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