Sculptors carving out their place on the arts map

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Amid the vibrancy of an art market dominated by works of painters, sculptors find themselves marginalized. Even large exhibitions and biennales only include a few sculptors, not to speak of their scant appearances at auctions and award competitions.

In an effort to break through such domination, sculptors throughout Indonesia joined forces to establish the Association of Indonesian Sculptors (API) in 2000. Not all sculptors have become members, as some prefer to go it alone.

That has not stopped the association from proceeding with its goals. Fueled by a strong desire -- fittingly, the acronym means "fire" in Indonesian -- API held its first exhibition in Jakarta in 2001, but it did not live up to expectations as there were too many sculptures for the limited space of the National Gallery.

This year, however, API seems to be rising to its goals. The spacious place for its current exhibition is right in the center of business: The World Trade Center. Filling the inner spaces and the outer grounds of the building, the works of 84 sculptors testify to their very existence.

In Search of Peace is the theme around which the participating works have been arranged. Yet, since no selection was applied to submitted works, many may not directly relate to the theme.

Then again, "peace" can be many things in personal interpretations. It is therefore not a surprise to find a plethora of meanings, as well as modes between extremes of the utterly refined and blending various techniques, like Pintor Sirait's, and the straightforward, simple and easily understandable forms of Hedi Hariyanto's works.

As widely diverging as Pintor and Hedi's works may be, they seem to share a common interest in pushing the boundaries that define the art of sculpture.

Pintor Sirait's work Last Breath is a hanging sculpture, and of a technique that combines a very thin layer of etching on stainless steel. So thin is the etching -- as thin as human energy when drowning in the ocean, says Pintor -- that the tidal waves rushing against the seashore are only vaguely visible, a helicopter flying over as if on a search and rescue mission, looking for lost victims.

The work suggests a state of helplessness in the endless human struggle for peace and the need to find a breath of fresh air.

Pintor said the work was inspired by the security forces patrolling Bali's beaches prior to U.S. President George W. Bush' recent visit, the struggle against terrorists -- ultimately the search for peace.

The second work is a model for a work at the upcoming Busan Biennale in South Korea. It suggests a bank in a public space, which is connected to a 3-dimensional configuration of metal forms, reconstructed from remnants of shapes and forms found in various traditional Indonesian batik. The work, which will stay permanently in Busan, will be made of stainless steel sheets in a long process of cutting, welding and grinding.

In contrast to Pintor's subtle, refined and lengthy processed works is Hedi Hariyanto's installation, made of three 200 x 50 x 20 cm clay "boxes" seemingly roughly shaped from raw clay. They are akin to improvised coffins in which the shape of a corpse is dug out, and filled with all kinds of small beans growing into sprouts after a week or so.

A twist on the traditional RIP written on Christian tombstones, the installation is titled Peace in Rest.

Other works of interest are Iriantine Karnaya's Tears of War III, resembling an homage to the fallen victims of war. Made of mixed media, the fence-like work with red and purple cloth winded around the capriciously shaped metal has a lyrical esthetic, with tears made of transparent catalyst resin that touch on the dramatic.

Also on show are Syahrizal Koto's Kehidupan (Life), a sculpture showing a cyclist on a bicycle with a large front wheel and a smaller back wheel, with two tiny doves on its carrier; Yuli Prayitno's fine esthetics in Dan Aku... (And Me), a circular glass plate on which two little fish made of silicon are metaphors for human beings in a world of emptiness.

Nita Nursita, one of the five female sculptors in this exhibition, focuses on women in their search for peace. Aren't women the most vulnerable in the rampant cases of violence today, she says. Her work in bronze, Kebaya (Traditional Blouse), is inspired by a woman she saw during a cleansing ceremony in Bali.

Altje Ully, on the other hand, presents a nude mannequin doll in Imaginary Peace, made of bits and pieces of wood to express her empathy with women in the world of fashion who are required to live a life of pretense. Stripped of her fashionable garments, the mannequin is just like other women, yearning for her solitary peace.

Perhaps the works closest to the exhibit's theme are those made by API chairman Gregorius Sidharta Soegijo, a senior sculptor who has developed from the modernist sculptural formalism of his earlier years to indigenous esthetic values and traditions.

Lingkaran Pesan dari Relung Tafakur Penghormatan kepada Cinta dan Kedamaian (A Circular Message From Deep Contemplation in Respect of Love and Peacefulness) is made to be in bronze, but is currently in resin, a circle in which a figure in the lotus position sitting atop a turtle appears to be meditating.

Arsono's Waiting for the Splendor Night may share the idea of spiritual peace, but is more specific with a focus on Islamic teachings on ethics and morality -- suggesting that a marvelous grace will be bestowed on fasting Muslims.

The wait for that splendor comes, not in weakness or leisure, but in dynamic energy. Hence the red color of the two circular welded iron plates that together represent the cosmos. Breaking the unembellished plates are Arabic texts revealing the message carved into them.

According to Arsono, the president director of the WTC building, Ismail Sofyan, has agreed to assign space for API to hold their exhibitions, including displays in between larger events. We may therefore expect API to be more diligent and present even better pieces in their next exhibition at this site that is well suited to spreading the word about sculpture.

------------------------------------ In Search of Peace Indonesian Contemporary Sculptors API exhibition World Trade Center Jl. Jend. Sudirman 29-31, Jakarta Until Nov. 20, 2003

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