Exhibition shows illuminating possibilities
By Aendra H. Medita
JAKARTA (JP): In the realm of belief, light is supposed to illuminate life by making it visible, observable and enjoyable.
Yet it probably never occurred to Scottish inventor James Watt when he invented the electric lightbulb that one day there would be a rich variety of lamp designs, an art form in itself. Some of those produced by designers in the Netherlands are now part of an exhibition at Erasmus Huis, Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. S-3, Kuningan, South Jakarta, until March 24.
The lamps reflect both the power of tradition and the strength of contemporary artistic experimentation. Tin Berends, a Dutch art expert, has collected these works and exhibited them in a number of other countries besides Indonesia (the same exhibition will also be organized in Yogyakarta from March to early April).
The exhibition offers these unique items as an attractive form of visual expression -- and the objects provide beauty through their rejection of the rigidity of form that ordinary lamps normally assume.
Take, for example, lamps produced in the 1920s by the Dutch firm, Gipsen. Despite the variety of shapes, the lamps attest to functionality as a strong characteristic of Dutch designers at the time.
In terms of design, the lamps lend prominence to light. In addition, the symbolic power which may be derived from these lamps also produces surprises and inspiration.
Lamps, again in terms of design, alter atmospheres and the perception of space as statues do likewise. The difference lies in the fact that a statue will stand solid as a completely three- dimensional object, while a lamp will create an aura through the medium of light.
The exhibition may also be taken to signify the revival of art in design, which is now no longer restricted to the formalism of shapes known as standard lamps. What counts is the raw nature that light assumes in its appearance to produce a nuance, although the reality of the object may be distorted in the context of deconstructing the original shape.
It is this raw nature that also makes the light in a lamp visible, as shown in a piece of work by Sylvia Merschmann called Nympha 1999, which is made of a type of nylon, called granulatsynthetic, some 250 cm long with a diameter of 15 cm. The light that this piece of work offers is no longer ordinary, assuming a kaleidoscope of yellow, green and red.
Similarly, the work of Eva Schulte Nordholt, Lighthouse, 2000 produces meandering movements, even though its shape is like a child's toy.
Another unconventional work is UFO-Lamp, 1998 by Tom Jan Ketelaar, which resembles a UFO as dreamed up by scientists. In the same vein are works of other lamp-designing artists like Frans van Nieuwenborg with his Canto, Chiaro, 1999, Jurgen Reichert with Hydra Tubiformis, 1999 and Engelien van den Dool's Oriental Splits, 2001.
Conventionally shaped lamps, which are nonetheless impressive, include works by W.H. Gispen, Tejo Remy, Marcel Wanders and Cecile van der Heiden. They suggest an intensive awareness of their makers, laden with the meaning and symbolic power in which light, at least, liberates the reality verbally known as ordinary light.
This liberating quality of light does not speak much in terms of the power of form. As a result, a lamp's form may be treated with perfection although the touch of dynamism and harmony inherent in the original power of light is far from ignored.
All the objects on display offer the dynamic nature of innovation. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that this fresh artistic offering from the Netherlands has come in the form of the mysterious power of lamps, in which light turns into a major force after being subjected to new designs and processes. Let me assure you that this exhibition will be a revelation to all art aficionados.