Exhibition shows illuminating possibilities

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.