Wianta, Balinese universal artist
Wianta, Balinese universal artist
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Made Wianta looked restless to his friends gathered one
evening at the Santika Hotel's coffee shop in Yogyakarta. It
seemed that there was something on his mind that wanted to come
out.
The intimacy and warmth shown by his colleagues, such as
cultural observer Sindunata, painter Hendro Suseno, Hari Budiono
of Bentara Budaya cultural house, Sisca of Basis magazine and
writer Saut Situmorang, failed to ease his restlessness.
Wianta, a Balinese artist, stood up, picked up a black marking
pen and approached his friend Arahmaiani. Wianta wrote the words
"One face, one line" on her forehead.
It was a single-line poem that suddenly jumped into his mind
and he could not resist the temptation to write it down on the
only thing available -- Arahmaiani's forehead.
"We have known each other for quite a long time. When we were
younger we were both hippies on Kuta beach. We would chat, drink
and enjoy the sunset on the beach together without even knowing
each other's name. It was only a long time later, when I saw her
installation works, that I realized she also was an artist," said
Wianta, explaining why he chose her face to write the verse.
His friends understand that every once in awhile, like that
night, he will have bursts of inspiration and this one had to be
expressed right away. That was why, he reluctantly explained, he
chose the forehead of his friend as the medium of his art work
that particular night.
"We met here some time ago, and I caught a similarity in our
faces that night. That's why I felt like writing a poem to
represent our meeting. A get-together like that is a rare
occurrence in Bali," said Wianta, whose paintings are on display
in various museums and art galleries in many countries.
As a versatile artist, Wianta can never feel peace when an
idea or inspiration comes to him. He will use any medium
available to express the idea. He has written hundreds of poems
since 1970 in almost every kind of medium, and it is difficult
sometimes to judge whether it is a work of art such as a painting
or an installation work, or just simply a poem.
Sometimes while he is in the bathroom, he can write his poems
easily and comfortably on a piece of toilet tissue. On other
occasions, his poems are written on air tickets, bus tickets,
performance programs, ashtrays, cigarette wrappers and any other
item immediately at his disposal.
He said there was no special time that he would write down his
poems. On nearly every occasion when his ideas hit him he
immediately creates his works. He will use any opportunity --
whether flying on a plane, going to the bank, accompanying his
wife shopping, going to the barber or tending a child in
hospital.
Two collections of his poems have been published out of the
hundreds of poems he has written. His first book, titled Matches
that Burn A Fridge, which was edited by noted poet Afrizal Malna,
presents the poems he wrote between 1979 and 1995. His second
collection, titled 2 1/2 Minutes, compiles his poems from 1996
and 2000.
Although he has written hundreds of poems, Wianta does not
want to be called a poet.
"For me, a label is not important. I'm not a poet, but an
artist," he told The Jakarta Post.
Wianta is not only a poet or a painter. He is a universal
artist as described in the book, Made Wianta - Universal Balinese
Artist, published by Times Editions and written by Marc Bollansee
and Urs Ramseyer.
Art work is not confined only to painting a canvas or putting
words down on paper. Wianta uses every medium to express his
ideas. Various works have been done through a natural medium,
such as the sea, rocks on the beach, trees in a forest, rivers or
rice fields.
In December 1999 on Padang Galak Beach in Sanur, Bali, Wianta
held a spectacular event titled Art and Peace. This performance
art, involving 2,000 high school students, was marked with the
unfurling of a large, white cotton banner displaying various
messages of peace in different languages.
The two-kilometer-long banner was dropped from a helicopter.
For that project, Wianta forked out Rp 1 billion from his own
pocket. He happily spent this huge amount of money for the sake
of peace on Earth. At that time, he was restless and worried
about the violence, murders and riots occurring in Indonesia.
Just like the time he wrote One face, one line on Arahmaiani's
forehead, Wianta is an artist that cannot sit still. He is always
overwhelmed with a restlessness to create his works.
Perhaps it was upbringing that influenced his life as an
artist. He was born on Dec. 20, 1949 in Apuan village, Tabanan
regency, Bali. His small environment was very close to Balinese
customs and traditions.
During his childhood, Wianta was prepared to become a Balinese
Hindu priest to replace his father, a Pemangku in the local
temple. So he learned the prayers and ritual preparations in
addition to Balinese customary art.
As a boy, Wianta danced the traditional Baris, and joined
Drama Gong. Thanks to this conducive environment, his talents for
painting and poem writing thrived while he was living in a
village on the slope of Mount Lesung.
Unfortunately, he was not satisfied with what he learned from
his parents and his environment. When he was a junior high school
student, he rebelled against the establishment.
"When I entered adolescence, I left home and explored things I
was not allowed to before. I tried everything and broke every
rule. I didn't care if what I was doing was wrong or not. I just
wanted to do what I had never done before. They (parents) stopped
me from getting too close to fire, so I tried to hold it in my
hands," said Wianta, a graduate of the Indonesian Fine Arts
Academy (ISI) in Yogyakarta.
As a universal artist with many of his works earning him fame
and now in the hands of international art collectors, Wianta
remains an artist with an unquenchable desire to create. He
always wants to create new dances, poems, paintings or
installation works.
His mind will always keep ticking while his hands tremble with
excitement when inspiration hits, like what happened that night
with Arahmaiani. Fortunately, at that time he was moved to write
only on her forehead, and not on another part of her body.
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Made Wianta looked restless to his friends gathered one
evening at the Santika Hotel's coffee shop in Yogyakarta. It
seemed that there was something on his mind that wanted to come
out.
The intimacy and warmth shown by his colleagues, such as
cultural observer Sindunata, painter Hendro Suseno, Hari Budiono
of Bentara Budaya cultural house, Sisca of Basis magazine and
writer Saut Situmorang, failed to ease his restlessness.
Wianta, a Balinese artist, stood up, picked up a black marking
pen and approached his friend Arahmaiani. Wianta wrote the words
"One face, one line" on her forehead.
It was a single-line poem that suddenly jumped into his mind
and he could not resist the temptation to write it down on the
only thing available -- Arahmaiani's forehead.
"We have known each other for quite a long time. When we were
younger we were both hippies on Kuta beach. We would chat, drink
and enjoy the sunset on the beach together without even knowing
each other's name. It was only a long time later, when I saw her
installation works, that I realized she also was an artist," said
Wianta, explaining why he chose her face to write the verse.
His friends understand that every once in awhile, like that
night, he will have bursts of inspiration and this one had to be
expressed right away. That was why, he reluctantly explained, he
chose the forehead of his friend as the medium of his art work
that particular night.
"We met here some time ago, and I caught a similarity in our
faces that night. That's why I felt like writing a poem to
represent our meeting. A get-together like that is a rare
occurrence in Bali," said Wianta, whose paintings are on display
in various museums and art galleries in many countries.
As a versatile artist, Wianta can never feel peace when an
idea or inspiration comes to him. He will use any medium
available to express the idea. He has written hundreds of poems
since 1970 in almost every kind of medium, and it is difficult
sometimes to judge whether it is a work of art such as a painting
or an installation work, or just simply a poem.
Sometimes while he is in the bathroom, he can write his poems
easily and comfortably on a piece of toilet tissue. On other
occasions, his poems are written on air tickets, bus tickets,
performance programs, ashtrays, cigarette wrappers and any other
item immediately at his disposal.
He said there was no special time that he would write down his
poems. On nearly every occasion when his ideas hit him he
immediately creates his works. He will use any opportunity --
whether flying on a plane, going to the bank, accompanying his
wife shopping, going to the barber or tending a child in
hospital.
Two collections of his poems have been published out of the
hundreds of poems he has written. His first book, titled Matches
that Burn A Fridge, which was edited by noted poet Afrizal Malna,
presents the poems he wrote between 1979 and 1995. His second
collection, titled 2 1/2 Minutes, compiles his poems from 1996
and 2000.
Although he has written hundreds of poems, Wianta does not
want to be called a poet.
"For me, a label is not important. I'm not a poet, but an
artist," he told The Jakarta Post.
Wianta is not only a poet or a painter. He is a universal
artist as described in the book, Made Wianta - Universal Balinese
Artist, published by Times Editions and written by Marc Bollansee
and Urs Ramseyer.
Art work is not confined only to painting a canvas or putting
words down on paper. Wianta uses every medium to express his
ideas. Various works have been done through a natural medium,
such as the sea, rocks on the beach, trees in a forest, rivers or
rice fields.
In December 1999 on Padang Galak Beach in Sanur, Bali, Wianta
held a spectacular event titled Art and Peace. This performance
art, involving 2,000 high school students, was marked with the
unfurling of a large, white cotton banner displaying various
messages of peace in different languages.
The two-kilometer-long banner was dropped from a helicopter.
For that project, Wianta forked out Rp 1 billion from his own
pocket. He happily spent this huge amount of money for the sake
of peace on Earth. At that time, he was restless and worried
about the violence, murders and riots occurring in Indonesia.
Just like the time he wrote One face, one line on Arahmaiani's
forehead, Wianta is an artist that cannot sit still. He is always
overwhelmed with a restlessness to create his works.
Perhaps it was upbringing that influenced his life as an
artist. He was born on Dec. 20, 1949 in Apuan village, Tabanan
regency, Bali. His small environment was very close to Balinese
customs and traditions.
During his childhood, Wianta was prepared to become a Balinese
Hindu priest to replace his father, a Pemangku in the local
temple. So he learned the prayers and ritual preparations in
addition to Balinese customary art.
As a boy, Wianta danced the traditional Baris, and joined
Drama Gong. Thanks to this conducive environment, his talents for
painting and poem writing thrived while he was living in a
village on the slope of Mount Lesung.
Unfortunately, he was not satisfied with what he learned from
his parents and his environment. When he was a junior high school
student, he rebelled against the establishment.
"When I entered adolescence, I left home and explored things I
was not allowed to before. I tried everything and broke every
rule. I didn't care if what I was doing was wrong or not. I just
wanted to do what I had never done before. They (parents) stopped
me from getting too close to fire, so I tried to hold it in my
hands," said Wianta, a graduate of the Indonesian Fine Arts
Academy (ISI) in Yogyakarta.
As a universal artist with many of his works earning him fame
and now in the hands of international art collectors, Wianta
remains an artist with an unquenchable desire to create. He
always wants to create new dances, poems, paintings or
installation works.
His mind will always keep ticking while his hands tremble with
excitement when inspiration hits, like what happened that night
with Arahmaiani. Fortunately, at that time he was moved to write
only on her forehead, and not on another part of her body.