Dwi Marianto goes beyond theories

Dwi Marianto goes beyond theories

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Today the public has often judged artists graduating from the reputable Indonesian Institute of Arts of Yogyakarta (ISI Yogyakarta), particularly fine arts major, as being of a lower caliber than their predecessors.

The campus seems to have been devoid of the spirit of art, the element that previously helped make its graduates great artists.

Art critic Martinus Dwi Marianto, who was appointed director of the institute's post-graduate program in May this year, was not unaware of the concern that the public has shown about the institute's graduates.

He was of the opinion that the spirit of art has gone from the campus particularly because of several reasons. First, he said, unlike what happened in the campus of the Indonesian Fine Art Academy (ASRI) before, the academic community of ISI Yogyakarta is yet to merge with the people in their surroundings.

The next problem is that the institute's organization is too fat which resulted in the prevailing long-winded bureaucracy in campus activities and the institute's curriculum as well as academic policies are disadvantageous to the students.

"What happens now is that the students get only academic training but hardly any training to bolster their creativity and sensitize artistic feelings," he lamented. Obviously, he added, the creativity of the students as artists will be stunted.

It was hightime, he went on to say, that the students of ISI Yogyakarta must be equally trained academically and creatively.

That's why, he said, in the post-graduate program, the students were liberated in their way of thinking and are free from the dichotomy of theory and practice.

"Let the students' ideas flow freely in their creation. They must be freed from the shackles of theories. They must be allowed to think like people in meditation. Being and non-being will merge and be complementary to each other. Finally, this liberating process will enhance your creativity," said Dwi Marianto, who is also noted as an art critic in a number of national media publications.

A graduate of Australia's Wollongong University, he borrowed the viewpoint of a quantum physicist to explain and treat reality and view all art phenomena as part of man's daily cultural expressions

Many artists, he said, were usually unwilling to change their art approaches for fear that the public would consider them as being unprincipled or having a weak personality.

"In short, they are afraid to create anything beyond the existing norms or theories although deep in their hearts they are fully aware that this approach or method no longer suits their present taste," Dwi Marianto pointed out.

"There is an artist, for example, that has always used masks as the subject of his painting. The way he painted when he was an undergraduate student was hardly different from his method now, when he is a student in a master's program," he continued

This man, he said, erroneously believes that in this way he will be considered as a consistent artist.

Then, he went on, there are also some artists that come up with the same issues despite the variety of the media, therefore giving the impression that for him time stands still. "Ideology is found not only in politics but also in arts. When an artist clings to a particular esthetic ideology, he will view the world in a repetitive work pattern and the same paradigm," he noted.

To remain creative, however, an artist must avoid having an established viewpoint. He must, instead, regularly reshape this viewpoint. He must always look for new things although sometimes we have to disagree with other people in terms of their viewpoint or theory.

As a quantum reality, he said, art must be viewed in the perspective of a wave or its particles simultaneously. Art representation that emphasizes only the idea or the form is an incomplete reality.

Dwi Marianto did not only sit still with his ideal roaming without clear action. He has tried to overcome the stagnant of the spirit of art in his campus. He invited outside lecturers to share their experiences -- as fresh artistic touch -- to the students and introduce something which was beyond the formal curriculum.

"Recently, we invited Nandini Shinha, an Indian dancer, to help improve our artistic feelings. In the future we plan to invite people like her to our campus as guest lecturer. In this way, our artistic feelings will always be enhanced and the students will be imbued with the spirit of art," he said.