Soccer according to artist Tisna
Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
A hobby is an important factor contributing to one's creativity, whereas talent constitutes a major asset that will improve the creative process in the form of achievements and reputation.
The same applies to well-known eccentric graphic artist Tisna Sanjaya, who will be involved in an art event in Japan in conjunction with the upcoming World Cup 2002 from May 19 to June 23.
He has been selected as one of the five participants in the fine art exhibition themed Offside: Football is in Our Life, organized by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA).
Tisna is the only artist representing Indonesia in the two- session display, with one at the GM/Graf Gallery in Osaka from May 18 to June 2 and the other at the Yokohama Museum of Art in Yokohama from June 8 to June 23. His sole work entitled Football Print will be displayed between the art pieces of an Israeli and a Dutch artist, each with an installation, and two counterparts from the host country.
Tisna was both surprised and excited about receiving the honor of displaying his works to mark the World Cup. The invitation came following a Japanese art curator's visit to his residence to find out more details about his soccer-themed works.
The curator had apparently closely observed the development of his graphic art creations, themes and forms of expression. The Japanese public got to know of Tisna when he took part in a 1996 Asian fine art exhibition in Japan, where he stood out with his eccentricity.
For example, when describing the ideas behind his works, he stood on a table decked out in a sensational costume: shorts and soccer boots, a Korpri (Indonesian Civil Service Corps) shirt and a sarong.
Tisna frequently takes part in exhibitions in Japan. Among the events he exhibited his work at were Tradition, the Source Inspiration at the Fukuoka Art Museum (1990), Contemporary Indonesian Prints at the Mie Prefectural Art Museum and Hokkaido Hakodate Museum of Art (1991), and the 4th Sapporo International Print Biennial in Sapporo (1997). In the Sapporo display, his etchings entitled Pring Reketeuk, People Wake up won a sponsor's prize and were incorporated into the local museum's collection.
His work that will be exhibited to mark the world cup,Football Print (2001), is a 3m x 4m graphic piece using cambric and wall paint as a medium. Tisna painted it using the technique of dipping a ball into paint and then kicking, throwing or heading it at the fabric he spread on the wall.
The outcome was an abstract painting made up of stamps or impressions of a paint-covered ball. He chose light blue and dull red to make the soccer print wacky, yet his composition of colors and space demonstrated a high degree of graphic art mastery.
Tisna also put the names of national and world players on the canvas space, including French national star Zidane, Pele, Zico (Brazil's white Pele), Indonesia's Adjat Sudradjat, Ribut Waidi and Robby Darwis.
For Tisna, soccer symbolizes harmony. The team may consist of people from various ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, but they are all bound by the same rules of the game. There are no exceptions. Each player has his own role and position.
"Soccer knows no discrimination. Everybody in the team has to obey the rules of the game, cooperate for the common goal through a high degree of discipline," he said.
Some of his works were created as a form of criticism, like the one now hanging on his dining-room wall at home in Ledeng, northern Bandung. This oil painting, Untitled I (1999), was intended as a criticism of the New Order government, which was averse to dissent.
Born in Bandung, West Java, on Jan. 28, 1958, Tisna has been playing soccer since his youth. His eldest son Zico, 16, named after the Brazilian soccer star, is also a soccer fan. He set up a team in the fine art and design school of Bandung's Institute of Technology (ITB), where he teaches. He is chairman of ITB's student soccer league, and is also a collector of national and world club banners. He is the proud possessor of at least 13 world elevens' kits.
When Tisna was invited by the German government to come to Aachen as an "artist in residence" in 2000, he joined a local soccer club there, and became a player in the Bunte league, a soccer league with players of different ethnic origins.
Of the hundreds of Tisna's artistic productions (mostly being etchings, besides installations and paintings), one fifth contain an element of soccer or are inspired by the sport. It is here that Tisna has demonstrated his totality in exploring the treasures, spirit and "ideology" of soccer.
His devotion to soccer was shown by his holding of an exhibition that combined installations and happening arts at Yogyakarta's Cemeti Gallery and Krapyak Kulon soccer field in 2000. Tisna displayed 20 oil paintings on plaited bamboo with the message: Glorify soccer as a peace campaign medium.
Following the event, the paintings and installations were lined up on the edge of the soccer field, a kilometer south of the Yogyakarta palace.
Twenty soccer clubs were invited to the field, including teams of students, local citizens and artists. Those ready to compete joined a week-long match in a field with his bamboo works as goal posts and only six players, including goal keepers. Between the goal posts, he hung plastic bottles containing water. Underneath, a mattress was laid out.
Each player was required to plant a tree at the side of the field. Before kicking off, they had their feet washed, a ritual aimed at reminding the players that they were to play only soccer on the field.