Belgian uses local materials to present universal ideas
Belgian uses local materials to present universal ideas
Text and photos by R. Fadjri
YOGYAKARTA (JP): A journey often yields new ideas. Apart from enriching our visual experience, our encounter with objects we have never seen before may also lead to a spiritual experience. A journey may also introduce us to things that are similar to our past experiences, although they may take completely different forms or shapes.
For an artist, a journey is more than just a physical pleasure. It works as a creative impulse that leads to the creation of new things.
And that is exactly what Frank Liefooghe, 52, has achieved. This Belgian artist is now exhibiting his works at the Ardiyanto Gallery in Yogyakarta.
Liefooghe, who prefers to refer to his works as "objects", feels a certain wave of vibration when he sees indigenous objects here, in Moscow, in Mexico, in China or anywhere he goes. During his 30 years as an artist he has made at least 175 cultural trips around the world. They are eventually recorded in paintings, sculptures, objects, performances or happening arts which are always displayed or performed while he is still in the place he has visited.
Liefooghe came across objects in Indonesia that were previously alien to him, but familiar in terms of concept. He saw blek, the tin container used to store chips; he saw dusters made of chicken feathers; and he saw besek, the bamboo food container. All these became a new visual experience which he blended with a phenomenon taking place in his home country. Thus Just like Belgium was created.
This work consists of three blek painted in blue, each with a round lid and a transparent glass side to reveal a heap of red, yellow and black eggs.
Belgium, a former kingdom united by the glory of a king, became a federal republic when the last king died. Just like Belgium symbolizes the end of a unity that was replaced by separate federal blocks. The color blue symbolizes hope for unity (the egg) that will never be. A simple but effective metaphor. Something starting out united but ending up as individual pieces is an universal experience.
Simplicity through the use of minimum symbols also appears in his World Fraternity First. This is a paradoxical depiction of Europe today. On one hand, there is a movement for a united economy through the European Community, but on the other hand there is a stronger drive to maintain racial purity through the neo-Nazi movement. The re-emergence of the fascist attitude among certain European societies has led to the elimination of one group by another.
This fascist attitude often surfaces in the form democracy but, in practice, it is ethnic cleansing. Look at Bosnia, which is still coming to terms with genocide which has annihilated human values. Or the crushing of freedom in Chechnya by the very person who is the symbol of democracy in Moscow.
Liefooghe records all this with five dusters arranged on the wall. Each of the dusters is adorned with a woven bamboo triangle painted in blue and symbolizes the hope for borderless brotherhood.
Future
Frank Liefooghe's works are all heavily laden with current problems, or a projection of future lives. Liefooghe is telling his audience about today's reality and his dreams.
Uniform of a New Look, is a very futuristic depiction of the impact of globalization on 21st century human beings. Uniform of a New Look is a human-size statue made of cloth. It is draped in white cloth and stands rigidly with a 11-meter long trunk, also made of white cloth. The rounded trunk gets wider at the end and on top are seven small funnels which continually emit colorful fluids, leaving colorful marks on the trunk.
"This is the view of the 21st century people, which is highly influenced (colored) by other people's views," explained Liefooghe.
The statue speaks of an individual's helplessness against outside influences. Is he trying to tell us of the nightmare that comes with the fact that state borders have become more transparent and the individual no longer has the power to remain independent? Or is this a nightmare of the advanced technology which only results in the elimination of the individual? There are many interpretations for Liefooghe's 21st century man.
Liefooghe is obviously highly skilled in telling his stories. Using symbols that are familiar to all, he cleverly uses local materials to present his universal ideas. There is the giant egg made of woven rattan and painted in blue. There is the besek diagonally arranged on the wall and there is also the arrangement of bamboo fans. All serve as easily recognized metaphors, regardless of the viewer's nationality.
The only thing lacking in his exhibition is display organization, which creates an impression that everything was simply dumped into the room. Nothing divides one work from another, causing the exhibition hall to look crowded.
However, one may also argue that the unusual arrangement reflects the reality of jumbled state borders.
Frank Liefooghe's exhibition will last until Feb. 14.