Arts for Laypersons

TEMPO 52/XXXVII, 16 February 2009
(English Translation)

That noon, the sun simmered Jakarta. But Wawang remained animated in offering his services to the visitors of Monas. He is one of dozens of mobile photographers around Monas. Wawan's spirit was boosted due to an exhibition holding located at the tunnel nearby the ticket booth." Since the exhibition is held, our income rise to almost 20 percent higher", he said in excitement.

The photo exhibition Wawang was referring to displayed works of the young photographer Daniel Kampua. The exhibition entitled Monas dan Kita (literally Monas and Us) presented various unique poses of visitors as shot by the mobile photographers. These photo works can give the impression that the visitors are touching the monument's top. There is a photo depicting a boy reaching the gold surface at the top of Monas, to a photo portraying a guy in long hair that pretend to lit his cigarette from the flame-shape summit. Apparently these unique poses have driven other visitors to have similar shots taken.

But Wawang's joy is not only caused by the increasing demand. "What I like most is the text set next to the photo. For us, this text has given us the acknowledgement to mobile photographer profession," he proudly explained. Indeed, this exhibition was dedicated for them. Apart from presenting the unique poses, Daniel has succeeded in assembling all the photographers working in the area in a photo group session. A very rare moment to be found there, as in daily circumstances the relation between the mobile photographers at Monas is highly competitive.

Daniel's work is one of the site-specific work series presented as part of Jakarta Biennale XIII 2009 holding in January. Ardi Yunanto, the program's curator, stated that this time they invited artist to discuss about the diminishing public space in Jakarta. "We also asked them to create new spaces, both in its physical as well as conceptual sense," Ardi added.

Thus, arts will lo longer appears sterile within prestigious avenues. One artist, Veronica Kusuma, brought free film screening to an old cinema house in Senen. In the past Senen was a strategic area. It was also a popular hub for among local artists such as Wim Umboh and Misbach Jusa Biran. While the Senen cinema house heyday could be traced back to the 1970-1980 period, during the golden era of Indonesian cinema.

The cinema house then started to dwindle following the plunge experienced by Indonesian movie industry in the 1990's. With the current revival of the giant screen, the cinema house remains stranded into the past. "Many come here not only to watch the film, but also to hold sexual transaction," explained the student of Film studies at Jakarta Arts Institute.

To revive its function as an entertainment place, Vero and her colleagues organized two free film screenings last January: a comedy flick starred by Benyamin S. and a horror movie featuring the horror queen Suzanna. The audience responds were beyond expectation, from the 180 seats capacity available, 210 people came watching.

The shows were attended by people from different background, from street-hawkers, local thugs, to sex workers. "They were all excited about these events," Vero said gleefully. Although the space was without air-condition and the audience have to seat in chairs that resemble public transportation seating, their enthusiasm remains high. Despite of the breaking projection due to the reel's bad quality, the audience remain lingered in their seat until the show ended.

Public spaces were created throughout the Biennale. Saleh Husein, Yusmario Farabi, and Aprilia Apsari invented a new park, which is unlisted in the municipal office. The trio designed and "installed" a park underneath the flyover located nearby Tebet train station. The site was named Taman Catur, (literally, Chess Park) since people always play chess there everyday for the past five years. Owing to the local residence, the place that was originally dark and dangerous became a fun meeting point.

Saleh and his friends tried to emphasize the presence of the informal chess park. They learned that there were no bench or table upon which the residence can play chess with. After spending one month to brainstorm with the local citizens they came up with the idea to make seating arrangements for playing chess, accompanied by a mural depicting the chess pawns over the flyover walls.

The bench and tables were designed for 16 people with the chessboard painted on the table surface. Some spaces are provided in between the "boards" for the players to put their coffee-mugs on. The bench was made extra-long so the audience could sit while watching the game. But the most unique thing is the detachable table leg. "This was tailored based on the people's demand, so that when there is police raid, they can be moved," said Saleh in laughs.

Concerns over the increasing numbers of mall in Jakarta have sparked a creative inkling in Ali Akbar's mind. The former worker of advertising industry observes the excessive consumerism among Jakarta citizen. He then set up billboard advertising a fake sale under the brand Fakery. Not contented with the billboard perched on the bridge crossing nearby Pondok Indah Mosque, he also distributed the fake sale promotion in the social networking site, Facebook.

Within two weeks time, he collected more than 200 new friends due to the ads. Almost everyone positively welcome the fake brand launching. Some have asked the outlet location for this brand, while a public relation company proposed a partnership package. The initial plan was to set the billboard in front of the two prestigious shopping malls in Senayan area. Unfortunately, the complex bureaucracy of Jakarta governance hampered this attempt. "Actually I wanted to show people how they have been buying unnecessary things, based on fake reality," he explained.

The high crime rate in Jakarta has disturbed artists as well. Ami and The Popo are two young people who often pass through T.B. Simatupang street in South Jakarta area. They have witnessed a motorbike robbery during one night at the location. Hence they mulled over the possibilities of making a warning system.

At the three locations with highest risk, they put up a wetpaste poster depicting a motorbike rider being chased by a gun or a giant hand. Too bad, due to the sites' high exposure to water, their posters are already torn by now. The idea to provide a warning system is entitled Caterpaper. They often spotted a robber who intentionally scattered nails on certain streets in Jakarta to ensnare their victim. To warn the citizens about the criminal conduct Ami and the Popo disguised as a public work official installed some warning on the streets saying: Warning Nails.

In responding to the heavy traffic, Ismiaji Cahyono designed a giant yellow billboard at Grogol intersection. The wordings on the billboard say: Grogol is...? Pleas fill the blank and send your text message to 0899123456, which is his private phone number. He collected the meanings of Grogol for its citizens via the short message sent to his mobile phone.

So many problems are beleaguering this city that it took three weeks for artists to discuss the. Some of the results directly benefit the public.

~ Sita Planasari Aquadini