Second-hand goods are a new art for Bambang
Second-hand goods are a new art for Bambang
By Asip A. Hasani
YOGYAKARTA (JP): "VCD player, 100 percent new, Rp 345,000.
Blue jeans, trousers, original Levi's, Rp 60,000." Has Cemeti Art
House turned into a pawnshop?
No, definitely not.
It's a new creation from young local artist Bambang "Toko"
Witjaksono, which has given a "shop" look to the gallery located
on Jl. Panjaitan since Sept. 5.
Bambang will display his collection of second-hand goods,
including electronics, household goods, antiques and clothes,
until Sept. 30.
Each of the items has a small note attached which informs of
the price. Some of them even say "sold".
The goods all belong to Bambang and he is seriously offering
them to visitors who wish to buy them.
"He means it! You can buy those goods if you like. My staff
will settle the things if you are serious," artist Mella Jarsma,
who is also the Cemeti Art House manager, said.
"Several people have ordered Bambang's goods, but it's quite
difficult to explain that they can only take the goods after the
exhibition ends on Sept. 30," Mella added.
Two art awards, which are displayed among the other items, are
probably the most astonishing things.
Both trophies belong to young painter Agung Leak Kurniawan
from the Yogyakarta Art Institute (ISI). One is an award for
Agung's victory in a national art competition. Another trophy is
the Philip Morris Art Award won by Agung in 1996.
"The Philip Morris Art Award was sold at Rp 12.000," Mella
said.
Bambang uses a funny way to express his daily life experience
in his works. One of his drawings on a zinc plate describes the
Cemeti Art House's staff bargaining with an artist on the price
of the artist's works.
Entitled Mas Makelar (The Broker), the painting carried
Bambang's satirical message: "Art works, art products and art
things are not sacred things. They are just like any other object
or merchandise which even needs the help of art brokers and art
collectors if the artists or owners of the stuff want to sell
them."
Mella said: "He wants to question the sacredness of art. He
also wants to bypass the boundaries between art works and other
objects."
Bambang has the right to do so. The 1997 ISI graduate is not
only an artist but also a broker who tries to earn money from
selling second-hand goods. He is also a lecturer at the Graphic
Arts Department at the institute.
His experience in brokering has influenced his way of viewing
the arts, the art works and artists. He realizes that artists,
like other professionals, need money to survive. But on the other
hand, he doesn't forget that the meaning of art is to convey the
artists' idealism and moral messages which are considered as
"pure and sacred".
"He warns us, the artists, not to be hypocritical in our
professions," Mella said.
It appears that Bambang's strategy in promoting his exhibition
has worked very well as people have visited the gallery after
reading a huge banner stating that second-hand goods are on sale.
Mella said the banner invited people to buy the goods at the
gallery.
"Art exhibitions don't have to be exclusive," she said.