Presenting a volumentric concept to manifest life

By Chandra Johan

JAKARTA (JP): One of the important questions in contemporary art is the problem of illusion, concrete space and representation. A sculptures' figure, for example, is an image and a representation in a dimension and concrete space. We can touch and feel each texture and dent in that sculpture. Our relation with that sculpture could last in the same time, place and space. The reality in that sculpture is not an illusion, because its presence directly greets us. However, a sculpture is also an illusion, because it represent the non-presence. A human figure of bronze sculpture, for example, is not a bronze human. We keep being aware of its presence as a sculpture given a characteristic by the bronze. Element, characteristic, space and form in that sculpture are absent when not presented as such. Although being in a concrete space and dimension, a sculpture stays as an interpretation or allusion, an illusion given a "soul" by its creator, and therefore has a distance, not only with us but also with its creator.

Dan Hisman, 57, seems to present these difficult problems to us as a discourse which is properly being accurate, as shown in his solo exhibition named Kawat Duri (Barbed Wire) theme at the National Art Gallery from Aug. 5 to Aug. 15. Although there is a shortage here and there, but Dan -- as a senior artist -- could balance several developments in our contemporary art at this moment. This is also a point which differs with a most part of senior Indonesian artists who generally tend to be established.

Observing the development of his paintings, his works shows a genre of its own in the development of the art of painting around him. There is a strong tendency in Dan's paintings, i.e., in transforming and deforming each object-humans or other things into a certain form and characteristic. In Dan's hands each object changes characteristically into solid things characteristics-metal or stone-so that it appear a solid, massive and volumetric image. Of course it cannot be compared with the tendency of several Yogyakarta painters who characterize their objects into characteristics of temples' stones or other solid things to present a surrealistic effect, Dan's paintings are not pretentious to arise our imagination into the surrealistic world. On the contrary, Dan questions the world of illusion, representation reality, as elements of non-eternality of the object reality.

Let's observe more precisely what is really presented by Dan Hisman through his works, and what has become his problem. The objects in Dan's paintings are not interpretations on the reality of life an sich, but objects which have become a reality of art before, in this case, sculpture. Dan Hisman paints sculpture figures on his canvases, especially in the beginning period of his works. This started from his amazement toward monumental sculpture of Henry Moore, Rodin, even sculpture once made by Picasso. He said, he was especially amazed with the dimension aspect and the character of metal and marble, so that it pushed him to represent them through painting. But in the next periods of his paintings, like Wanita Tidur (Sleeping Woman), Berfikir Lateral (Lateral Thinking), Ibu dan Anak (Mother and Child), he didn't transform those modern sculptures into his works anymore, but presented a volumetric "concept" to manifest life. Firmly, according to Dan, conceptually, philosophically and pictorially, his paintings are not representing representation of masters' works, but based on personal perception about life.

The question: why are in each of his paintings always presented with stereotype style, pose, gesture of modern sculptures, like in Ibu dan Anak, Impressi Impresionisme (Impression of Impressionism) and Coples? In those works (and also in a number of other works) each object and figure is placed above the base, as if he wants to confirm his presence autonomously, separated from the reality of daily life. Furthermore, each object he painted is incompatible with the nature and natural characteristics as it is, except as metal or marble which could crack consume by time, as with metal or marble sculptures. For this Dan Hisman says: "The process of making of those paintings keeps standing on 'non-eternality' concepts, monumental character and sculptural effect, which give a three-dimension effect, I don't think anymore that there must be a separation in the process of a work of art, for example two dimension rules must be different with three dimension forms".

Awareness towards those things makes his works not merely presenting illusion, but also questioning illusion or, precisely, confirming the presence of illusion and relativity of art itself in a concept or the idea of "no"-eternity" and volumetrics. So, as a consequence, his works lead to a double distance: the illusion area we see in his canvass is not merely an interpretation of an experience of life, but also an interpretation of experience of art.

This idea of Dan is manifested in several works in three dimension whether as statue or installation-which become the base of Kawat Duri theme, because truly a big part uses barbed wire. Of course barbed wire we could read as a temptation, symbol or metaphor. Barbed wire becomes an open text, but possesses a message and meaning which had been defined in our social life: as protector, trap or weapon.

This idea to use barbed wire as an expression medium did not appear suddenly, after we knew several of his previous paintings, among them Periode Hitam (Black Period), that used collage technique and an assemblage of daily things, including barbed wire. Periode Hitam consists of four canvass panels picturing three human figures (one of them a mourning woman) in a space like prison. This painting which is mastered by black color and darkness surely want to express a tragedy of life experienced by someone or group of people who are eliminated in life in the society. In this painting barbed wire had been glued to the canvass, uniting the illusion world with the real world (barbed wire).

It seems that using barbed wire as a medium and symbol is associative and suggestive enough, so that Dan continued it in his three dimension works to response to the social situation at this moment. We are presented with figures lying among the winding of barbed wire, cans used for drinks, second- hand tires, refrigerator and other things, burned and black through Mei Hitam (Black May), we were also presented with a torso layered with barbed wire with weights in Scare Crow, a figure lying in Disharmoni Lingga dan Yoni II.

There are a number of events and experience which remind us to alert it, whether concerning social chaos, environment and values in society. Barbed wire, therefore, becomes a kind of symbol of fear, nightmare and temptation. Besides that, Dan brought forward a few important things in contemporary art discourse.

He said: "Several critics says that the works I exhibited are 'installation' works. But for me personally those works are shapes or figures which come out of my canvass space to get a real atmosphere and space, so that the viewers of my works can enter into an atmosphere and space, so that the viewers of my works can enter into an atmosphere and situation intensely".

With such a statement it is clear that Dan wants to free his object from an illusion to a concrete or free space, touchable and seen from several corners, as if his painting found his actual characteristics in concreteness, not too far in distance with us anymore. In his three dimension works Dan in fact didn't attempted to make illusions which are too far by way of showing "to exist a process" and not a pretentious work to be said "finished". Surely this is an interesting idea for the development of his volumetric art in the future, where Dan could enlarge and deepen several semiotic and sematic problems in visual language, and still could still guard and be aware of every mission he wants bring. It is possible that one day Dan will concrete one theme in his painting into a three dimension field and become one piece which are mutually related in one work unit.

This painter worked as head of research and development unit, culture and art section of the Jakarta Cultural Office. He has participated in several exhibitions abroad, among others in Amsterdam, Rome, Bangkok, Paris and Los Angeles.