Setiawan Sabana imagines the passing of an era

Setiawan Sabana imagines the passing of an era

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

At a time when any medium can be used to create a work of art and
paper has assumed an undeniably important place in modern art
abroad, Indonesian artist Setiawan Sabana in contrast, notes the
passing of paper from an age that soon will be remembered as the
past.

"Before long, paper will be an artifact, to be seen only in
the museum," he states, pointing out the ever-decreasing use of
paper as a result of an influx of other mediums. "Paper is no
longer the only medium for the distribution of knowledge, neither
is it for the distribution of information," he says. Soon we will
talk about the legend of paper, or the paper age, the way we now
remember the stone age, the bronze age, etc.

His pessimistic visions, however, have given rise to the most
unique two- and three-dimensional paper art works, in his second
solo exhibition titled Legenda Kertas (Paper Legend) opens
tonight at Bentara Budaya here. It is the fruit of a long process
of study and research, and of serious reflection on paper
transcending its function as a medium into that of a substance
with a life unto itself.

Made of crumpled, squeezed, kneaded self-produced color paper
and of waste paper, his "sculptures" and installations have
evolved from mere stacks of documents that filled his work in the
Rockefeller-funded traveling exhibition and Memories (1997), into
works that add aesthetics to meaning.

Sabana's second solo exhibition is an ode and a homage to
paper, a medium he has been close to since the early days of his
involvement with graphic art. He came to understand his medium to
the point where it dissolved as a medium. Sabana views paper as
a generator and accelerator of basic values and important changes
in the civilization of humankind. Ironically, it is exactly such
changes that bring about new findings, and advanced technology is
in the process of taking its place, with computers, digital
devices and even plastics moving it to the back seat at best.

There is a touch of melancholy in his ponderings, a sense that
may have added to an aesthetic that was barely visible in his
earlier works.

Modern paper art has its roots in the United States during the
1970s. At the time of the Pop Art movement, artists became
interested in paper per se rather than as a simple artistic
medium or vehicle.

However, the origins of paper art can be traced back to
China, where paper was invented in the 1st century AD, (Han
Dynasty) and paper arts and crafts flourished to include paper
objects used for decoration as well as items used for ceremonial
purposes. Frequently, these would be made from paper money,
either real or the ceremonial "hell money". A major source was
also paper art from Japan, in which Origami has become an
international hit.

Remarkably, it was also in the 1970s that artists and
lecturers from the Silpakorn Art School in Bangkok began
researching and actively re-awakening the significance of paper
as a medium of art expression.

And in 1984, at the 3rd symposium on Painting and Photography
in Manila, where the theme for the visual arts was Art on Paper
in a Changing World, Thai artists like Viboon Lesuan and Ithipol
Tangchalok showed a deep understanding of the character of paper
as a medium for expression, as did also Chew Teng Beng, Choong
Kam Kow and Sulaeman Esa from Malaysia, and Impy Pilapil Ricky
Pangan and Arnel Agawin from the Philippines.

Senior artist AD Pirous recalls that it was an eye opener for
the Indonesian participants. The Manila event engendered
explorations with paper, in which Sabana, who had just returned
from the States had an active part.

Setiawan Sabana became the first in Indonesia to hold an
exhibition of paper art (1994). Now, more than a decade later, he
is the only Indonesian paper art artist. Against his dark
apprehensions about the demise of paper, he blows new life into
it with works that highlight the versatility and ability of paper
to move from transparency to opaqueness, from fragility to
robustness.

Sabana, who was born in 1951 in Bandung, is an artist,
lecturer and researcher, who obtained his BA degree from the Arts
Department of the Bandung Institute of Technology (1977). He went
on to study art at Northern Illinois University where he obtained
his MFA degree in 1982. His doctoral degree was obtained in
Bandung 2002.

From Jakarta, the exhibition travels to Surabaya, Magelang,
Semarang and Bandung.

It comes with a book on paper art, written by a number of
professionals in the world of art.

Legenda Kertas

Solo exhibition by Setiawan Sabana

Bentara Budaya, Jakarta

May 12-22, 2005