Sukasman finds secret of puppets

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The floor is dirty. The furniture is in disarray, and frankly the sitting room is a mess, as if it had long been abandoned. But among this are traces of art: several sketches of leather puppets drawn with white chalk on the floor.

The messy living arrangements are a clue to the restless nature of Ki Sukasman, the owner of the house on Jl. Tamansiswa, Yogyakarta. The 66-year-old artist has devoted all his life to wayang, the art of leather puppetry.

When The Jakarta Post met him at his house-cum-workshop, Sukasman was slow to talk, especially when asked about why his planned trip to Italy last month was canceled.

Sukasman was scheduled to go to Italy, together with artist Heri Dono, for The Venice Biennale (art event) but for technical reasons he was denied a visa. So, Heri went to Italy without him.

Sukasman has made a name as the creator of Wayang ukur, a new style of leather puppet. His puppets have been used in shadow plays at home and abroad, such as in Canada, Holland, Germany and the U.S.

He seemed deeply disappointed by the cancellation of his Italian trip. "Never ask me that question," he curtly intercepted, trying to divert the conversation to other topics.

Sukasman has lately been observed in a state of restlessness or fear. He is somewhat suspicious of other people. His best friends shrug off the condition. They say it is indicative of a deeper creative process.

"We don't know exactly why, but he is afraid of the figure of a soldier and the number three. He suspects that he didn't make it to Italy because he is under the military's constant surveillance. In fact, his suspicion is groundless; it is just an illusion. We think that he is nurturing a great idea," said Bambang Paningron, Sukasman's script writer.

Paningron, chairman of the recent 2003 Yogyakarta Art Festival's organizing committee, said that, curiously, when Sukasman was deep in a state of restlessness, he would telephone him every morning and ask him to find soldiers to keep guard of him.

"As I know him inside out, I will tell him that I have sent some soldiers to keep guard. On other occasions, when he happens to find, for example, a packet consisting of three pieces of something -- or a symbol of the figure three somewhere -- he will be seized by fear and ask me for help."

Sukasman first observed the puppets as a little boy. He made leather puppets later in his youth, and graduated from the Indonesian Fine Art Academy (ASRI) in Yogyakarta, in 1962, majoring in advertising, decorative arts, illustration and graphic arts.

Since graduating, he has experimented with leather puppets. He strongly disagrees with the popular conception that the puppet's form has already reached a state of perfection and needs no divergence.

As an artist, he purges his restlessness with the obsessive scientific study of leather puppets. He has tried to crack the stylization secret of the puppet's shapes. Finally, he found a way to modify the form by measuring individual parts: the body, the arms, the legs, the neck and the shoulders. Hence the origins of his puppet's name, Wayang ukur (leather puppets in measurement).

Sukasman, who worked as a dishwasher and did other jobs in the Netherlands between 1965 and 1974, has devoted nearly all his life to wayang. He remains unmarried and most of his earnings went back into his art. He owns a large house on Jl. Taman Siswa, Yogyakarta, which serves as both his house and workshop.

Often, Sukasman falls asleep among the piles of leather puppets in his workshop after a show. These puppets are just like his wife and children. They live in his dreams.

For Ki Sukasman, a dream is a serious matter. It is through his dreams that he communicates with his puppets.

"Sometimes, his actions defy reason. On one occasion, for example, he asked to cancel his shadow play just because the night before his leather puppets had met him in a dream. As a production manager I have to ignore his dreams. So far, nothing bad has happened," said Paningron.

Sukasman's subconscious has often been a source of inspiration. His latest creation result's from his interpretation of the physical shapes of the court jesters of the Pandawa knights, (Semar, Petruk, Gareng and Bagong).

According to Sukasman, the physical shape of the court jesters embodies sexual desire.

"These sexual desires are usually latent and therefore invisible. But I believe that they are embodied in Petruk, Gareng and Bagong."

Man is hypocritical by nature and sexual desire is often hidden, he explained. So, our ancestors gave desire a voice in the creation of Petruk, Gareng and Bagong.

The long nose of Petruk, for example, represents a man's desire for a woman. It is the phallus, lust makes it bigger...

Gareng's deformed hands are the consequence of lust. Unsatisfied and terrible desire.

"Satiation cannot be achieved - because lust is hidden in fear or other reasons - Gareng's hands trembled so hard that they were deformed. This is just a symbol of a pent-up desire," Sukasman said.

The potbelly and gaping mouth of Bagong are also grotesque representations of sexuality. "His lengthened mouth symbolizes craving. Sexual satisfaction is sometimes achieved by the mouth."

Ki Sukasman has interpreted the stories and figures of wayang with a familiarity that is almost stifling. His relationship with the puppets is the restless energy that drives him. He is bound to them as absolutely as wife and children.