Questioning identity through video art<\/p>\n
Asikin Hasan, Curator, Helsinki, Finland<\/p>\n
Video art is not very well-known in Indonesia but it is the
\nnewest medium to feature at the International Contemporary
\nExhibition ARS-01 at the Contemporary Museum KIASMA in Helsinki.<\/p>\n
The exhibition which was opened on Sept. 29 by Erkki Tuomioja,
\nFinland's minister of foreign affairs, will run until Jan. 20,
\n2002. More than 70 artists from 30 countries are participating in
\nthe exhibition including those from India, the United States,
\nYugoslavia, China, Indonesia and Thailand.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time that video art and other new
\nmediums -- such as performance and installation art -- have been
\npresented in major events. Other mega-scale events have also
\ncelebrated them including San Paolo Biennale, Havana Biennale,
\nKwang Ju Biennale, Bangladesh Biennale, Fukuoka Triennale and
\nseveral others.<\/p>\n
However ARS-01 confirms that these new mediums are relevant to
\ndescribe today's problems. Apart from being able to enter the
\nsubtle areas of human's life, video can portray place, space and
\ntime in a more complete way, which brings us closer to reality.<\/p>\n
Using a multicultural approach, the curators of the exhibition
\nseemed to have taken maximum advantage of video art's
\npossibilities.<\/p>\n
Indonesian artist, Krisna Murti, presented a video
\ninstallation titled Losing Face, a work that he included in the
\n1999 Bangladesh Art Biennale and the seventh Havana Biennale last
\nyear. This is a creation of process, which means an ongoing
\ndevelopment based on new ideas found in different places.<\/p>\n
In ARS-01, Krisna presented his latest version through a
\nsimultaneous use of a triple screen, where he is not only the
\nsubject who creates, but uses his own body as an object of his
\ncreation as well. His work is a blending of video art and
\nperformance art.<\/p>\n
On the main screen -- the focus of the video -- he presented
\nhis performance in public spaces in Tokyo. On the second screen
\nis his performance in Havana, while the third portrays a Balinese
\ndog that is ceaselessly barking.<\/p>\n
In this work Krisna represents and personifies himself with
\nsomething, which may be related to questions of identity and
\nnationality.<\/p>\n
Queries concerning identity also echo through other works of
\nvideo art in the exhibition.<\/p>\n
The creation of Milica Tomic, a Yugoslavian female artist, can
\nbe taken as an example. On her giant-sized five-by-seven meter
\nscreen, dominating the exhibition, she portrays herself in a
\nblood-splattered white gown.<\/p>\n
Scars cover parts of her body, neck and face. The red color of
\nblood and the white dress, the lovely face and the smear and
\nstreaks of blood on it, produces a strong contrast. Milica turns
\nslowly like a model.<\/p>\n
She mumbles to herself: \"I am Milica Tomic,\" which she kept
\nrepeating in several languages, including in Indonesian: \"I am
\nMilica Tomic. I am an Indonesian.\" This immediately stupefies us
\nin front of her work.<\/p>\n
What is the relationship between Tomic, the blood-splattered
\ngown, the body turning like a model, Yugoslavia and Indonesia?
\nWas this the voice in doubt, an inability to identity oneself and
\na requestioning of identity?<\/p>\n
What exactly is the meaning of Yugoslavia, Montenegro, Bosnia
\nor Indonesia? Are these not mere names on the world map? But is
\nit not also a fantasy transposed into reality, which in many
\ncases appears with startling horror?<\/p>\n
Apart from a deep message, the tendency to explore is clearly
\nvisible in this medium.<\/p>\n
Another interesting example is the work of Anna Jermolaewa, a
\nyoung Russian artist, titled Three Attempts to Survive. This
\nthree-minute video portrays a matrioska, a famous Russian doll.
\nThe video camera is pointed to a wall and then a three-by-three
\nmeter picture area appears.<\/p>\n
The show begins and the dolls suddenly seem to be alive,
\nmoving slowly at first, but gradually moving faster and producing
\ndeafening sounds. Next the dolls collide into each other, some
\ncrashing to the ground and some rotating like tops. All the dolls
\nhave lost the war and the screen is again the white wall.<\/p>\n
It certainly contained a sense of humor and entertainment,
\nwhich clearly was not what Jermalaewa intended to convey. The
\nunintended humor and entertaining elements are just side effects
\nof her various explorations.<\/p>\n
Today's art tends to present numerous fundamental problems in
\nhuman lives. In mainstream art that has accepted video art as a
\nnew medium, it is obviously not another experimentation. It has
\nbecome an idiom for uncountable ideas, including those considered
\nalmost illogical or unthinkable in the past.<\/p>",
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