Mural project reclaims public space in Yogya

Mural project reclaims public space in Yogya

Farah Wardani, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Space has always been a tricky problem for art, particularly
contemporary art, in Indonesia. Many say that the numerous
galleries in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta -- considered the
metropolitan centers of contemporary art -- cannot serve as the
only medium to develop the art form.

This is because the bigger problem is actually rooted in the
lack of a relationship between art and Indonesian society. In
turn, this explains the general lack of appreciation for art that
exists in Indonesia.

The above thought is based on such questions as: how many
people actually go to art galleries to enjoy and appreciate art?
To what extent can art communicate with people? Does the general
public really care about art -- or conversely, does art really
care about the general public? What is the role of art
in society?

Some might see that art already has a space of its own, or in
other words, that it is a private space in itself, an exclusive
territory that not many people can enter. Hence, by maintaining
itself as a private space, there is always a big gap between art
and the public.

Some artists try to solve this problem by bringing art to the
public space, thus creating so-called "public art."

One of the most prominent leaders of this art movement is
Apotik Komik, a group of young artists from Yogyakarta,
currently: Samuel Indratma, Bambang "Toko" Witjaksono, and Arie
Dyanto. The group previously included Popok Tri Wahyudi, who left
in April 2002.

Formed in 1997, Apotik Komik has been focusing on this
approach of developing popular art mediums (often sneered at as
"low art") such as murals, graffiti, and comics, and taking the
public space as the site of their creative process.

Their murals can still be seen at some public places in
Yogyakarta and Jakarta. Most of their work are usually products
of a specific project, which delivers particular messages
concerning the issue of art in the public space, or problems
within the public space itself.

Their latest major project was not restricted to members of
Apotik Komik, but also involved 14 other young Yogya artists, who
became part of the project by invitation. This massive project
was to create a series of murals in some of the city's busiest
districts, entitled "Sama-sama" ("Together", from
August-October 2002).

As reflected in the title, "Sama-sama" is a collective effort
that aims to affirm the social role of art, as expounded in the
introductory note of the project proposal, which is not merely to
decorate the city, but to create a bond between art and the urban
environment, as well as to mediate interactions and dialog among
the public.

Expanding upon this initial idea, several young photographers
were invited to create photographic art stemming from scenes
depicted in the murals, both as response to the work and also as
creative documentation. The resulting photography can be viewed
at an exhibition held at Bentara Budaya Yogyakarta from Nov. 12-
19, which also marks the completion of the "Sama-sama" mural
project.

Inescapably, public space is a sensitive field, and bringing
art to the public means that the artwork itself has to compromise
to the constructed rules and order within the selected space. The
resulting art cannot go so far as to intervene in the norms (and
authority) of the surrounding vicinity, but still has to stand
out somewhere between the obscenity of wild graffiti, the
ornamental sense of city decorations, and the authoritative aura
of monuments.

The artists' strategy lies in trying to position themselves as
part of society, of urban life, instead of as watchers standing
outside of society, looking on from a distance. This project
attempts to eliminate that distance, or at least, to bridge the
distance.

So how has the project come out? The most massive work is the
series of murals across the giant pillars and walls underneath
the flyover at Jl. Lempuyangan, the large grim constructions lit
up with bright-colored pictures and various scenes from the
artists' imagination.

The artists have turned the public space into a mural of their
laissez-faire. Pleasant-looking absurdities of hybrid figures,
mostly drawn in comic-book style, play around before every
pedestrian's eyes: a weird angel, huge watermelons, surreal
creatures, a muscular giant stretches out his arm like Atlas and
holds the bridge, and so on.

Could this carnival of fantasies be able to give a more
human touch to the dusty jungle of brick constructions and
illuminating electric lights? The general aura created by the
murals seems to represent the artists' unified voice.

How the works, as a whole, relate to their surrounding
environment -- as in inviting society to join their spirit of
reclaiming the public space -- remains a question. The greater
challenge they have to face in penetrating urban reality is to
survive all the complexities of urban life -- with all the
rigidity and rapidness of the city's hard, fast life, where each
element seems to move in transience to one another.

The spirit was more easily grasped when the project was still
in progress, when the artists could be seen in action, painting
the walls perched on high scaffolds, blending in with sidewalk
vendors, cars, motorcyclists, pedestrians and other passers-by as
they were suspended in the attractiveness of their performance.
That was the moment this art/performance gave a psychological
impact on its surroundings.

With the project finished, it is left to time to tell how the
spirit will endure the fast rhythm of urban life and
not become obsolete, ending up as just another exotic decoration,
a memorabilia of among the other "artistic" activities of Yogya.

Nevertheless, the Sama-sama project still deserves to be
acknowledged as an act of inviting the public to rethink the
meaning of sharing life together, within the complicated and
increasingly individualistic urban space. It raises the issue of
returning public space to the public, the loss of which perhaps
comes to pass, along with the loss of togetherness in realizing
our urban dreams.