, but he
\ndoes not recreate the arts of old, either.<\/p>\n
An allegorical description of how he works would be something
\nlike the following: While standing with his two feet planted
\nfirmly on the ground, he pulls down dilapidated buildings and
\nerects new ones. Substantiating his obsession with destruction,
\nany artwork he begins, starts with some type of wreckage. Tearing
\nup the canvas, burning holes into it, or spattering paint on it
\nare just a few examples. Then he starts his new creation.<\/p>\n
Erawan's explorations in art stems from the Hindu cycle of
\nlife, which believes in reincarnation, says art observer Putu
\nWirata Dwikarya, observer and critic of Balinese art who has
\nfollowed Erawan's art in its developing stages.<\/p>\n
Erawan explains that one can start at any point in the cycle,
\nof which birth is usually considered the beginning. For him,
\nhowever, it is death and destruction from which he emerges toward
\nnew life and growth, a process that is called peleburan, or
\ndissolution, as in the process of fusion. Destruction intrigues
\nhim greatly not only because of the awesomeness of it, which can
\nbe interpreted as beauty, but also because of the inherent
\nwarning that life is not eternal.<\/p>\n
His explorations of life through death comes from the
\noverwhelming curiosity Erawan feels about Ngaben, the Balinese
\ncremation ceremony. Pomp and splendor is burned away in just a
\nsingle day. His fascination with, and inspiration from, death and
\ndestruction is in actuality a pondering of life and its temporary
\nnature, and of how one should live to be reborn as a better
\nperson in the next life.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it is the crumbling state of the world, heading
\ntowards total destruction at the end of all time, that spurs
\nErawan on, who seems never to tire of visualizing doom.<\/p>\n
A checkered black-and-white cloth, cosmic mountains, coins and
\nthe colors of the cardinal directions are used to convey the idea
\nof eternal change, grounded in the Hindu concept of reincarnation
\nthat offers chances for improvement in another life.<\/p>\n
Initially, his curiosity was aroused by the broken or burnt
\nremains of Ngaben, which he integrated in his pieces such as in
\nPuing-Puing Ngaben (mixed media, 60 x 50 cm, 1983). Continuing in
\nhis explorations, however, he proceeded to produce more abstract
\npieces integrating Balinese iconography as an accent, as in
\nPralaya Matra CIX (60 x 60 cm, 1998) or in Citra 40 (2000).<\/p>\n
Erawan, according to art critic Mamanoor, has now moved on
\nfrom visualizing the destruction of the material world to the
\nresurrection of destruction into new forms, the Balinese process
\nof reincarnation within the mind. Throughout this process, he
\ncontinues to be intrigued by the beauty that destruction offers
\nbefore transcending into new life.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, he now incorporates human figures in the series
\nNir Suara (2000) -- figures in upside-down positions, moaning or
\nwailing silently.<\/p>\n
Erawan was born in 1958 in Banjar Dlodtangluk, in the village
\nof Sukawati, Gianyar, and studied at the Indonesian Arts
\nInstitute in Yogyakarta. Aside from being an artist, he is also a
\nkrama adat, a member of the Balinese village council responsible
\nfor tradition and custom, and participates in rituals and
\nceremonies, including the preparations for Ngaben.<\/p>\n
Tension between the traditional and the modern in Bali appears
\nto have influenced the way he transforms the traditional.<\/p>\n
The holder of various art awards, Erawan has exhibited widely.
\nHe is regarded as one of Indonesia's foremost contemporary
\ninstallation and performance artists, staging new forms of
\nBalinese Hindu rituals with the central theme of creation out of
\ndestruction, linking the organic and inorganic.<\/p>\n
The exhibition catalog is descriptive and includes comments
\nfrom Mamanoor, Putu Wirata Dwikora and Arief B. Prasetyo on
\nErawan's work.<\/p>\n
Pralaya: Proses kehancuran dan kebangkitan
\nRetrospective Exhibition
\nBy Nyoman Erawan
\nBentara Budaya Jakarta
\nMay 2 to May 12, 2003<\/p>",
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