Wit, wisdom and innovation at Erasmus Huis<\/p>\n
By Dini S. Djalal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Prior to the mass marketing of the global
\nvillage, Indonesia's ethnic groups lived in relative isolation
\nand in the relative splendor of tradition.<\/p>\n
In their small non-commercialized worlds, their tools --
\ndress, weapons, even cutlery -- were few, but produced with great
\ncare and an equally keen aesthetic sense. Traditional Balinese
\nlanguage did not have a word for \"art\", but every ornate detail
\nof Balinese life was perceived by others as great \"art\".
\nSimilarly, the suku (tribes) of Kalimantan, such as the Iban and
\nthe Kenyah peoples, passed their days in flamboyant brass leg-
\nbraces, massive head-dresses, and multiple hoop earrings which
\neventually pulled down their earlobes to neck-level.<\/p>\n
\"That's a load of jewelry,\" observers today would conclude.<\/p>\n
But is it? What is jewelry? Webster's dictionary defines
\njewelry as \"objects of precious metal often set with gems and
\nworn for personal adornment.\" Here, the word \"personal\" is key,
\nand prevents jewelry from being seen as \"art\", which connotes
\npublic viewing. Yet a pendant dangling from one's neck has a
\nlarger audience than an etching hanging on a gallery wall, and
\nhas, perhaps, been produced with similarly artistic aspirations.<\/p>\n
What elevates any every-day object into the realm of art?
\nEthnocentric preconceptions or personal taste?<\/p>\n
The blurring of distinctions between \"art\" and \"accessories\"
\nis the intent of the Dutch Jewelry Exhibition at Erasmus Huis,
\nwhich will run until April 27. Curator Tom Berends compiled the
\ncontemporary works of 18 jewelers\/artists in what is an
\nimpressive and cohesive show.<\/p>\n
At the opening, Berends explained that the world of Dutch
\njewelry experienced \"a kind of revolution\" in the 1960s -- a
\nrevolution that has continued to this day. Whereas previously
\njewelry was seen and used as an expression of status, young
\njewelers Gijs Bakker and Emmy van Leersum sought to create and
\npromote jewelry as \"wearable objects.\" Their creative partnership
\ngave rise, in 1969, to the exhibition \"Objects to wear\" at the
\nStedelijk van Abbe museum in Eindhoven. The community of
\n\"modern\" jewelers\/artists has grown considerably since then.<\/p>\n
The primary difference between the new jewelers\/artists and
\ntheir predecessors was their use of materials. Not content with
\neither the aesthetic limitations or the economic elitism of
\ntraditional mediums gold, silver, and precious stones, these
\nrevolutionaries looked for more accessible and organic materials.
\nThey sought to be free of restrictions. Everything from wood,
\nrubber, steel, paper, and plexiglass were cut and molded into
\nrings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches.<\/p>\n
Modernity<\/p>\n
It is not merely freedom which the new media express, but a
\ncontemporary cultural mentality. In the late industrial age, it
\nis economically wise and culturally relevant to use \"utilitarian\"
\nmaterials. We drink from plastic cups and drive in steel machines
\n-- why not wear them too? True to the new-age 'nineties'
\nenvironmentalism, Iene Ambar also adorns her rings with recycled
\nmaterials, such as corks and bottle-caps.<\/p>\n
The only Indonesian in the show, Iene Ambar is a sculptor by
\nprofession but produces jewelry in her spare time. Her creations
\n-- brass rings with wire-attached feathers and bells shooting up
\nfrom the finger -- are exhibited standing on the tops of steel
\ncans. The dramatic size makes one forget that it is a ring until
\nAmbar pronounces, \"Oh no, it's completely wearable, even if you
\nstraighten out the wire.\"<\/p>\n
Asked how much her pieces sell for in Indonesia, Ambar
\nanswers: \"I couldn't sell these here, because no one would pay Rp
\n350,000 for my rings. But I sell many in Europe.\" The prices may
\nseem expensive by Indonesian standards, but they're a bargain if
\nyou consider that every piece is one-of-a-kind and that Ambar
\ncreates everything alone and by hand.<\/p>\n
Yet the individuality of the pieces, Ambar contends, is not
\nenough to attract Indonesian buyers. Spoiled by a cultural
\ntradition of handicrafts, Ambar says, \"Indonesians often don't
\nappreciate things made by hand, because only tukang
\n(laborers\/handymen) work with their hands.<\/p>\n
But what's the difference between a tukang and an artist?\" The
\nelitist distinction is also more evident here because \"in
\nIndonesia, as soon as you become a designer, you hire tukang. But
\nall the artists in this show still make everything themselves,\"
\nAmbar explained.<\/p>\n
For Ambar, the whole point of being an artist is to be
\ninvolved the process of creation. \"Students ask me how to make
\ncertain things, and I answer that I can't show them. Every
\ncreation of mine is like my signature. They express my personal
\nideas, and no one can imitate that,\" said Ambar.<\/p>\n
The personal ideas expressed at the show were indeed
\ninimitable, and displayed a range of attitudes and philosophies.
\nSuzanne Esser, for example, rolled and laminated magazine paper
\ninto small daggers, before arranging them into necklaces and
\nbrooches. The written word as sharp as knives? Perhaps that's too
\nextreme an interpretation, but Esser's work does explore the
\nvarious guises of the printed media.<\/p>\n
Nel Linssen took the organic approach even further with his
\nnecklaces of reinforced recycled paper. Composed of thinly-
\nspliced sheets, each two inches in diameter, it is not an
\naccessory to do yoga in. But other modes of dress have been just
\nas impractical -- stiletto shoes, for example, are downright
\nhazardous on a cobblestone sidewalk. Linssen's creations are
\nmagnificent sculptures in themselves, and need no pouty model to
\nmake them come to life.<\/p>\n
Marie van Kesteren also uses forestry products, namely
\npalmwood, for bracelets as smooth as ice. One bracelet was made
\nof wood so dark and glossy, it looked like car tires. Van
\nKesteren's technique is more stereotypically \"modern\" in its cool
\nglossy esthetics, which partly explains its accessibility and
\nwearability. The vision of the 1960s modernist movement
\nchampioned sleekness and durability over excess and whimsy.<\/p>\n
With the weariness of a generation bred on the bleak and
\nsterile wor(l)ds of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, the 1990s
\nschool of modernity allows a great deal more whimsy. Danielle
\nKoninkx's fine gold wreath of tiny glass and plastic flowers
\nhints at a fantastic imagination. Her other necklace, a white
\npaper daisy-chain, speaks for all the desperate voices of the
\npeace movement, while retaining the lightness of innocence.<\/p>\n
The rest of the show is just as rich. Much of the jewelry is
\nmade of silver or steel -- both sleek and shiny surfaces. These
\nmaterials manage to shirk away from grandeur even in copious
\nquantity or elaborate design. Some pieces venture into other
\nmediums, like Birgit Laken's copper spiral brooches or Robert
\nSmit's gold Kandinsky-like designs.<\/p>\n
But perhaps the most singular is Ruudt Peters, whose Greek-
\ninspired creations use mixed media in very novel ways. All his
\nworks have Greek titles, like \"Absolom\" and \"Soppho.\" The latter
\nis a silver necklace of pearl-inserted netting with a large
\ngoose-egg in the middle. Not everyone will share Peters' exotic
\nesthetics, but most will appreciate his philosophical
\nsensibilities. Greece's Parthenon was the site of the world's
\nfirst democracy, and ostensibly the birthplace of modernism. And
\nthe Greeks' passion for all things beautiful provides the basis
\nof a truly modern society: that every object has utility and
\nbeauty, creating a world where everything is art.<\/p>",
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