1       Introduction

The shift in Indonesian socio-political and cultural development in the 1960s has brought Indonesian visual art world towards a new direction. The social realism style championed by the communist party through its cultural institution, LEKRA (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat, the People Cultural Institution), accompanied by the development of nationalism and western formalism through art institutions such as ASRI (Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia, the Indonesian Academy of Visual Art) and ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung, the Bandung Institute of Technology) bring diversity of styles in Indonesian visual art world before the Orde Baru (New Order, established in 1966). These developments then influenced by the policy of the Orde Baru where the access to references from outside Indonesia, especially from Europe and United States, were once again available.

Eight years after the establishment of the Orde Baru, 1974, the first Pameran Besar Seni Lukis Indonesia (The Exhibition of Indonesian Painting) held in Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, triggered a protest by Indonesian young artists known as Desember Hitam (Black December) event. The Desember Hitam event then developed into a movement called Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia (the Indonesian New Art Movement), a year later, marked by an exhibition held in the same place. The exhibition of Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia (GSRBI) in 1975 then inspire the idea of medium explorations beyond the so-called conventional mediums in Indonesian visual art such as painting and sculpture. This development also inspires another group of young artists, especially in Yogyakarta, to explore beyond the visual art world, in this case, in 1977, a group called Seni Kepribadian Apa also known as PIPA which held two exhibitions: Pergelaran Seni Kepribadian Apa (1977) and Seni Kepribadian Apa “PIPA” (1979). Both exhibitions showed an intention to merge visual art with other elements such as movement and sound creating a new approach towards an art exhibition. This new approach, almost festival-like, also developed by GSRBI in 1987 with the influence of Indonesian popular culture through an exhibition called Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi (the Fantasy World Marketplace). In 1992, a collaboration within Yogyakarta art academies initiate an art festival called BINAL Eksperimental Arts which exhibited an idea of integration within different field of arts as an anti-thesis of Yogyakarta Biennale, which they claimed ‘a boring exhibition of conventional medium of art.’

The shift within the idea of medium explorations in Indonesian visual art world in the mid-1970s then marked a development of integrated arts in Indonesia. What kind of explorations which inspire the shift of ideas in Indonesian visual art world? How did the shift mentioned then mark the development of integrated arts which also include media art, intermedia, multimedia, and new media art in Indonesia? This essay is aimed to answer those questions in regard to describe the legacy of integrated arts in Indonesia and its implication towards the Indonesian contemporary art.

2       History of Integrations in Art

Integrated arts is a term used to describe an activity of combining two (or more) types of art which triggered a new approach or practice within the art world. This activity is also related to the production of hybrid art forms and the development of intermedia, multimedia, and new media art. The idea of integrating or combining elements of art often refers to the legacy of intermedia developed by Fluxus in the late 1960s. Fluxus is a movement conduct by a collaboration between visual artists, graphic designers, musicians, and other disciplines. George Maciunas, Dick Higgins, Joseph Beuys, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, John Cage, are names involved in this movement which refused to be called an art movement.

Dick Higgins coined the term ‘intermedia’ as one of the characteristics of Fluxus artistic approaches. Intermedia is an interdisciplinary approach within the artistic productions which then develop into new genres such as video art, performance art, happening art, etc. This approach is often regarded as an indication of the shift from modernism towards postmodernism where the idea of universality and medium specificity in art become obsolete. The interdisciplinary approach which combined with the development of communication technology, or technology in general, then produced another term, media art. Photography and video are often regarded as a part of media art legacy and the invention of digital technology then triggered an idea of a new term, new media art.

The development of intermedia, accompanied by the idea of media art and new media art which were recognized in the 1980s and 1990s, is an indication of the artists’ tendency to develop an idea of integrated arts. This integration then developed into something bigger than the art world itself with festivals such as Ars Electronica (est. in 1979) in Linz, Austria, and Transmediale (est. in 1988) in Berlin, Germany. Both festivals provide an idea of post-disciplinary approaches which are far broader than just a combination of art and technology. The idea of integration in art is a global phenomenon related to the development of technology and the cultural and socio-political conditions. How is this idea of integration in art develop in Indonesia? Is there any difference between integrated arts in Indonesia and in the global scope and how do they intertwine?

3       Integrated Arts in Indonesia

The legacy of integrated arts in Indonesia could be traced back to the explorations, or some people would say, the academic rebellions, of art students in Bandung and Yogyakarta in the 1970s. The Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia (GSRBI), established in 1975, is a combination of two art schools, ASRI in Yogyakarta (now ISI, Institut Seni Indonesia, the Indonesian Institute of Art) and ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung, the Bandung Institute of Technology) in Bandung. These art students, or young artists, involved in this movement, among others, Muryoto Hartoyo, B. Munni Ardhi, Siti Adyati, Nanik Mirna, Harsono, Hardi, Dede Eri Supria, Nyoman Nuarta, Bachtiar Zainoel, Harris Purnama, Gendut Riyanto, Ronald Manulang, Syahrinur Prinka, Anyool Subroto, Pandu Sudewo, Satyagraha Saptoyo, and Ris Purwana.¹ Between 1975-1979, GSRBI held three major exhibitions (1975, 1977, 1979) plus one conceptual art exhibition in 1976. In 1979, GSRBI published a book entitled Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia edited by Jim Supangkat which also marked a declaration of their last exhibition. The editor of GSRBI book, Jim Supangkat, 19 years later, in a book entitled Indonesian Modern Art and Beyond (1997) stated, “a large segment of the artworks exhibited by this movement between 1975 and 1979 were installations, ready-mades, photographs, found objects and paintings done in the photo-realism genre.”² Even though they already declared that the exhibition in 1979 was the last GSRBI exhibitions, in 1987, some of the members of GSRBI try to revive the movement by conducting Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi (Fantasy World Marketplace) exhibition which regarded as an exhibition that highly influenced by pop art. The Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi exhibition showed a different approach within the format of Indonesian art exhibitions. A format almost festival-like exhibition previously conducted by a Yogyakarta-based movement called PIPA in 1977 and 1979.

The idea of combining elements of art which then initiate the term integrated arts once again appeared in 1992 BINAL Eksperimental Arts, in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta seems to develop the idea of integrated arts intensively, as M. Dwi Marianto stated in his essay for Outlet: Yogyakarta within the Contemporary Indonesian Art Scene (2001):

“In the 1990s, art in Yogyakarta underwent a phenomenal process of development. Young artists now have the space and opportunity to take an open, alternative approach to their work, and to explore beyond conventional media. Their works vary greatly in terms of aesthetic approach as well as technique, media and concept. Ideas are often expressed not only graphically, but also with the accompaniment of multimedia elements, such as sound, movement, or other combinations of elements that stimulate the different senses. This approach, which draws on the old tradition of wayang kulit (shadow puppetry), where a story is presented in a combination of media including spoken text, movement, music, and visual objects, had previously very rarely been applied to fine art in Yogyakarta or even Indonesia at large.”³

A year after the BINAL Eksperimental Arts, Jim Supangkat, as the curator of the Biennale IX Seni Rupa Jakarta (1993) in Taman Ismail Marzuki, introduced the term ‘installation art.’ This exhibition also triggered a number of debates related to the term ‘postmodern’ and ‘contemporary art.’ Yustiono, in his essay for Fine Art Journal: Indonesian Art and Postmodernism (translated from Jurnal Seni Rupa: Seni Rupa Indonesia dan Post-Modernisme) published by Faculty of Art and Design, ITB, entitled Indonesian Contemporary Art and the Wave of Postmodernism (translated from Seni Rupa Kontemporer dan Gelombang Post-Modernisme, 1995) argued that the claim of postmodernism in Biennale IX Seni Rupa Jakarta is not exactly right, but not really wrong either.⁴ This statement comes from an analysis through the development of postmodern ideas within the area of philosophy, social science, and art critics. Related to the term ‘installation art,’ Yustiono claimed that mass media failed to understand the term because some of them think that installation art is a sign of postmodernism influence. Yustiono was right about the relationship between installation art and postmodernism, that installation art is not a definition of postmodernism, but the question that really matter in this essay is how installation art then change the idea of element or medium exploration in regards of the development of integrated arts in Indonesia? Or even in Indonesian contemporary art world?

In 1989, Heri Dono, 1980s artist who is also a participating artist in 1993 Biennale IX Seni Rupa Jakarta, held a solo exhibition in Cemeti Art House. One of his work entitled Aquarium Art, Mubeng Art is an installation work which, due to the fact that the term ‘installation art’ in Indonesia was first coined by Jim Supangkat in 1993, Cemeti Art House claimed as a ‘three-dimensional experimental work.’ Beside the misunderstanding of the term, installation art become a majority in Biennale IX Seni Rupa Jakarta and also a trend within Indonesian visual art through the 1990s, especially the post-reformation era (1998). Indonesian visual art world in the late 1990’s become a fertile field for any multimedia artworks. This development then facilitated in the early 2000s with the birth of independent sub-culture which brought the idea of alternative or community-based space such as Performance Fucktory (1998) and House of Natural Fiber (HONF, 1999) in Yogyakarta, Ruangrupa (2000) in Jakarta, and Common Room (2001) in Bandung.

The idea of medium exploration in the mid-1970s, interdisciplinary approach in the 1980s and early 1990s, accompanied by the development of art & technology (communication technology, including the internet) and the birth of independent community-based space in the late 1990s through the 2000s bring Indonesian visual art world towards a new approach in presenting and appreciating art. An idea of complex integrated arts which includes intermedia, multimedia, media art, and new media art. Integrated arts, in general, develop art, media, and technology towards a new cultural approach and understanding. Specifically, on the development of media technologies, Hendro Wiyanto stated in his curatorial for Influx: Multimedia Art Strategy in Indonesia (2011) exhibition held in Galeri Cipta II, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, “…Media technologies have totally shaped people’s culture and changed definitions of art to the effect that here and there art, technology and daily cultural practices amalgamate.”⁶

Notes & Bibliography

1. Supangkat, Jim. 1997. Indonesian Modern Art and Beyond, p. 69. Jakarta: The Indonesian Fine Arts Foundation.
2. Ibid.
3. Marianto, M. Dwi. 2001. “Yogyakartan Art: Trends Prior to the Third Millenium”, in Melissa Larner, Outlet: Yogyakarta within the Contemporary Indonesian Art Scene, p. 153. Yogyakarta: Cemeti Art Foundation.
4. Yustiono. 1995. Seni Rupa Kontemporer Indonesia dan Gelombang Post-Modernisme, Jurnal Seni Rupa p. 23, Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung.
5. Ibid, p. 8.

6. Wiyanto, Hendro. 2011. “Multimedia Art Strategy Ala Indonesia”, in Influx: Multimedia Art Strategy in Indonesia exhibition catalogue p. 17. Jakarta: Ruangrupa.

 

(Esai untuk ISRSF Essay Competition 2016)