A multi-disciplinary art exhibition from 15th December 2023 to 3rd February 2024. Sawidji Gallery in partnership with Sudekara Art Space.
Written by Dian Dewi Reich with a special contribution by Eric Buvelot 'Indomitable Beings'.
Dian Dewi Reich | Dibal Ranuh | Made Kaek | ManButur Suantara | Tjandra Hutama
Manus Origin
MANUS /ˈmeɪ.nəs/ plural manus. Add to word list Add to word list. a Latin word meaning "hand" or "of the hand", used in medical names and descriptions. The hand.
It is often suggested that our opposable thumbs have taken us on a course of evolution very different from other animals. This is how 'Manus' first came to represent the question 'What makes us human?' for our collaboration.
Collaborative Installation
Manus, a Conscious Journey began with a collaborative effort to create a conceptual portrait of a specific state of mind. Not through a facial expression but by building an installation as an extension of that mental state. The Manus three-dimensional installation was our first creation together intended as a backdrop for our portrait. The Manus Journey began from there.
An Inverted Approach
Merging disciplines to achieve a real degree of creative collaboration is a significant focus throughout the Manus project. Coming from different creative segments, that of photography, fine art painting, sculpture, film and digital art, we chose unfamiliar methods, as a way of breaking established familiar habits and challenging ourselves in unfamiliar roles.
Contemporary artist Made Kaek agreed to be the medium and canvas. As a model for a portrait that embodies primitivism, a state of the human animal. Hypothesising a visual presentation of a physical human being but not yet one who has discovered humanity. From this interaction, we continued the process of inverting and challenging our positions, changing roles whilst encompassing mediums ordinarily not within our practice.
Manus, a Conscious Journey threads together individual creative voices in a narrative we found together. Each brings a different chapter like a piece of a puzzle.
Made Kaek
A contemporary self-taught and a graduate of law residing in Sukawati Bali. Made Kaek is a creative pillar in the community with pivotal contributions to the landscape of contemporary Indonesian art. With an extensive portfolio mapping a path consistently proving a growing influence and appreciation of his raw and mature intuitive visual aesthetic.
We begin from the thematic point of origin. Subconscious, intuitive, base, primitive are qualities resonating within our installation and portrait. Themes that are often represented in the visual work of Made Kaek whether by stylistic associations to art brut or the artists' own social commentary within his work.
Made Kaek's Cryptic Creatures prompted many discussions about the fluid creative subconscious that has raw and mysterious magnetism within intuitive artworks. When practised with absolute dedication for decades, they transfer a unique and palpable magnetism. Creatures that are a product of an instinctive imagination, merge aspects of human, beast and organic forms into a childlike brutish tapestry of the artist's view of social behaviours.
KALA API Series
Originating from the artists intuitive art brut style drawings, the creatures have materialised into the third dimension. The first complete collection of wooden sculptures in Made Kaeks' extensive portfolio.
KALA API #01, 2023 by Made Kaek Wood Sculpture, Asian Oak Private Collection
Just as we extend our collaborative exploration into new areas, Made Kaeks' creatures join us in a new chapter of their existence. Coming out together to meet in a physical dimension around a round table to share a meal.
The artist stated that there needs to be a leader.. that these creatures represent our basic instincts and when left without order and direction, the forces of greed, ambition, jealousy and ego overpower our better inhibitions. This is not the Last Supper, but perhaps a surreal capture of the First Supper. As humans forge their evolutionary path toward an enlightened consciousness.
KALA IRENG
Kala is time, and Ireng is 'black/charcoal'.
Each sculpture is developed from Made Kaeks' ink and charcoal drawings as he follows a methodical process in their 'visual evolution'. From black and white they mature into a world of colour and from there, they take physical form.
Kala Sungsang
Accompanying the sculptures are a series of smaller works by Made Kaek that complete the Kala Chapter of Manus, a Conscious Journey. Through his creatures, the artist reflects on how human behaviour has evolved through time.
"Kala is time, and Sungsang is upside down. This is an expression of the world today and human behaviour is a little upside down. We are living in paradoxical times. Often it seems human beings do not know right from wrong, north from south.. It is an upside-down reality. This is the association within these series. This is why man is often even more beastly than animals. The behaviour that shows the paradoxical reality we are in." ~ Made Kaek
With Made Kaek's Kala Sungsang Series we experience the artists observations of time throughout the evolution of his creatures. As they surpass the boundaries of the canvas edge and burst into our world. Just as he comments that humans are like that, bursting at the seams and turning the world upside down. Unrecognisable and disordered. Perhaps we are now at a point of impact with the environment so disconnected that we create alternative realities to enable our illusions to grow within their restrictive paradigms.
ManButur Suantara
ManButur Suantara is a fine art photographer, whose technical mastery encompasses many genres. Foremost, with a love of natural scapes and a close study of culture and wildlife, he arrives at a visual statement of conscious behaviours through a visual mosaic much like the puzzle of life.
"My work is based on my observations on different aspects of the human experience in general. In this instance, amongst a montage of over 2600 images, each a series and non-duplicated images of my work. I impose the image of the Wayang Wong Mask. I responded to the original collage with the mask of Wayang Wong to bring attention to a different observation."
Throughout the process, I have included images that I've captured of events, places, and rituals that encompass our existence here in Bali. When I look at this from a distance. I think, as human beings whether consciously or subconsciously, our actions and behaviours are always influenced by the environment. This phenomenon occurs in nature.. mimicry. We learn the skills to mimic to fit the required roles that are part of our human responsibilities." ~ ManButur
'For example, a man is a father, the head of his household, a grandfather to his grandson, husband to his wife. Outside the home, he may be a farmer, a fisherman, a carver or a dancer. Throughout these roles, he may serve his village through his creativity and skills. He may dance at temple ceremonies. During these dances,.. he is not any other part of himself except the part that mimics or embodies the ritual. Especially in the Wayang Wong dance in particular,.. the dancers come from all different backgrounds and they leave their individuality behind and serve the role within this story.' ~ ManButur
ManButurs' work reflects the artists' observations that we are never separate from our environment. We absorb, mimic and we accumulate our collective identities from the environment we are in. However, the observation of mimicry is perhaps the catalytic point where our ability to perform roles within life exceeds that of other creatures. We create roles that never existed. We wish to not be puppets but we wish to be the puppet master.
Even as we play these different roles and have ambitions to be the master of our fates, we keep absorbing through our environmnet, interactions and habits. This is reflected in the portrait titled Imperfections.
Exploring themes that tie together portraiture and combining them with objects that serve a symbolic purpose. A Balinese girl is wearing a headdress of several elements such as leaves, plastic mineral water bottles, old newspapers and fake flowers. She wears earrings, however, they are not even, they are not the same length. A headdress what we call ‘mahkota’ otherwise 'crown' has a lot of meanings. The 'crown' can symbolise something holy, or sacred. It represents the most special aspect of human beings. Our higher intelligence and conscience. The control room of the body.
Our crown is no longer made of the elements that usually adorn a traditional headdress. Here it is depicted with objects that fill our environment, reflecting the urbanity of our living environments and the excess waste typically associated with modern lifestyles. The fake flowers, and the rubbish are inherently saying that our minds are poisoned by pretense and wasteful packagings. We are occupied by external appearances whilst contaminating the inner clarity of our mind.
This work presents a portrait of the commercialism that imbues even the most sacred of our traditional cultural practice. We are in a social chapter wherein elemnts that rea glorified may not implicitly be positive or worthy. Waste and duplicity is a common biproduct of social behaviours today. It is no conincidence that ManButur has chosen to portray Imperfections through a classical portrait composition, choosing an ideal representation of Balinese beauty wearing the costume often associated with how Bali is seen and advertised.
Tjandra Hutama
A visual designer, photographer and influencer in Bali’s active photography community. With discerning social conscientiousness permeating through his digital mixed media, Tjandra explores social and cultural values that reflect our collective consciousness today and address issues brought upon by technological changes.
This is the first project of this scale where photographer Tjandra Hutama collaborates intensely with other art disciplines. Beginning with the initial exploration through the installation and portrait of Manus Origin to developing his visual commentary within this narrative.
'I chose to centre my message around 'offering'. Diann had several visualisations that may represent consciousness through Tri Pramana. Eric Buvelot's writing on Dian's work mentions "it is what we are taking and what we are giving". This resonates strongly with the message in my work.'
'As human beings, I think we have an obligation. To who one may ask? I think it is reasonable to think we have gratitude to Nature, to other living beings including plants and animals. I try to visualise what it may have been like long ago, perhaps during some prehistoric time.. perhaps they were still occupied with survival.' ~ Tjandra Hutama
'Once human beings live less nomadic lives, they naturally build systems. In the form of structures, religion, ritual etc. This leads me to look closely at the offerings within Hindu or Buddhist rituals in our culture. In the shape of our offerings.'
'Specifically during Odalan ceremonies here in Bali, there is a particular offering we call Pregembal, an old and complex tradition that has been passed down for many generations. An offering that is made of plants, fruits and rice flower cakes that has deep references to our relationship to the Universe. To say thank you and express our gratitude for all that we have already received and been blessed with.' ~ Tjandra Hutama
With humanity's tendency to form some kind of structure and ritual that connects us to other living beings and the greater mysteries, this is one aspect of what makes us uniquely human. Perhaps our intelligence and reason allow us to bridge the gap between our existence and the mysteries of Creation.
Indomitable Beings
Written by Eric Buvelot.
Dian Dewi Reich, the founder of the Sawidji collective, finds herself at the very cross-section of Manus, a Conscious Journey’s creative process. As she claims being equally attracted to the bizarre world depicted by Hieronymus Bosch and the visuals demonstrating philosophical narratives of Balinese religion, we can say that she embodies the spirit of this collective exhibition through her personal work, Indomitable Beings, presented in three separate themes all interconnected: plants, animals, and humans. Three categories of living creatures on planet Earth, separated by biological classifications but united in destiny.
At the core of the project are also references borrowed from Plato and Aristotle, such as the question, “What is the soul?” Over 2000 years ago, they had already identified three levels of consciousness, with the highest level being the soul, she notes. This provides a transition to Dian Dewi Reich’s own personal artistic realization for this project, as she created three series of photographs featuring plants, animals, and humans.
Indomitable reGeneration
The plant series begins with photographed sculptures of branches and roots from mangroves, adorned with vegetables, fruits, dried chillis, ginger roots, dried flowers, coconuts, and other elements, some already decomposing, that the artist found suitable to her idea.
Plants were the first conquerors of our planet, transitioning from water to land. They are Earth’s first children, our eldest siblings, as she notes. They were indeed the first beings. In Balinese philosophy, plants are associated with “breath” or “wind”, rather than primarily with “soil”, as is commonly done. It is then accurate to say that the wind, in a conquering manner, disperses seeds and deploys life.
Dian Dewi Reich perceives a certain ferocity in this undeniable fact, which is reflected in the somewhat intimidating aspect of her plant sculptures upon closer inspection. She further adds that they are the finest children, maintaining an unsevered umbilical cord with mother Earth. Of all beings, they are the most connected to the earth and are the closest to understanding it in essence.
Indomitable Momentum
Moving now to her second series, which focuses on animals, the first word that comes to her artistic mind is “direction”. Unlike plants, animals are not tethered by an umbilical cord, allowing them the freedom to move. Consequently, they can select the environment in which their species can thrive and prosper, a place where they can find sustenance and flourish.
This notion of movement and direction is referenced in Indomitable MoMentum through the sequential composition reminiscent of Eadweard Muybridge's Horse in Motion, the earliest captures of movement by early pioneers in photography.
An animal has the ability to alter its context, to choose and adapt, at a pace much faster than plants. Just as her plant sculptures were crafted from dried flora, her animal sculptures are also composed of lifeless elements, specifically the carcasses of various animals. Upon closer inspection, these sculptures reveal a somewhat eerie and macabre world. When asked if this was intentional, she responds that it wasn’t planned, asserting that even in death, life persists.
Indomitable Disposition
While the series featuring animals bears significant similarities to the one with plants, the final series, which focuses on humans, intentionally diverges in concept, using the canvas of a nude Asian female body. Could this series of photographs have been more closely aligned with the first two? “Yes, originally,” she responds. She was certain about incorporating bank notes into the picture but initially wanted to symbolize a human body using branches and other tree cuttings.
However, she decided against this idea, opting for a distinct approach for the human series. “Plants and animals never step out of balance,” she says. “They are never deceptive, they never fool themselves,” she adds. Plants and animals live their lives fully as what they are, and when they pass, they give back to Nature in full.
Beauty also resides in confusion; the fragility of human beings lies in this process of mental delusion. However, there is no intention to demean it here. Humans also exhibit signs of greatness in this realm. There is beauty in life, in energy, in the play of light. In fact, this series of photographs bears the closest resemblance to magnificent classical paintings.
The Contemporary Human
Dibal Ranuh
A creative powerhouse in art performance and creative film direction, Dibal Ranuh of Kitapoleng explores a more personal process through Manus Collaboration. Creating a visual testimony of the contemporary human through a colour representation of the different aspects of our individual identities.
Artistic Director Dibal Ranuh approaches Manus through a visual interpretation of the evolution of man. Specifically a conceptual film portrait of contemporary human beings. Visual elements that were inspired through the collaborative process, provide unique aesthetical dimensions for its philosophical undertone.
Weaving rich traditional references into his work breathing a wild, rebellious contemporariness into ancient wisdoms. He illustrates the contemporary human as five separate entities, all part of one human being. An idea developed by the presence of five artists within the Manus project. He creates Wayang characters based on the five artists.
'How do we paint the picture of the contemporary human being.. with the five members of the team.. exploring each and merging them. The idea came from from the notion of five elements. With reference to colour theory as well. We are all artists and colour is a big part of our language'. ~ Dibal Ranuh
Each artist is represented as an individual colour, carrying specific attributes synonymous with that colour. The visual moves away from individualism, but more through action and activities of contemporary living. Through his hyperbolic signature style, we see a gorgeous exploration from a renowned film director, as he responds to the question ‘What makes us human?’ through a collaborative process in Manus, a Conscious Journey.
'Exploring mediums creatively is something I do and using our imagination is the common thread in all the process. I am looking to make the visual optimal as we are not playing with fancy technology but through symbolism and visual language. Dian said this is a collaboration. I am using this collaboration to make a work that speaks the theme. This is different because I am collaborating with 5 artists involved.. to bring to life the 5 artists and their creativity in my work.' ~ Dibal Ranuh
With Heartfelt Thanks
Our heartfelt thanks go to many many people whose support and friendship is part of the energy that fuels us. As we are a Manus family of five, our extended family and friends are five times more.
To the Universe · Our Ancestors Family & Friends · Sudamala Resort Sanur · Sudakara Art Space · Benjamin Subrata & Family · Putu Suasta · Wayan Suwastana · Ricky Putra · Wayan Putri Asriani · Anak Agung Gde Rai · R.M Adhi Purnama · Agung Putra · Eric Buvelot · Shuai Feng · Mas Ruscitadewi · Robbie Brengos · Tutuk Herlambang ·Jasmine Okubo · Dhany Prasetyo · Ni Nyoman Padmawati · Robbie Brengos · Wayan Juniari · Wayan Konco · Suparta · Dewa Meindra · Sawidji Studio · Rumah Paros · Kitapoleng · Niti Mandala Printing · Sriwijaya Camera Denpasar