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December 2008

Window Display: New work by Wiyoga Muhardanto
Exhibition Review

Window Display: New work by Wiyoga Muhardanto
19 December 2008 – 18 January, 2009
Selasar Sunaryo Artspace, Bandung

by Melitta Firth

Artists have critiqued the trappings of consumer lifestyles ever since the Industrial Revolution made it possible, for the first time, to produce more goods than we actually need. From the Romantic movement in 19th century Britain to Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans, to artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, and Takashi Murakami, the current exhibition Window Display at Selasar Sunaryo Artspace in Bandung, continues this long tradition of the role of the artist as critic of consumer society.

It is no surprise that the next generation of young Indonesian artists have something to say about this topic. Faced with alarmingly rapid urban expansion, desperately insufficient infrastructure, and powerful multinational corporations moving in on every street corner – the influence and power of the consumer machine is in-your-face and unrelenting in daily life in Indonesian Cities.
The Window Display exhibition comments cleverly on Indonesia’s growing love affair with luxury, consumer goods, shopping malls and ‘conspicuous consumption’. From the exhibition invitation – a white credit card arriving by post inscribed with the exhibition details – to parts of the exhibition where you would think you were in a handbag shop were it not for the thought-provoking modifications to the ‘merchandise’, the exhibition is an experience.


The sculptural works in this exhibition are the creations of emerging artist Wiyoga Muhardanto born in Jakarta in 1984, a recent graduate of the Institute of Technology, Bandung. The works include a life-size Japanese car, a flatscreen Television meticulously painted on canvas, and a melting Vespa motorbike lovingly created by the artist’s hand. Wiyoga uses a complex and laborious modeling process to create his pieces and eschews the use of machines and pre-fabricated parts.

Curator Agung Hujatnikajennong says you have to look at the works carefully to understand the artist’s intention. “At first glance, Wiyoga’s works look like everyday objects from urban life - branded goods such as handbags, wallets and cars. But Wiyoga’s objects are not just replicas, he cleverly alters the objects that he imitates, thereby subverting them.”

The “site-specific shop” installed in the gallery as part of the exhibition includes works that resemble replicas of common consumption goods such baby outfits (Houte Couture for Dummies, 2008) and bags (The Aging 2008). These are no ordinary bags, however – they appear to be made from human flesh with sagging, androgynous breasts or an old man’s wrinkled brow protruding. Wiyoga is subtly referring to the in-built transience of fashion; it is designed to age in order to drive the next purchase.

 

Similarly Obese (2008), a resin work in the shape of the front part of a pot-bellied man’s torso, from breast to stomach, blurs the line between the consumer object and the body. “Peculiar mutations seem to be taking place on several parts of the body. Common consumer goods such as sunglasses, a wallet and perfume are emerging from underneath the skin.” Says Curator Agung, “Sustenance for the body is no longer gained through food but rather through fulfillment of desire”. The bodies in this exhibition are sick, a metaphor for Wiyoga’s sense of the state of society.

The tactile qualities of these works are important to the artist, as is the actual process of creation. The works are carefully crafted by hand, not machine, “That’s my passion, creating artworks with my hands,” says Wiyoga. “Any imperfections in these replicas are an important part of the work. I’m interested in the what is achievable by the hand and measurable by the eye.” Indeed it would be ironic if he was fabricating art with machines in order to critique ‘mass production’.

Today in Indonesia the mall is replacing public space at an alarming rate, a serious cause for concern for Wiyoga. Malls have become cathedrals for urban dwellers: a places where people greedily reflect on themselves by means of consumption. There are very few spaces left for people to ‘nongkrong’ creatively, participate in cultural activities, or learn about their heritage.

This is the brave new era of colonisation. Shopping malls spread like a disease across the landscape and wipe out rich layers of local and regional distinctiveness in their wake. This phenomenon is particularly evident in Bandung, a city with great potential, whose many assets are gradually slipping away.

By changing the form, colour, material or features of the objects, the artist makes a humorous yet critical comment on our tendency to define ourselves through our consumer decisions and infers the cost of consumer culture, not only on our individual identity and health but also on our cultural distinctiveness, and our environment.”

Contribution by Melitta Firth, Australian Arts Manager in Residence at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space funded by Asialink and the Australia Indonesia Institute.