Seeking respite in FX Harsono's haunting nightmares

Seeking respite in FX Harsono's haunting nightmares

After almost three decades expressing social and political
activism in his art, FX Harsono now finds himself exploring his
own existence.

It is particularly evident in his work Jarum dalam Mimpiku
(Needles in My Dream) at the ongoing CP Biennale. Consisting of
eight panels, the 160 x 400 cm work, showing Harsono in various
positions, is executed with a blend of digital print on photo
paper, screen print, crayon and acrylic on canvas. Needles are
particularly visual in the last panel.

In his dreams -- or rather nightmares -- needles flow through
his veins and nerves, and when he tries to cut his hand in the
dream to get rid of them, they continue to return to pierce his
skin.

Needles affect his very existence; they are in every smile
directed his way, every utterance, even in every sermon from the
pulpit. Needles have become his metaphor for the pain he feels at
discriminating attitudes in society, a pain he relives over and
over again.

Harsono, who is of mixed Javanese-Chinese descent, was born in
Blitar, a town in East Java. His grandmother was of Javanese
descent, and from her he came to know the various aspects of
Javanese culture. He said he also learned bits and pieces of
Chinese culture from his parents, and also at the Chinese
elementary school where he was a pupil up to the third grade.

Then he entered a Catholic school and was introduced to what
was called "Western" culture. He went on to study visual arts in
Yogyakarta, and subsequently moved to Jakarta.

Harsono claims his roots or defining a "homeland" are not
important to him, and this is perhaps evident in his artworks.
Yet, underlying his poignant grievances against the Soeharto
regime that ruled during his formative years and young adulthood
may lie the pain he was feeling at the systematic acts of
discrimination against him as an ethnic Chinese.

Harsono became an active member of the Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru
(Indonesia New Art Movement) that sought to redefine Indonesian
visual arts in the early 1970s. He was among the art activists
who caused many headaches to the ruling bureaucracy, resulting in
even tighter rules regulating artistic expression at the time.

But the movement eventually dissolved and members went their
own way, although the issue of New Art lingered on, and
ultimately action was taken, as evident in the holding of the CP
Open Biennale which is curated by a former proponent of the
movement, Jim Supangkat.

In 1985 Harsono emerged again on the activist scene when he
joined the exhibition at Galeri Pasar Ancol which was titled 85.
In a paper prepared for a preexhibition discussion, Harsono gave
an emotional condemnation of those who failed to raise issues
that lay at the heart of society. But in 1987 he decided to go
back to school, furthering his studies in the Painting Department
of the Jakarta Art Institute (IKJ) until 1991.

Harsono is known for his strong social concern, apparent in
his works, mostly installations, that decried the repressive
situation in the country during the New Order.

An example was his The Voices are Controlled by the Powers
(1994). Consisting of 100 masks similar to those in the wayang
topeng mask drama, the installation was a reflection of the
sociopolitical situation, with the severed mouths a moving and
powerful condemnation of the lack of free speech.

Such emotions were again vented in his work titled Voice
Without a Voice/Sign (1994). Here nine screen prints of sign
language spelled out the word D-E-M-O-K-R-A-S-I, the last letter
represented by a hand.

Another example came in a 1997 performance work, in which he
criticized the upcoming elections with only three political
parties contending. Masks laid on chairs representing the people
were burned to represent their helplessness. Harsono himself was
dressed as a bureaucrat, with white and red flames painted on his
face.

After the fall of Soeharto in 1998, Harsono continued with his
social critique in his works. But gradually a sense of severe
disappointment led him to look inward. As the restrictions on
free speech fell, the increased focus on one as individual
contributed to a growing disregard for the plight of others.

It made him sick, he said, and the change of mind of those
whom he considered friends and allies exacerbated his confusion.
As disappointment became revulsion, he became aware of realities
he had not seen before.

At the same time the question of who he himself actually was
began to emerge. He became more interested in himself, apparent
in his works at his solo exhibition last June.

Its title of Displaced hinted not only at his loss of ground
in what he used to think was his own society. More than that, it
is about the sense of alienation and "statelessness" that he had
to endure as a man whose grandmother was Javanese and his father
ethnic Chinese descent.

Living with the paradox of having been born in Indonesia and
identifying with its culture but discriminated against because of
his father's descent, Harsono finally seems to be reaching some
peace about who he is.

At least that is the impression of his photo-etching titled
Tubuhku Adalah Lahan (My Body is Arable Land). Lifting up his
head, the image, as in a photographic multiple exposure, seems to
be resigned to putting his problems in the hands of the
omnipotent one, his hands stretched up and plants growing on
them. He is declaring that, "I am only the land on which my wife
and my children plant the seed of the future".

He is getting there, but perhaps still needs time to reconcile
the feelings about alienation and the pain of discrimination
against him. Although personal experience may have fed his
sociopolitical works of the past, today, when everybody has the
right to their say, he can speak for and about himself. Perhaps
now is the right time to overcome the pain once and for all, and
deal with those nightmares.

-- Carla Bianpoen