Exi(s)t #5 Bodies of Land Surrounded By Water Spotlights More than Ocean’s Beauty
Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace once again holds the fifth installment of Exi(s)t, and this year, the theme of the exhibition is called Bodies of Land Surrounded By Water. Curated by Mitha Budhyarto and Athina Dinda Ibrahim, the exhibiton features selected works from Ahmad Fauzan, Dio Prakasa (Diodoran), Gadis Fitriana, Gabriel Sena, Fiametta Gabriela (Gaby), and Rianti Gautama. We arrived at the exhibition opening on November 12th, 2016 and saw an array of installations ranging from two to three dimensional contemporary artworks, with intriguing appearances. The exhibition stemmed from an assignment the artists received for educational/research purpose in college and they thought of turning it into an exhibition.
Upon entering the exhibition room of Bodies of Land Surrounded by Water, few tables were set to display several artworks from Gabriel Sena called “Air Laut Punya Cerita”. There were few jars, papers, and framed sand on the table. The artist’s work was more like a research, with lots of samples taken from Ancol beach in Jakarta. The beach which often become a destination for vacation, has to deal with lots of junks and trash left by irresponsible people afterwards. The jars contain sea water and sand that show the level of nature’s destruction. Sena also displays some findings from the beach like money and a piece of paper cup, toothpick and fork were also found and the discovery became a concern since these sharp objects on the beach could harm children.
Later on, we saw some hanging objects and upon closer inspection, they turned out to be stockings filled with clam shells. There were also few papers with some drawings scattered bellow the hanged installation. The artwork is made by Fiametta Gabriella and it is titled “Sick Mother”. Through this artwork, she depicts her interpretation about sea which acts as a mother who provides for humans (the children), a faith held strongly among Bajo tribe. It also concerns about working women who peel clam shells at Kampung Nelayan, Muara Angke. The stocking mimics the breasts of female who have dried up due to over consumption. The artworks on the paper below it shows the repetitive cycle of the working women who spend most of their time peeling the clam shells and separate the meat from the shells.
Dio Prakasa (Diodoran) offers a historical perspective on a commerce between two tribes that were connected by the sea. His artwork titled “Marege” incorporates video mapping on sand and stones and focuses on telling a story of the trade of sea cucumber between Makassar tribe and Yoingu tribe in North Australia, which later initiated an alliance among them. The stones were arranged in specific order to portray Yoingu tribe’s boat. It was fun yet educative since people only receive little to no exposure about this matter, and it shows how important the ocean is, to connect the two far-apart clans.
“Identities of The Sea” by Ahmad Fauzan uses recycled paper and printed books to display several mythical characters from the folklores all over the world. The idea is to present how a culture shapes the gender of the ocean based on its mythical character’s portrayal. In some culture like Java, the sea can be seen as feminine with Nyi Roro Kidul becoming an icon of the south coast. In Greek mythology, Poseidon can be seen as the male protector of the ocean realm, thus the sea is seen as masculine. There was also a little bit of stories of the mythical figures printed on the paper which we could read, and we were eager to learn about the whole story thereafter.
Rianti Gautama with “Mengupas Kerang di Jakarta” made a prototype of fisherman’s hut that can be found at Muara Angke, Jakarta. It was made from the remaining wood panel of a dismantled ship and she also tries to closely interpret the situation, the stench, and the surrounding of the site with her installation. There were hundreds (maybe thousands) of green clamshells surrounding the hut and you could definitely smell the ocean there. She aims to capture the tight community of Kampung Nelayan in Muara Angke, and the occasional isolation they receive from the outside world. It’s only them, clams, boats, and the vast ocean.
Last but not least, there were an artwork by Gadis Fitriana called “Pedoman Anthropocene/Bab II: Menuju Satu Dekade Pemutihan Karang”. The artwork aims to bring awareness of coral bleaching, an ecological issue that affects her deeply. The bleached corals were stacked into a pile mimicking ‘tumpeng’ that could be found in Javanese tradition called “Kenduri”. The installation came with a book that contains her findings regarding the issue and the book cover was styled in the Moslem’s prayer book for those who have passed away or commonly referred as “Buku Yasin”. The whole installation is a satire of the current state of our ocean’s ecosystem and Gadis managed to entertain us yet harshly slapped us with the truth.
Overall, Exi(s)t #5 Bodies of Land Surrounded By Water has successfully reminded us once again that ocean is also a part of us. Although we live on land, it is nonsense to think that what the ocean suffers should not affect us at all. The exhibition has planted an understanding for urban people like us to get close to nature and we could take an action to save it while we can. Exi(s)t #5 will still be displaying the artworks until December 11th, we highly recommend you to visit Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace at Jl. Kemang Selatan No.99A Jakarta to see Exi(s)t #5 Bodies of Land Surrounded By Water yourself and it is free of charge.
