1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

THE INSTALLATION AS THE LANGUAGE OF SOCIAL CONCERN By FX Harsono Installation art in Indonesia cannot be separated from the problems of society. The installa­ tion art which has developed since 1975 is a medium of expression for artists whose creation of art is orieneted toward social concern. This could be seen in the New Art Movement’s first exhibition held under the auspices of the Jakarta Art Council at Taman Ismail MarzukL Several artists created a work of art by assembling found objects from their environment, or those pur­ chased in shops. The resulting work of art ws initially referred to as fine art that uses ready-made objects. A plastic M16 rifle symbolized the extent of the power exerted by the military which controlled the student movement of the time. Matress, chains and plastic flowers illustrated the domination by the powers that be and industry that knows no honesty. A crown from the Wayang Orang theater and reproductions of traditional sculptures illustrated the cultural conflict between tradition and modernization. Ready-made objects, which did not ordinarily appear in art in their original form (they were generally either the subjects of either paintings or sculptures),suddenly were presented as elements in a three-dimensional work of art set in an existing space. The dimensions of the space and the organization of the objects no longer gave any impression of the creation of serious art which had references in conventional sculpture; this work had no base and it had no frame. The desire to step outside of the shackles of the limitations previously outlined by the principles of high art, which was based on the ideology of modernism, was one of the motivating factors in the search for a form of art with a process of creation which was entirely different than that of modem a rt The process of creation in modem art was two categorized, with conceptual boxes into which everything was supposed to f i t All creation of art was felt to have been given a container and a name, all of which had reference to mainstream art. Theory, classification of work processes, and the differentiation between pure art and applied art had all been outlined in line with the principles of high art. The desire arose to create a form, a creative process and a concept of art which could absolutely not be indentified as painting, sculpture or graphic art, which were a part of the pure art forms which emerged from the principles of high art. The desire to make history of all forms of creation of art as fine (plastic) art, without the necessity of classifying art as either pure art or applied art, was based on the democratic ideology which gave birth to pluralistic a r t The motivation was toward the seeking out of a national identity with thinking that rejected the universalism which was the essence of modernism, and toward the search for a form in which this national identity could be presented through the setting forth of contextual problems which were rooted in social, political, ecoomic and cultural issues. It must be admitted that the art being created worldwide had an impact on these artists. However, this influence was more in terms of concrete forms than it was interms of the develop­ ment of conceptual thought This was due to the fact that the artists’ ability to understand Eng­ lish was limited. And the influence of the development of form was not so much from the con­ temporary aart of installation as it was from the Dadaist movement in Europe during the post- World War II period. However, although the artists were exposed to the concepts, aesthetic analyses and theories related to this movement in school, this exposure was extremely limited. The limitations of transfer of information, of language and of the intellectual horizons of the