Journey into the spirit of the times of the Asmat
Journey into the spirit of the times of the Asmat
By Teguh Ostenrik
JAKARTA (JP): Perhaps it would be interesting to look at the
problem facing Asmat art in the context of a worldwide
phenomenon.
May I cite the example of Montmartre, Paris, where Picasso
once lived and created many of his masterpieces. And where at the
same time his neighbors were busy producing "instant" art for
tourists.
Is it justified to say that because tourist art was produced
in Montmartre, all the artists there created, and painted only
for money?
In seeking a framework and justification for receiving Asmat
art, we often do not posses the relevant points of reference in
line with what we would like to envision.
Every time we attempt to place their art in the "fine-art"
context, we are placing, and "risking " art which posses a very
rare and dangerous aura.
Naturally I am confident that the Asmat themselves will be
able to safeguard the magical value of their traditions.
Modernization progresses very fast destroying space and time
boundaries.
This means that men have an incredible ability to dominate
space and time in a way that will carry positive and negative
effects.
This is applicable also in Asmat art.
In today's context Asmat art can not be prevented from being
modernized.
The issue is: whether the Asmat aura will have the same value
as before, or whether its impact will be lessened or increased?
Only when we figure this out can we find a solution to the
problem of how to "safeguard" the Asmat against a "negative"
impact, through establishing positive modernization "support"
methods which should be constructive, rational and effective.
We begin with the most common.
Is it possible for traditional matters to last during the
super modern era?
The answer is not easily concluded.
To sustain what is traditional, we do not, now, have an
identical "space and time" context to the one in which the
tradition was born.
This signifies that tradition is very expensive, and
conservation costs are high.
Honestly speaking, we can never defy the encroachment of
modernization. So why not take advantage of the situation?
For example by creating interaction between existing
traditional elements.
If Picasso approached tribal art at a more profound level than
any of his contemporaries, this was because for some time he had
been dissatisfied with the traditional western approach to the
painting of form and objects.
In Les Demoiselles d'Avignon -- 1907 we have, albeit in a
tentative and clumsy fashion, a new approach to the problem of
representing three-dimensional volumes on a two-dimensional
surface.
It is in this that the painting's supreme originality lies...
(Cubism -- John Golding)
Roughly speaking we no longer have the same spirit as that
which gave impetus to the birth of the great art of Asmat. And
because of specific space and time boundaries, we can never turn
back the clock. Just like our own deaths, which separate us from
our worldly possessions.
But there is hope, we can remember our ancestors in a thousand
different ways.
Look once again at the carvings and earthen colors used by the
Asmat, and the almost straight lines that nearly form a
geometrical order.
It almost begs the viewer to further touch the source of
communication. It is apparent that during the creation process
there was a binding communication with the Creator, and it is
during this time, that the mathematical perspective is no longer
needed.
Ornaments will later be interpreted into different meanings
which relate to their daily activities.
Thereby a new symbolism will emerge which has found its
uniting visual language: spirit, bone, fish fins, water ripples,
currents, tail of crocodile, etc.
What we would now like to prove in theoretical terms is easier
to do because Asmat art is not entirely extinct, perhaps just
approaching death.
There are few methods of salvaging it, but one is through a
global understanding of two principal matters:
* The pure art of Asmat, owing its impetus from a socio-
cultural-religious spirit, is rich with an aura which we rarely
find in other cultural heritages. This in principal will require
efforts to save it.
* Today, the easiest way not "to be left behind" is to "join
the others". Which means that without abandoning the Asmat
spirit, we will find and even expand the aura of Asmat.
For now, let the Asmat people live in their own world, because
it is this very personal world which gives birth to the
extraordinary forms of Asmat art.
The parting of the Asmat people and their ancient spirits is
actually not too tragic, what is alarming is our fear and
attempts to "over protect" them from the influences of
modernization.
Through considerations which emphasize tourism value (read:
Money) many efforts have been made by modern man to keep
indigenous tribes in remote areas in their primitive states.
The initiative and efforts of Bishop Sowada in Agats to hold
the annual Asmat Art Auction will have the following impact:
* Create a development forum for a contemporary Asmat art.
* Initiate a new traditional festival which is similar to the
spirit of Sekatenan in Solo (Surakarta, Central Java) and
Yogyakarta.
* Place Asmat artists in the established art market naturally.
Abstraction
Abstract art has become an Asmat necessity, especially as they
attempt to portray their interrelationship with their ancestors'
spirits, and homage to the powers of nature, and their spiritual
and physical needs.
From their cultural heritage, they have learned how to make
stylized sculptures, panels or relief carvings on shields.
When observing the works of humans, one can see similarities
between the modern sculpture of a European artist such as Picasso
and someone more contemporary such as Baselitz; who has been
greatly influenced by African art -- where anatomical proportions
dictated by academic art are distorted.
Looking once more at Kamoro contemporary art, one feels that
one is looking at a masterpiece, "the mother" of European
Cubistic art.
Adam Saimas, an Asmat sculptor, not only examines what his
predecessors have achieved, but he dares to include in his art
the various daily happenings of his village. A daily life based
on making a living and surviving.
It is true that fish, snakes and boats full of Asmat warriors
are often the subject of Adam Saimas' works, but its symbolism
has been mutated in parallel with the development of its time.
The endorsement a new vernacular of art forms discovered by
Picasso after he transcended the limits set by his culture, is
the same as the concessions made by Asmat sculptors, as a direct
consequence of the positive friction between their traditional
culture and that of their visitors.
It is guaranteed that the distortion of forms experienced by
the Asmat cultures will continue and develop, even will become
the impetus for the birth of a new and more dynamic culture.