Installation forms bridge between East and West

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

A huge structure built out of bamboo poles shaping like a zeppelin airship greets anyone passing the Gaya Fusions of Senses Gallery in Payangan area in Ubud, some 20 kilometers north of Denpasar.

The installation, titled Skyplace, is a remarkable creation of the famous German artist Markus Heinsdorffs.

The 27-meter-long bamboo zeppelin hovers over a 10-meter by 20-meter pool of water, clearly reflected in the water's mirror- like surface. The bamboo installation can neither move nor fly but for the artist, it is a monument to possibility -- the possibility of a noiseless airship navigating the skies in harmony with the nature, of bridging great distances, and creating aesthetic connections between Asian and European cultures.

Constructed in the shape of a zeppelin -- inspired by Graf Zeppelins' blimp in the l930s, the airship was erected in this Ubud village by local craftsmen using traditional building techniques and environmentally friendly materials.

"I wanted to create a sculpture and an architectural space which is open, transparent and works with nature and humans. People can walk inside and feel themselves within nature and human life," Markus said of his creation.

The form of installation is an airship -- the mode by which he can come to Bali, by air or sea, flying or sailing -- thus giving "airship" a double meaning. "I hope that when people walk inside the airship, the form will suddenly change for them completely".

The artist wants people to stand inside on a long gangway with the sky and landscape with the construction around them creating one special space, reflected in the water and giving the double feelings, outside and inside.

Alexander Boldizar, the gallery's manager, shared his feelings, finding Markus' structure fits comfortably with the gallery's philosophy. "Our main intention is to create an open, welcoming space for artistic inspiration of all kinds, a fusion of the senses, thoughts and aesthetics".

The zeppelin form was created when man still wanted to fly more for the dream of flying rather than to get somewhere. "And seeing one's reflection in the water of Bali, flying in an idealistic bamboo construction, will reflect not only on Bali and your own country but also on one's own journey through life," Boldizar said.

Only a few Western artists have the idea to use bamboo as major material for their artistic creations.

"My work in the West was always with metal, but now I want to change it, I hope to make my next installation in Asia again -- new forms, new installations, but using bamboo. Only bamboo gives this feeling of flight and lightness," said Markus.

Bamboo is one of the famous materials. "It is Eastern and we are now in the East." And more, it is a connection between nature and art. "The sky ship in this form can only be built with bamboo; No other material gives this aesthetics," Markus said.

Born in Steinkirchen in Bavaria, Germany in l954, Markus received training as a stonemason and goldsmith in l974. Two years later, famous artist Robert Jacobson trained him as a sculptor. In l977, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. After graduation, he worked as a goldsmith before he became the director of the school for modern designs in Villa Pacieri in Rome, Italy in l989.

He made extensive solo exhibitions around the world from Germany to New York, Italy, France, China and many other countries including Indonesia.

Many of his installation works made of diverse materials are now exhibited permanently in various public spaces in Europe. Markus garnered numerous art awards worldwide.

"But, for me working with bamboo is very fascinating".

Bamboo is the oldest and most environmentally friendly building materials known to humans, and one of the fastest growing plants with one of the longest fibers. Classified as a species of grass, it can reach a diameter of 10cm to 14cm and in tended forests up to 30cm. The aesthetic and functional aspects of bamboo make it the material for the future.

Some Western artists and scientists like engineer Otto Frei used a picture of a Torajan (an ethnic group in South Sulawesi) bamboo bridge on the cover of his book as the epitome of elegant architecture possible within our given laws and physics.

Though used in sophisticated designs by the intuitive Torajan engineering intelligence for a thousand years, bamboo has only recently been "rediscovered" in contemporary arts and architectures.

Twenty years ago, the building master Buckminster Fuller constructed a large bamboo dome in Bali, giving a new breath to bamboo as a building material of the future, as well as of the past. Columbian architect Simon Velez, constructed a bamboo pavilion at the 2000 Expo in Hanover and the Italian star architect Renzo Piano displayed various experiments of newly devised connecting techniques in his Berlin exhibition.

Despite his extensive traveling, the artist felt that arriving in Bali was a new experiment.

"Bali has given me a lot of new inspiration, and this inspiration I want to bring into this sculpture and these paintings, it starts with the possibilities and the material, working together."

It is new for him to blend traditional skills this way with Western architectural concepts, to prepare and work with the material in ways that is possible only here in the East.

"The architecture and the religion and the way to live which Indonesian people understand so well, these are all inspirations for me and also for many other foreign artists who come to Bali."

Every work is a new experiment for the artist.

"The bamboo installation Skyplace is built here and for me it's always only when the work is finished that I can say yes, if it works or not. "For him, this installation works wonderfully with this space. It has changed the area and the view of the arena for the time it is standing here."

"I want to invite people to look at this work," he said. "It becomes very interesting when people connect with the art work and the space and they are changed by it. Maybe they start also to create forms, which give yet others inspirations to make art and architecture for living together".

In the spring of 2003, this zeppelin installation will sail to Italy, where it will be reassembled in the city of Modena, closing one cycle of cultural exchange between East and West.

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The exhibition runs until Oct. 20 at Gaya Fusions of Senses Gallery, Jl.Raya Sayan, Ubud. Tel: (0361) 979252.