Public art to stimulate people's interest

Boudewijn Brands, Contributor, Jakarta

Most people working in Jakarta spend two or three hours per day in traffic, and there are many billboards that vie for their attention.

If you drive yourself, you fight for space on the road and try not to lose your patience with inconsiderate motorists blocking an intersection and the lack of traffic police to direct traffic.

In Yogyakarta, there are fewer fast cars because the city's population is largely made up of students who ride motorcycles.

Electronic billboards are not common in Yogyakarta, and instead one is more likely to see banners behind which the more subtle outlines of buildings can be seen.

Stopping at a red light is unavoidable, and at a Yogyakarta traffic light there may be a surprise: in the middle of the crossing you'll suddenly notice some chairs with signs painted on them. "This is unusual," you think, and "what is this?"

The art is on display at several busy spots in Yogyakarta: the traffic circle in front of Gajah Mada University, at the Tugu monument north of the railway station, the Wirobrajan crossing west of the center, Gondomanan east of it and the lesser known Pingit.

It is a Public Art Project initiated by the pioneer of such projects in Yogyakarta: Ouda Teda Ena, who was born in 1970. Getting messages across to other people is his life as he is also a teacher.

When interviewed, a very surprising picture came out. In fact, he said, he was unable to read and write when he first started school. He could draw however.

He soon learned to read and write and ended up studying to be an English teacher and taught at the Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta.

There he became academic coordinator of the Indonesian Language and Culture Intensive Course as well as a lecturer. He is also an editor of the English language magazine Dialogue.

How did this man also become an artist? "I never stopped drawing. In fact, we had a crazy art teacher in high school who forced us to paint and to use a lot of different materials. It was also expensive as he made us bring different materials each week, including oil and acrylic paints. But the result was that I started to paint in 1986."

In April 1996, he held a solo exhibition in Museum Vredeburg, Yogyakarta, where he displayed about 60 works. All this was outside of the "official" art circuit, and with newly made friends a group of about 30 people was created under the name Kelompok Sepi, literally meaning Quiet Group.

This is not a group of quiet people but of "borderline artists" from the Indonesian Seniman Pinggiran. They do not feel at home with, as he calls them, the gondrong (people with long hair and earrings) who visit the Cemeti Arts House or with the more formal atmosphere at the Bentara Budaya art exhibition center.

They also feel that the public at large only learns about exhibitions in galleries through publications. As such there is no direct contact or feedback from the public.

In 1999, Ouda staged his first outdoor exhibition on the sidewalks in Yogyakarta and in Joglo Sriwedari, Surakarta. The theme was violence and men. This was followed by placing scarecrows at traffic lights in Yogyakarta in June and July 2000 to demonstrate city people's indifference toward each other.

He also made an art project called Interdependence when teaching and studying in Australia in October 2000.

His current public art project could be interpreted as the tables and chairs suggesting to people that they take a moment to rest and reflect on all the hustle and bustle of the traffic.

His purpose is to prompt a reaction, but he also pointed out that usually, and especially in Yogyakarta, people sit on mats on the floor. In the olden days it was only the king who sat on a chair.

Now it is other people "with authority" who for Ouda are a symbol of the dead, in that they are no longer progressing. But the chairs also have symbols on them that are visible when passing. The symbols are a heart (love), an arrow (fast), a square (blocked) and these are sometimes crossed.

Ouda's final aim is to deconstruct the single interpretation of anything. An example he gave was: people see someone in a BMW sedan and assume he is a good and successful man. What about corrupt people using ill-gotten money to buy such a car?

"Actually," he says with a grim, "this also goes for art collectors." He is not concerned about popularity as an artist. "I pay for the work from my salary, the interaction with the public is direct and I feel that this is my way of contributing to society".

--Ouda Teda Ena's Public Art Project is on display at unavoidable traffic spots in Yogyakarta until Aug. 24.