RI sculptors fill Singapore's Volume and Form

RI sculptors fill Singapore's Volume and Form

By Amir Sidharta

SINGAPORE (JP): Visitors lining up at Singapore's immigration
checkpoint at Changi airport are greeted with the city's latest
touch of aesthetics. Works of fine art and quite monumental
sculpture are placed in each of the four arrival halls of the
airport, giving a new dimension to the vast and otherwise rather
mundane space.

Actually, many other sculptures are placed along the long
walkways connecting the main terminal to the terminal gates.
Among others, Indonesian artist S. Teddy D's Tak Kutuk Dadi Watu
(I Curse To Become Stone) consists of stone television sets and
can be seen by observant passengers passing through gate
sections D and E, located between Terminal 1 and 2 of the
airport.

Hundreds of sculptures by artists from 20 countries in the
Asia Pacific region have been brought to Singapore as part of the
Volume and Form exhibition, which will last until Sept. 5. The
exhibition is meant to transform the island nation into a vast
outdoor sculpture gallery. Sculpture pieces will be placed
throughout the island; from the airport, to parks, museums,
hotels, commercial areas and other public spaces. The largest
concentration of works can be found in the 52-hectare botanical
gardens.

Indonesian-based sculptors have also been invited to
participate in the show and their works can be found in and
around the Singapore Art Museum. A piece by Pintor Sirait is
placed prominently in front of the Singapore Art Museum.
Reminiscent of a large fowl with a purple and green body and an
orange tail, this colorful sculpture is titled Phoenix Rising. In
fact, the sculptor describes the phoenix as a mythical pseudobird
related to myths symbolizing resurrection.

Equipped with a spiral staircase, the artwork constructed out
of painted steel and aluminum allows or even invites people to
climb around the sculpture, making it a rather interactive piece.

"I am encouraging the viewer to not only experience this
sculpture visually, but interact with its ascending/descending
spiraling potential in relation to the idea of a mandala as a
dance," explains the artist.

Sculptures by Mella Jaarsma, Anusapati, F.X. Harsono, and
Yusra Martinus are placed in the glass-encased corridors of the
Singapore Art Museum. Harsono's Charred Victims (1995), an
installation of charred wood pieces put together to look like
corpses with the use of nuts and bolts, reminds viewers of the
charred victims trapped inside shop houses and shopping malls
during the May 1998 riots in Jakarta. Interestingly enough, the
work was done three years before the incident. It is clear that
the artist is not only referring to a single historical incident,
but to a larger issue of violence and society's deprivation of
humanity.

Mella Jaarsma's My Kampung's Private Places is another
installation consisting of metal woks placed on terra-cotta urns.
Photographs of various Javanese kitchen scenes are set in
fiberglass resin in the wok, so as to create an impression that
the images are floating. In two woks, there are molds of hands,
perhaps a reference to the emphasis on manual labor of such
kitchens. "A kitchen, which is the essence of family life, is a
very closed place. This is not a place for strangers to visit, it
is often very dirty and impractical," the artist explains. She
contrasts the kitchen with other parts of the house. She observes
that the elements found in a kitchen reflect the social status of
the family.

Anusapati's Object no. 9 is a giant wooden spoon that consists
of two parts connected with a hinge. "An important source for my
works is traditional equipment produced and used by people in the
village, which is not disappearing, but is replaced by modern,
industrially made equipment," says the artist. The hinged spoon
certainly raises the issue about the utensil's usability. What is
the function of the hinge? Does it increase its function, or does
it make it rather unusable?

A grouping of sculptures placed at the city's new Sculpture
Square, a venue converted from a modest old church not far from
the Singapore Art Museum, is perhaps the most interesting
arrangement of works in the exhibition. A gigantic head of a
goddess titled Devi by Indian sculptor Ravinder Reddy, measures
almost three meters high, and is placed in the main hall of the
old church. It appears like a giant trapped inside the small old
building, especially to passers-by at night, giving a rather
surrealistic impression. There were also some people who thought
that the place was an Indian church of some sort. In fact,
Reddy's sculptures address the issues of gender in contemporary
Indian society.

Hedi Heryanto's sculpture, Silakan Makan (Bon Apetit/Eating
Nothing) is also placed in the building which is the main gallery
space of Sculpture Square. It is a construction resembling a
giant teapot warmer through which people can walk. The outer wall
is formed using tin cans from food products, primarily biscuits
and milk. However, the artist has also used the tin container of
contact adhesive in this construction. Hundreds of spoons are
placed on the inner walls of the construction, creating a
nauseating effect to those walking into or standing inside it.
The piece is certainly a commentary on food and diet. The artist
wants to show industrial dominance on the food products that we
eat today, and how it contains more chemical compounds rather
than "the essential substances that our body needs".

There are also works by G. Sidharta Soegijo and Nindityo
Adipurnomo in the Volume and Form exhibition. However, it is
unclear where their works have been placed.

Although the organizers have made an interesting brochure to
promote the event, there is still no map showing the location of
the works. It is really unfortunate that the organizers have not
been able to provide an informative map that would make it easier
for art enthusiasts to look for the sculptures in Volume and
Form. A map that lists all of the works in the show along with a
visual reference and provides geographical information about
where the pieces are located would be a crucial management tool
for a visitor to the island nation in determining which works
they would like to see and where they are located.

Without this map, the exhibition becomes too reliant on
visitors walking through and stumbling into a piece of sculpture.
Even seasoned travelers who use Changi airport all the time might
not realize that a wonderful show of sculptures is going on, and
the airport is one of the venues in which the exhibition is
staged. Much less would first-time tourists to Singapore notice
the show. Some works also might not be clearly identified as a
sculpture.

Despite its shortcomings, Singapore's Volume and Form can
certainly offer some inspiration for Jakarta to hold a similar
show in the festive year 2000. Jakarta can certainly learn from
the accomplishments as well as the mistakes that Singapore has
faced this year, so that they will be able to hold a similar if
not better show next year.