Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, 1993 : Exhibition report

APPENDIX VI PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTIONS Performance by S. Chandrasekaran: Friday 17 September, 11.30 a.m. S. Chandrasekaran sources his practice in Indian philsophical and artistic tradition. These traditions provide dynamic resources for his work, as identity is constructed, tested and dismantled. Working in paint, installation and performance, his art is imbued with a profound ethereal and theatrical presence. Duality focused on traditional Indian comprehensions of art, metaphysics and mysticism. His performance within the installation incorporates the physical dimensions of sound and illuminations, as the artist’s own body literally enters into the material presence of the work. Performance by Dadang Christanto: Friday 17 September. 3.00 p.m. Dadang Christanto’s extensive involvement with community groups in Indonesia has encompassed the visual arts, music, poetry and performance. At the heart of the artist’s intention is an emphatic desire for communiciation, as he attempts through his work to raise community consciouness of social issues. "With my work I hope to encourage a more comprehensive view - with a humanistic dimension - towards this age of development." Extending his installation, For those who are ..., into a powerful performance, the artist, laden with flowers and accompanied by sound, will physically move through the multiple, suspended component of his work. Performances by Heri Dono: Friday 17 September. 4.00 p.m. and Sunday 19 Sept., 7.00 p.m. Drawing inspiration from traditional Indonesian and modern European art sources, Heri Dono responds directly to the realities of contemporary Indonesian life. The artist’s interest in wayang puppets influenced not only his visual imagery, but led him to further explore installation and performance work. Truly multi-disciplinary, Heri Dono’s work is at once cynical, vibrant, erotic, passionate, witty, complex and visually splendid. ’The chair’ is an extraordinary performance, combining an original music score, sequenced action, complex sets and elaborate costumes created by the artist. Seven local dancers and three local musicians will present stories of position and power as told through the puppet master and four ’wayang’ characters. Performance by Roberto Villanueva: Friday 17 September, 8.45 p.m. Villanueva re-interprets and presents indigenous Filipino traditions of ritual and ceremony through large scale installations using site-specific materials. The physical language of performance is an integral force in the ritual processes associated with the formation of his work, Ego’s grave. The installation is an outdoor earth sculpture which evolves over sixteen days and culminates in a shamanic performance that unites the material installation with a created sound environment, eleven dancers (Babaylans/psychopomps) and the transforming element of fire. Performance by Prawat Laucharoen; Sunday 19 September. 6.00 p.m. Prawat is a highly respected expatriate Thai artist living in New York.._His fascination with the process of printmaking as a creative force has guided him to experiment with the wood carving traditions of Asia. Laucharoen’s work concentrates on print installations which incorporate performance whereby he ’assaults’ large printing surfaces with print­ making implements and chemicals. The prints then become both the recorded evidence of actions, as well as images. The four elements addresses issues of national identity, patriotism and faith; the associated performance further explores the artist’s exposure of printmaking as both process and ritual.