Deden Durahman's solo exhibition Amorphous Amours

Amorphous Amours

Deden Hendan Durahman

The body is to be compared,

not to a physical object,

but rather to a work of art.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

The Phenomenology of Perception

For his solo exhibition at RKFA, Singapore, 17 July – 17 August 2014, Deden Hendan Durahman (Majalaya, Indonesia, 1974) presents his new series Amorphous Amours (2014): multi-layered choreographies of serial de/re-constructed and morphed bodies. Reconstruction on the level of the pixel opens up the possible of the possible; therefore, there is an element of contingency of what actual forms a concept takes – a pixilated flux of becoming. The element of contingency of a pixilated flux of becoming necessitates seriality. If actualizations of disparate fragments is not to unravel in such a way that all that remains are fractures of the possible then working in series is needed. A series offers a sense of unity – and meaning – to fragments. The method of working in/on serial de/re-constructed bodies also implies repetition. And repetition is key in performativity: body is an unstable category – body as medium and concept in the work of Deden – over time, gestural permutations allow for changes to occur. The mediated bodies in Deden’s work are indexes of performativity. Our bodies are the primary sites of the expanded field of knowing and remembering – or: ontology of the flesh. Memory leaves imprints in and on our bodies. One body remembers and reminds another; memory moves from body to body, re-touching us sensually, re-touching the unfathomable geography of our bodies – to paraphrase Walt Whitman: For every pixel belonging to me as good belongs to you…

Roy Voragen

Curator