THE FOUNTAIN of LAMNETH the Fountain of Lamneth CONTENT Andry Mochammad Bagus Pandega Dita Gambiro Henrycus Napitsunargo Prilla Tania R.E
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THE FOUNTAIN OF LAMNETH The Fountain of Lamneth CONTENT Andry Mochammad Bagus Pandega Dita Gambiro Henrycus Napitsunargo Prilla Tania R.E. Hartanto Syagini Ratnawulan Copyright © 2012 Publication : Gajah Gallery Text : Aminudin TH Siregar Images : Andry Mochammad Bagus Pandega Dita Gambiro Henrycus Napitsunargo Prilla Tania R.E. Hartanto Syagini Ratnawulan Curator : Aminudin TH Siregar Project Coordinator : Herra Pahlasari Design : s14 Design / D.H. Durahman Photography : Henrycus Napitsunargo, except Andry Mochammad - images courtesy of artist estate All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the permission FOREWORD 05 in writing from the copyright owner(s). Jasdeep Sandhu For information contact Gajah Gallery. THE FOUNTAIN OF LAMNETH - AN ART PROJECT 07 Aminudin TH Siregar 140 Hill Street MICA Building #01-08 Singapore 179369 T. 65 6737 4202 PLATES 19 E. [email protected] www.gajahgallery.com Andry Mochammad Bagus Pandega Printed in Bandung, Indonesia Dita Gambiro Milprint - Bandung, Indonesia Henrycus Napitsunargo ISBN 978-981-07-1960-9 Prilla Tania National Library of Singapore Catalogue-in-Publication data R.E. Hartanto Syagini Ratnawulan Front cover :The War is Over, Andry Mochammad, 2006-2007 (detail) Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES 60 Bacchusplateu, Henricus Napitsunargo, various dimensions, gelatin silver print, 2012 FOREWORD In this day and age where images are so easily accessible and downloadable; it is highly important that the artist develops a visual philosophical identity. It is the primary focus of galleries not only to sell and expose the art but to also give the artists the tools and confidence to achieve this. The spotlight on Indonesian Art is not only towards Indonesian artists but also towards its galleries, management strategies and skills. This is what collectors and artists should look out for in addition to their primary focus of good artworks. The Fountain of Lamneth curated by Aminudin Siregar features upcoming and prominent artists such as Andry Mochamad, Bagus A. Pandega, Dita Gambiro, Henrycus Napitsunargo, Prilla Tania, R.E Hartanto and Syagini Ratnawulan from Bandung, Indonesia. These artists have used experimental methodologies as their tool to express their thoughts and perspective towards the Fountain of Lamneth. Jasdeep Sandhu Gajah Gallery Foreword 05 06 Foreword Rotation inside the valley (detail), Bagus Pandega, kinetik & sound installation, 110x110x230cm, 2012 THE Fountain OF Lamneth: AN Art Project I do not know of dust to dust I live from breath to breath I live to climb that mountain To the Fountain of Lamneth The Fountain of Lamneth is an art project which juxtaposes the layers of meaning and the context of history between them, while studying the impact of hearing upon visual work; opening up wider horizons of interpretation; and opening up the chance to construct new meanings. This project was built with an “experimental” spirit with a risk of unintelligibility, as is it based on the free interpretation of each artist towards the lyrics and the “architechture” of the song The Fountain Of Lamneth, a song from the third album of progressive rock band Rush titled Caress of Steel (1975) by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart. The Fountain of Lamneth is said to be not only an ambitious, occult and mysterious epic, but was designed with mature considerations. Geddy Lee, the bassist, keyboardist and lead vocalist of Rush admits that, “Fountain of Lamneth is very absurd and experimental. I won’t say that the song is an opera, but it is packaged in a similar concept. ”1 Other than that, this epic talks about the necessity of man in seeing and tasting the world (the spirit of Dionisians). Generally, this epic is viewed as a representation of the chronic journey of man, filled with crises from birth 1. Martin Popoff, Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away, (Canada: ECW Press), p. 40. The Fountain of Lamneth: An Art Project 07 to death. In many ways, many see a connection between this song and the Listening and Interpreting psychedelic and mystical experience of LSD influence. On the other hand, many also reject that connection due to lack of evidence other than a few lines of lyrics In every song section, we will see many allusions that challenge anyone to that insinuate said connection. do free interpretations. The song is like a long puzzle, where every code must be cracked on each travel route. Of course, with Rush’s signature musical The Fountain of Lamneth was created with a concept of accuracy of rock music arrangement, the song seems to have a ‘soul’, a ‘space’ – creating a variety of unheard of at its time, with a composition lasting 19:58 minutes and divided into fantasies and daydreams. 6 song sections: This exhibition project gives one song section to each artist. They are asked to I. In the Valley listen and interpret the lyrics. Then, at one point, they start to translate their II. Didacts and Narpets interpretation into a work of art. III. No One At the Bridge IV. Panacea The artists selected to be part of The Fountain of Lamneth project are those V. Bacchus Plateau whose work have long been observed to put forward very personal concepts, VI. The Fountain and in many ways, relate to the meanings embedded into the song. The themes of their work represent the spirit of the issues mentioned above. Why The Fountain of Lamneth? The following is the list of artists and their assigned song section: The Ancient Greeks believed that the highest art form was music, meaning music 1. Andry Moch. - Didacts and Narpets with lyrics. At their lyrical peak, Rush was almost undefeatable. They intelligently 2. Bagus A. Pandega –In the Valley created a complex and enigmatic system of code, with layers of meaning that 3. Dita Gambiro – Panacea more or less revealed the puzzle about them. 4. Prilla Tania - The Fountain 5. Syagini Ratnawulan – No One At the Bridge In this art project, The Fountain of Lamnent not only acts as a stimulus, but is 6. Henrycus Napitsunargo – Bacchus Plateau also borrowed as a subjective metaphor in observing a small slice of tendencies 7. R. E. Hartanto – Caress of Steel in the practice of Indonesian contemporary art, which is leaning towards the unearthing of almost forgotten issues overwhelmed by today’s discourses (identity, nationalism, religiosity, socialism, humanism). The study of meaning in Caress of Steel this project is more closely related to issues like dark fantasies; ugliness; anxiety; absurdity; metaphysics; spirituality; mysticism; immortality; the death of ego; Caress of Steel is not a song composition. Despite that, it is often said to be a the quickly-changing wave of perception distortion; the feeling of being stuck summary of representations of the whole album, especially the meaning behind in an unavoidable vortex; illusory truth; experience of helplessness; cognitive the album cover which gives the impression of mysticism, self control and the disassociation; about consciousness; the separation of body and mind; fatigue death of ego: an alchemist standing atop a tall, sharp cliff, with a thick fog behind of leading a normal life; crisis of age; and so on. him. The back side of the album shows a large, dry tree at the tip of a cliff, where below it is a spring with a strong current. The roots of the tree are like two hands This project wants to present the reality experienced by today’s Indonesia, holding tightly, supporting balance to avoid being swept away by the water: through the aesthetic sense and experience of artists. giving reverse pressure. 08 The Fountain of Lamneth: An Art Project The Fountain of Lamneth: An Art Project 09 R.E.Hartanto (Tanto) interprets Caress of Steel as a process towards a non-linear offers implies the paradox of that symbolism. The noise thrown in our faces perspective. The opposite of this is atmospheric perspectives, where in Eastern purposely reflects the weariness caused by the ever-increasing change of art, is used to create an illusion by decreasing or occluding the clarity of shape, contemporary life. thus creating the illusion of “near and far” without a vanishing point. Tanto takes advantage of this potential and redefines his creative process. For the past four years, Tanto has done photography with models in thematic shows. He resurfaces Gives my heart no peace this documentation as watercolor paintings – a reversal of process. As an end The mountain holds the sunrise result, he brings to the fore a figure in a kimono, whose face is painted with In the prison of the night symbols of death, as he redraws the photo archives. In another process, there are ‘Til bursting forth from rocky chains 9 snapshots in narrative succession, with the end result being a picture drawn The valley floods with light with charcoal. This reversal process enriches perception. The long process of photography in this thematic photo series is ended by a simple artistic decision, which invites our curiosity. Didacts and Narpets Stay! Go! In the Valley Work! No! Learn! Live! I am born Earn! Give! I am me Stay or fight? What’s right? I am new Listen! I am free Didacts and Narpets is a tense contradiction, grabbed to form new ideas, and trickles its way through our ego into the real world. This song is a self-inflicted Sound, kinetics – Bagus Pandega’s installation is an attempt to interpret struggle with what we assume is the truth. “Narpets” is often assumed an the song In The Valley. The work is noisy and full of light, creating “orbits” anagram of “parents”; “didacts” is “teacher” or an anagram of “addicts”.