Dangling Durians by Wiyoga Muhardanto

Dangling Durians

a solo project by Wiyoga Muhardanto

curated by Roy Voragen

presented by Equator Art Projects (http://www.eqproj.com/)

at Langgeng Art Foundation (http://www.langgengfoundation.org/)

Jalan Suryodiningratan 37, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

opening: Monday 3pm, November 2, 2015

until: December 2, 2015

Equator Art Projects presents, in collaboration with Langgeng Art Foundation, Dangling Durians, the latest solo project by Bandung-based artist Wiyoga Muhardanto (Jakarta, Indonesia, 1984), which is curated by Roy Voragen. Wiyoga, an ITB alumnus, is a prolific artist who has participated in biennales, art fairs, group shows and residency programs in Indonesia and abroad.

The artist shows his latest sculptures as a loosely constellated installation in the subterranean area of Langgeng Art Foundation, as part of Equator Art Projects, yet not in the actual gallery. For Dangling Durians, spaces have been switched: the locked-down gallery remains eerily empty for the duration of the show, instead the non-exhibition space in front of the basement gallery is utilized, not in criticism of the white cube but to tease urban questions to the foreground by means of a subterranean detour.

The contemporary is urban, and our built environment mediates, constructs, reproduces and, intersected at certain times, contradicts relationships of power. Our embodied relationship to objects always assumes a spatial setting and space is never neutral, always coded by (conflicting) normativities. The sculptures are the miscellaneous fragments, the discarded shreds, the hacked bits and pieces lifted out of our urban fabric.

With flair and wit, Wiyoga created seven new sculptures and each combines unlikely, even contradictory, elements, which is further amplified by grouping these sculptures together as an installation. Each feature, whether as a ready-made or remade by using resin, is one of our many urban fetishes, obsessions, fears, guilty pleasures, anxieties, joys, etc… 

For the curatorial essay see here.

Publication design by Endira FJ.

For photo documentation by Anang Saptoto see here.

UbuWeb Top Ten

My UbuWeb top #10 for September 2015.

365 days wasted on and wandered around Ubu

I spent 365 days on Ubu, see here for the full PDF.

unguarded guards & We Went Wild by Agugn Prabowo

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AGUGN PRABOWO

unguarded guards

Jogja Contemporary

opening: 7 pm Thursday 3 September 2015

the exhibition is until 23 September 2015

artist talk 4 pm Friday 4 September 2015

We Went Wild

Krack Studio

opening: 7 pm Saturday 5 September 2015

the exhibition is until 5 October 2015

papermaking workshop 3 pm Saturday 12 September 2015

Curated by Roy Voragen

Jogja Contemporary and Krack Studio collaborate to show new works by Agugn Prabowo (Bandung, Indonesia, 1985; agugn.tmblr.com). He graduated in 2010 from the Institute of Technology Bandung’s art school, where he studied at the printmaking studio. Today, he is well known for his art utilizing the printmaking technique linocut.

In his previous artworks, the artist explored the ambiguous notion of fear; the ambiguity of fear revolves around the issue that fear, while generally unwanted, can have unexpected yet ultimately worthy consequences. The new body of work expands on this concept and centers on the idea of how paradoxical protection actually is. The artist became a father two years ago and fatherhood shed new light on his life and life’s priorities. He wants to protect the infant – named Lino Apta – and keep him safe from harm, however, he knows, in anxious anticipation, that protection has its limits, hence the paradox…

In his solo exhibition unguarded guards at Jogja Contemporary, he shows a new series of works using linocut, photolithography and a combination of the two techniques, printed on hand-made paper. And in his solo exhibition We Went Wild at Krack Studio, he shows a hand-made artist book (in an edition of 10, also available as a digital offset print version, and each page framed as well), which is a collaboration with his child, using linocut and letterpress techniques.

Jogja Contemporary

http://jogjacontemporary.net/

Kompleks Jogja National Museum
Jl. Prof. Ki Amri Yahya no. 1
Gampingan
Yogyakarta 55167
+62 85109881919

+62 818260134

Krack Studio

http://www.krackstudio.com/

Jl.D.I. Pandjaitan

RT42/RW12

Mantrijeron

Minggiran

Yogyakarta 55141

+62081977184678                                 

unguarded guards - exhibition by Agugn Prabowo

unguarded guards is a solo exhibition by Agugn Prabowo at Jogja Contemporary, 3-23 September, 2015. For the catalog see here.

We Went Wild - artist book by Agugn Prabowo

We Went Wild is an artist book by Agugn Prabowo, presented at Krack Studio, Yogyakarta, 5 September 2015; see here for my text.

Catharsis by Syagini Ratna Wulan

looping loopholes - curatorial essay

Download the looping loopholes catalog here, looping loopholes is an exhibition by Duto Hardono, Muhammad Akbar and Rizki Resa Utama (aka OQ) at Yeo Workshop, Singapore, 24 April - 15 June, 2015.

looping loopholes

 

Duto Hardono
Muhammad Akbar

Rizki Resa Utama (aka OQ)

Yeo Workshop, Singapore, 24 April – 15 June 2015

Opening: Friday 24 April, 6-9pm

Talk: Saturday 25 April, 2-3.30pm

moderated by Michael Lee 

Curated by Roy Voragen

Language in all its shapes and forms is what gives us body. We whisper, we yell, we argue, we declare, we state this and that. We listen, we pretend to listen. We look, gaze, stare. We are seen-not-seen. We try to understand. We don’t understand, no, not at all. We paint in lush brush strokes. We scribble notes on the city’s walls, we write dissertations on the fall of the re/public. We read philosophy, poetry and prose. We take, post and like photos. We read out loud. We wink, we show the finger. We contradict ourselves. We fail. We fail again. We start over…

Occasionally, we speak in riddles and tongues, including slips. Our streets are cacophonic. Voices and counter-voices inhabit our cities.

Specters of a past are here to haunt us, through movies or monuments immortalizing our sins.

A city without people is no longer a city. A city would turn quickly into a ruin of asphalt and concrete without us – merely a collection of potholes.

A city means many things. It also means this: to fail, to fail again and then try again.

The exhibition deals with the repetitive, reflexive interaction between people, space/place and time. With flair and a good sense of humor, the artists raise the question whether we can embrace mistakes as a blessing in disguise. Breaks and tears, chance and change are inevitable, even though only slightly visible/audible at first, when an action is – or: has to be – repeated over and over again. Failure and a deviation from perceived standards are common treads to who we are/can be(-come) in particular places and times (including how we are perceived and received by others in public and private instances).

Poster design by Endira FJ.

booklet Dear Curator Curate Me/Yogyakarta

Download the Dear Curator Curate Me booklet here.
April/May 2014 Dear Curator Curate Me was organized in Yogyakarta in collaboration with Cemeti Art House and Ruang MES56. In Yogyakarta, three curators participated: Mira Asriningtyas, Pitra Hutomo and Grace Samboh. The booklet is designed by Arthel Tagnipez and handmade by ASNARUPA.

meet-up between curators & artists @ ArtStage '15

January 22, I'll participate at a meet-up between curators & artists at ArtStage '15 in the Latent Spaces booth (no. H1a), which is organized by Michael Lee.

manifesto #superduperdecorativeart

manifesto #superduperdecorativeart

1. #superduperdecorativeart comes by many names and in different disguises.

2. We will no longer allow for any more boring art!

3. What cannot be said, should be joked about.

4.

5. #superduperdecorativeart is beyond beauty yet aesthetic.

6. #superduperdecorativeart is artificial and characterized by a high-degree of plasticity.

7.#superduperdecorativeart has no clear-cut genesis, it's and continuous to be the bastard child of a great many artists, with and without talent.

8. No one is an artist until one is an artist.

9. #superduperdecorativeart embraces mimetic desire: that our desires are our own is a wonderful illusion.

10. #superduperdecorativeart has limited use for authenticity. Authenticity can be regarded a useful artifice though.

11. #superduperdecorativeart plays with an infinite feedback loop: reflexive self-plagiarism is called for in our digital modernity.

12. #superduperdecorativeart quotes, samples, pirates, forges, bootlegs, imitates, borrows, mimics, copies transposes, plagiarizes, steals, appropriates and echoes from whatever sources we see fit: nothing is holy.

13.

14.

15. #superduperdecorativeart's interventions are unpredictable and unstable – long live contingency!

16. #superduperdecorativeart does not spell everything out, use your imagination anyway you like to finish works on display.

17. #superduperdecorativeart does not aim to bridge contemporary art and everyday life, whatever the latter might mean, but see statement 12.

18. #superduperdecorativeart does not make statements, let alone statements on factual reality.

19. Pure logics does not apply to the aesthetics of #superduperdecorativeart, which does not mean that #superduperdecorativeart is beyond discourse, but, for a change, lets speak in French tongues, paradoxes, lies, hyperboles and contradictions.

20. Sometimes a shoe is just that: a shoe. Sometimes a shoe does not signify or symbolize a meaningful concept or idea (but sometimes, maybe, it does).

21. #superduperdecorativeart does not care the slightest for democracy, but does care about/for aesthetics as well as ethics (the two sides of the same proverbial coin).

22. #superduperdecorativeart is post-post-colonial art as well as post-identity politics.

23. #superduperdecorativeart offers pleasure: emotional, spiritual as well as intellectual pleasure – but can also cause discomfort in the faint hearted. It is, therefore, best enjoyed in small doses in good company.

24.

25. Every day is a great day for #superduperdecorativeart; no one has the last word on #superduperdecorativeart, not even the artist (nor this author).

26. #superduperdecorativeart does not want to win popularity contests, yet, #superduperdecorativeart might, one day, go viral and become the neo-avant-garde, possibly the new 0.1 percent.

27. None of the above statements have any claim to originality. Moreover, this manifesto is far from complete (like noise, silence can be convenient).

28. The author cannot be hold responsible for the interpretations of this work of fiction.

29. Copyright does not apply to the above statements nor the manifesto as a whole.

30. None of the above statements nor the manifesto as a whole are manifestations of art.

31. Needless to say, the artist does not agree with any of the above statements nor with the manifesto as a whole.

Unoriginal Sin II - Art in the Expired Field - a solo exhibition by Asmudjo J. Irianto at LAF

Unoriginal Sin II
Art in the Expired Field

Solo exhibition by Asmudjo J. Irianto at LAF, Yogyakarta.

Opening: Friday 28 November 7.30 pm
Artist talk: Saturday 29 November

Exhibition runs until 28 December 2014

My text can be downloaded here.

Looking at the Big Sky - video art from Germany

'Looking at the Big Sky' is a traveling program by Goethe Institut (http://www.goethe.de) of 14 videos by students from four art schools in Germany: Braunschweig University of Art, Düsseldorf Art Academy, Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, and Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. The selection was made by Renate Buschmann (http://www.imaionline.de/) and Leonhard Emmerling. The videos range from fictional narratives and stagings to individual assertions and performances, from found-footage montages to pseudo documentaries. At the same time, two major perspectives crystallize in the works: 'The Beauty of the Familiar' aim towards personal introspection that divines meaning in the inconspicuous and unspectacular, 'Departures for Tomorrow' encompasses films seeking to formulate an outlook on the immeasurable and indeterminate. The choice of 'Looking at the Big Sky' is associated with the hope that the ideas and illusions knows no boundaries, that the sky is the limit. At the same time, it sounded like an appeal to the participating artists to venture a look at longings, utopias and great aspirations, and to think the existing concepts of authenticity and beauty beyond the present.

Opening: Friday 10 October, 2014, 7pm

Talk: Saturday 18 October, 2014

Speakers: Melati Suryodarmo & Deden Hendan Durahman

Duration: until Thursday 30 October, 2014

PLATFORM3

Jalan Cigadung Raya Tengah no.42, Bandung

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PLATFORM3_Bdg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/platform3bandung

At PLATFORM3, organized by Rizki Lazuardi and Roy Voragen

Bandung Network 11

Sergio Beltran, from Mexico City, stays as a guest at Roma Arts and ASNARUPA. He is in Bandung to give a Situationist workshop, which is facilitated by BCCF and Sembilan Matihari (for more info on his workshop see here). And he presents his thoughts on this workshop at the fifth Arte Polis conference at ITB. Sergio first came to Bandung four years ago to speak at Arte Polis 3, a biannual conference organized by the department of architecture at ITB, during the conference he also participated in the roundtable discussion on art and the city, which I organized and moderated (see here for my essay on the roundtable's topic as published in Tempo Magazine and see here for my review of Arte Polis 4 as published in the IIAS Newsletter).

e-catalog Amorphous Amours

The e-catalog of Deden Durahman's solo exhibition Amorphous Amours at RKFA can be downloaded here.

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

Amorphous Amours

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Amorphous Amours

A solo exhibition by Deden HendanDurahman at RKFA, Singapore

Curated by Roy Voragen 

Opening: 17 July 2014

Until: 7 August 2014

Artspace@Helutrans

39 Keppel Road

#01-05 Tanjong Pagar Distripark

Singapore 089065

E info@rkfineart.com

T +65 6221 1209

F +65 6221 1249

For the catalog see here.

Dear Curator Curate Me: postscript - questions raised during the roundtable discussion at Cemeti Art House

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The discussion on Dear Curator Curate Me (a travelling

--> project by the nomadic visual artist Kristoffer Ardeña) at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia, 19 May 2013, with curators Rizki Lazuardi and Chabib Duta Hapsoro, focused on the artist-curator relationships. The discussion at Cemeti Art House in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on the other hand, focused on the curatorial text. For Yogyakarta,  --> the following curators were invited: Mira Asriningtyas, Pitra Hutomo and Grace Samboh.

Here are some of the questions that arose during the discussion at Cemeti Art House (5 April 2014):

1.     Why ask curators to include all the 15 videos?

2.     Why can’t curators select videos she or he wants to curate?

3.     Why can’t curators add more videos in the selection? Curators felt like they were given an assignment instead of a challenge.

4.     Is Kristoffer Ardeña acting as a meta-curator? How is Dear Curator Curate Me an artistic project?

5.     Are different models possible to express curatorial intentions? Is it possible to make a video as a curatorial discourse instead of writing a text?

6.     A researcher in the audience posed an interesting point on the dilemma and difficulties of gathering data from past exhibitions, if curators would opt to make non-text-based curatorial discourses, how would this facilitate research on these exhibitions in the future?

7.     What are the functions of texts within curatorial practices?

8.     What are the relationships between the curator and the artist(s)/artworks/exhibitions to the curatorial text? How to engage with artists and their art as a curator?

9.     Who reads curatorial essays? Who is our audience? Is there enough of a critical mass?

10.  What are the relationships between the curator and the public in relation to the curatorial text?

11.  Should curators write curatorial texts that are readily understandable by the general public?

12.  Is there such a thing as a curatorial art writing style?