ANTARA PICTURE

JAKARTA, 9/27/2011─Selebritrist, actrist Titi Sjuman take action in front of a painting after opened Fighting Cocks Group Yogyakarta exhibition titled 'Tubuh-tubuh Margin' (Marginal Bodies) at Philo Art Space, Jakarta, Monday night (26/9). The exhibition will be held until October, 10, 2011.
Picture: ANTARA/Dodo Karundeng/mes/11

Whose Canvas: MULTAZAM (ZAM) KAMIL

THE BEAT, June 10, 2011

Multazam Kamil and his art works at Santrian Gallery, Bali (04/30/2011)

Concept
Zam Kamil works of art visually speak to us about the little poetic moments of life, the fallibility of the human spirit and certain poignant situations in life. In Zam Kamil’s painted world, matters relating to the material and the physical realm are left forgotten as one can find a sense of wonder towards nature in his creations.

MIRRORS FOR JAVA LAND

Koran Tempo, Senin, 1 November 2010

RAMAH TAMAH TANAH JAWA, 2010

Human figure in a suit and tie down respectfully. His left hand was stretched wide, and the right hand attached to the chest. Tree down in front of him. Trees and people are impressed saluted one another. But the human head in the form of a shovel, that ready to dredge anything in front of him.

SO HOW Nurul Hayat aka Acil described the situation of the Java community through three-dimensional artwork of newsprint materials called 'Ramah Tamah Tanah Jawa' at the exhibition titled 'Tanah Jawa' in Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, October 27-31, 2010. Acil is being questioned the Javanese amicability, but then the migrants take advantage. “Is that amicability of the Javanese instead of strength or weakness?” Acil said.

The group exhibition that initiated by Arts Liberation Front followed by 38 ethnic Javanese artists featuring 78 works, 13 of them three-dimensional works. “Their hope, people from outside (non-Java) might be able to see the culture of Java with a different angle,” wrote Anton Larenz in curatorial.

Most of the work has passed the technical problems. But the problems arise on the theme of ‘Java’ that traps the artists in Java idioms cliche, like puppet imagery, women with kemben, Java script, till Java custom clothing. Even Djoko Pekik represent his old work entitled 'Detik-detik Jam 00 Tahun 2000', that depicting a crowd in front of the Yogyakarta Palace.

But Acil and most artists going to free themselves from Java idiom cliche. For example, the work of Tri Suharyanto, sculpture titled 'Imagine'. This work is made of resin in the form of a book called 'Nusantara' that propped up a dozen pictures of green shake hands. “I imagine it would be wonderful if the Javanese hold hands, give and take,” he said.

Or also Priyaris Munandar sculpture titled 'Berburu Tangga Surga'. This work is a red painted wooden pole with five spades read five main religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholic, Christian and Islam. According to him, every religion teaches kindness and promise paradise. But, he said, the most important way people can enjoy heaven on earth. “The trick, is keep the balance of earth and heaven energy,” said Priyaris. (HERU CN/RFX)

CERMIN UNTUK TANAH JAWA

Koran Tempo, Senin, 1 November 2010

RAMAH TAMAH TANAH JAWA, 2010

Sosok manusia berjas dan berdasi itu menunduk takzim. Tangan kirinya merentang lebar, sedangkan telapak tangan kanan menempel di dada. Di depannya pohon menunduk. Pohon dan manusia itu terkesan saling memberi hormat. Tapi kepala manusia itu berupa sekop yang siap mengeruk apapun di depannya.

BEGITULAH cara Nurul Hayat alias Acil menggambarkan situasi masyarakat Jawa lewat karya tiga dimensi, dari bahan kertas koran berjudul 'Ramah Tamah Tanah Jawa' pada pameran bertajuk 'Tanah Jawa' di Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, 27-31 Oktober 2010. Acil sedang mempertanyakan keramahtamahan manusia Jawa, dan pendatang memanfaatkan sifat manusia Jawa yang ramah. "Apakah keramahan orang Jawa itu kekuatan atau justru kelemahan?", ujar Acil.

Pameran yang diprakarsai kelompok Arts Liberation Front ini diikuti 38 perupa etnis Jawa yang menghadirkan 78 karya, 13 di antaranya karya tiga dimensi. "Harapan mereka, orang dari luar (bukan etnis Jawa) mungkin bisa melihat budaya Jawa dengan mata yang berbeda," tulis Anton Larenz, dalam konsep kuratorial.

Sebagian besar karya sudah melewati masalah teknis. Tapi masalah muncul pada tema Jawa yang menjebak perupa pada idiom klise Jawa, seperti citraan wayang, perempuan berkemben, teks aksara Jawa, hingga pakaian Jawa. Bahkan pelukis Djoko Pekik memaksakan diri mengusung karya lawasnya berjudul 'Detik-detik Jam 00 Tahun 2000', yang menggambarkan kerumunan massa di depan Pagelaran Keraton Yogyakarta.

Tapi Acil dan sejumlah perupa membebaskan diri dari idiom klise Jawa. Misalnya, karya Tri Suharyanto, berupa karya patung berjudul 'Imagine'. Karya berbahan resin ini berupa citraan buku bertuliskan 'Nusantara' yang menopang belasan citraan tangan hijau yang saling berjabat. "Saya membayangkan, alangkah indahnya jika masyarakat Jawa saling bergandengan tangan, saling memberi dan menerima," katanya.

Atau juga karya patung Priyaris Munandar berjudul 'Berburu Tangga Surga'. Karya ini berupa tiang kayu bercat merah dengan lima sekop bertuliskan lima agama besar: Buddha, Hindu, Katholik, Kristen dan Islam. Menurut dia, tiap agama mengajarkan kebaikan dan menjanjikan surga. Tapi, katanya, yang terpenting bagaimana manusia bisa menikmati surga di bumi. "Caranya, menjaga keseimbangan energi bumi dan langit," ujar Priyaris. (HERU CN/RFX)

MULTAZAM KAMIL AT THE ARYASENI ART GALLERY

Asian Art News, November/December 2006

MELANCHOLIC SANGUINE
Oil on canvas, 140 x 180 cm, 2006

The recent exhibition of Kamil's oils, entitled Dance of Live, includes work from 2002 to the present. These paintings show the artist to be love with the drama and dignity of the human body alone and in groups, at play and rest, and its potential to inspire a sense of the freedom and joy of living. Yet, his people are entirely anonymous, without definite features, without the singularity of clearly defined personalities. It is only through the boldness of Kamil's line and colors that we obtain any sense of gender and personality.

COLOR and the drama of movement are the heart and the strength of the work by the young Indonesian painter, Multazam Kamil. It is this that lends his art its youthful spiritedness. The dynamic and the spirit of Kamil's oil paintings, however, owes a great deal to the work of such masters as Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) Henri Matisse (1869-1954). Paintings such as Cezanne's Bathers (1898-1905) and Matisse's 'Dance' (1910) and 'Joy of Life' (1905-1906) are clearly referenced throughout Kamil's oeuvre.

The recent exhibition of Kamil's oils, entitled Dance of Live, includes work from 2002 to the present. These paintings show the artist to be love with the drama and dignity of the human body alone and in groups, at play and rest, and its potential to inspire a sense of the freedom and joy of living. Yet, his people are entirely anonymous, without definite features, without the singularity of clearly defined personalities. It is only through the boldness of Kamil's line and colors that we obtain any sense of gender and personality.

As Kamil's protagonists cavort, dance, recline, or bind together in acts of love and joy, the rhythm of their actions draws the eye to their activity. This is enhanced by the strength of his colors. From subtle blues and greens to bold reds and yellows, from light cream to black to grayish white, all are used in dramatic and contrasting fashion to bring alive his studied situations. Works such as 'Temptation and Tenacity' (2006), with its tight geometry of naked and clothed figures, and the simple, open 'Acrobat' (2002) are good examples of Kamil's technique.

There is an obvious romanticism to Kamil's thinking, but it is not something that permeates all of his work. However, his art does have a certain youthful sentimentality to it that detracts from the power of his best paintings. This sentimentality is revealed in certain languid poses and such details as the dove.

The spirit of personal freedom and sensuality are well expressed in many works. There is, however, another side to Kamil's work, one that smacks sadness, loneliness, and alienation. The joy and the sadness, of the world as Kamil sees it, is brought together in 'Melancholic Sanguine' (2006) with a forcefulness that is missing in many of his other works, especially those that tend too much towards the romantic and the sentimental.

IAN FINDLAY

SPIRIT ’90 EXHIBITION: THE EXPRESSION OF CONSCIENCE WHICH FIND A PLACE AGAIN

Harian Bernas, Minggu Kliwon, 20 Februari 1994

THE WILD THING, 1994
(Dr. Oei Hong Djien's collection)

Four other prominent painters that I noted were Yani Halim, Moch Basori, Multazam Kamil and Temmy Setiawan. Yani’s artworks, 'Love, Devil and Wild Bords' and 'Ridiculous Love Stories', Basori’s artwork, 'Dari Balik Jendela Sunyi', Multazam’s artwork, 'The Wild Thing' are the works which strong language and content. They wrapped the idea with the 'language forms' which held convincingly.

FINE ARTS, especially painting in the city of Yogyakarta has its own history and special creative way. This may be quite closely related to the circumstances of the undeniable Yogyakarta as one of the cities which keeps dynamics and exceptional magma of art. Art in the city of endless created by artists, almost ever drought of ideas.

Creation and creativity always hand in hand has launched a new sprinkling which is always exciting. Fine art (again, especially painting) is the one of the full expression media that blast even exploded made by Yogyakarta artists from time to time. Although the unforgettable rebel movement in the art world a broader embryo and then his motor activity also occurred in the city of Yogyakarta.

Entering the second month of 1994, several artists (young artists) in Yogyakarta make a movement, although it is quite conservative but have a sense of interest, especially for painting maps of Yogyakarta (Indonesia). The first is the Yogyakarta Young Painters exhibition (January '94) that is not very attractive even weak in the curation process. And the second is a painting exhibition (group) of Spirit '90 (February, 5-10, 1994), both held at Purna Budaya, Yogyakarta.

The exhibition that organized by the students of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FSR) ISI Yogyakarta force in 1990, consists of 24 people who joined in the (group) Spirit '90 is interesting and worthy of mention.

First, in the context of the current competition between people that keeps pace with tough, against a backdrop of growing erosion of team spirit, they actually present in the spirit of the Group of confident, firm and orderly. They are working and seriously in the preparation of the work, and in preparation for the exhibition. We know, group work, especially for artists, who tend to be selfish, not easy to coordinate. But it seems, the spirit and romance of sufficient strength is one of the factors in their favor for the Organization of activities. If they can keep this as a ‘power’ of the group, not only the exhibitions, but also (hopefully) the thought. As a young artist who still have enough time, they have the opportunity to equip themselves thought process and explore creativity and desire to be different in the future.

Second, the works that they present the average seems to indicate a higher class, if you watch the age class (education), that they follow. Most of them show together is quite encouraging. One thing i noted with interest that they offer the expression of conscience which registry free from full trust, potential and find a place (again) in the middle of a connoisseur of painting.

The expression of conscience that I mean is the reappearance of the total expression, tend to abstract and distant from arrange the shape or form, as well as other key elements. Because during this time that impression organize – and because of that the work losing expression and its mystery – that always we find in each event.

Their work appears to intend an abstract expression of reality and reality expression of abstraction according to their conscience. Look for example, I Nyoman Sukari, 'Bali Action' and 'Bali Night’ that process the breathing of art forms in accordance with the Bali tradition with modern ways. Manner of writing (brushtroke) that so expressive, wet paint that's left to melt everywhere, the choice of heavy colors and playing random fields, is that the visual value. That is can be seen to in the work of Ida Bagus Wayan Baskara Krishna Santi, 'Berkelana Dalam Gejolak Putih' or 'Bersimpang Dalam Senandung Putih', which offers the absurdity of dreams in Bali idiom.

Then Rudy Pariasa’s artwork, I Made Wiradana, I Wayan Sunadi or I Ketut Tenang, showing the spirit of Bali that is ‘only’ process the ornaments and more simple. Herman Susila and Burhanuddin offer a breath of surrealistic fantasy. While the game's watercolor of Tommy Faisal Alim expected to jump more than one technical game.

Four other prominent painters that I noted were Yani Halim, Moch Basori, Multazam Kamil and Temmy Setiawan. Yani’s artworks, 'Love, Devil and Wild Bords' and 'Ridiculous Love Stories', Basori’s artwork, 'Dari Balik Jendela Sunyi', Multazam’s artwork, 'The Wild Thing' are the works which strong language and content. They wrapped the idea with the 'language forms' which held convincingly.

The different offering is the work of Temmy Setiawan. It seemed to have the spirit of surfing, the spirit of exploration of the area to accommodate their ideas. Look at their strongest, 'Penghasilan yang Tak Seisi Perut' with leaves that have original wooden frame which form the elements, strong and unified. Or his other works, 'Di Pintu Ku Menghadap, di Pintu Ku Berharap', which uses a sheet of leaf of the intact door as a "canvas" of painting. Exploration is compelling, and certainly could be expected to enrich the form of expression of Indonesian art.

Spirit '90 is a group of young artists as well as the fine arts potential of the city of Yogyakarta. They expressed themselves appear as a search for the true essence. Exhibition is the milestones and a touchstone of them; would survive and continue to capture the artist's profession that full of challenges, or later retired from the scene of fierce competition. The competition was won by identity, rather than outside it.

If they, either among them are trapped in the 'out of the affairs of artists’, they was satisfied with speed, ease will be deleted artists predicate (artists) who have a true identity.

The struggle of fine art competition is complex and difficult. For the Spirit ’90, congratulation and to the reality of an open process ever more with the spirit and strong ‘faith’ or leave the arena immediately.

SUWARNO WISETROTOMO
(Art critic and lecturer Design and Fine Arts Faculty Indonesia Art Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta)

PAMERAN SPIRIT '90: 'KATA HATI' YANG KEMBALI MENDAPAT TEMPAT

Harian Bernas, Minggu Kliwon, 20 Februari 1994

THE WILD THING, 1994
(Dr. Oei Hong Djien's collection)

Empat pelukis lainnya yang menonjol yang saya catat adalah Yani Halim, Moch Basori, Multazam Kamil dan Temmy Setiawan. Karya Yani, ('Love, Devil and Wild Bords' dan 'Ridiculous Love Stories') karya Basori ('Dari Balik Jendela Sunyi') karya Multazam ('The Wild Thing') adalah karya-karya yang kuat bahasa ungkapnya maupun muatan isinya. Mereka membungkus gagasan dengan 'bahasa rupa' yang dikuasai dengan meyakinkan.

SENI RUPA, khususnya seni lukis di Yogyakarta ini memiliki sejarah serta perjalanan kreatif yang istimewa. Barangkali hal ini cukup erat hubungannya dengan situasi dan kondisi Yogyakarta yang tak dapat diingkari adalah sebuah kota yang menyimpan dinamika dan magma kesenian yang istimewa pula. Kesenian di kota ini tak habis-habisnya diciptakan oleh para seniman, nyaris tak pernah kekeringan gagasan. Kreasi dan kreativitas senantiasa beriringan, meluncurkan letupan-letupan baru yang sering menggairahkan. Seni rupa (sekali lagi, khususnya seni lukis) adalah salah satu media ekspresi yang penuh letupan bahkan ledakan yang dilakukan oleh para pelukis Yogyakarta dari waktu ke waktu. Sekalipun tak dapat dilupakan gerakan-gerakan pemberontakan dalam dunia seni rupa yang lebih luas embrionya dan kemudian juga aktivitas gerakannya juga terjadi di Yogyakarta.

Memasuki bulan kedua tahun 1994 ini, beberapa pelukis (muda) Yogyakarta membuat suatu gerakan, sekalipun cukup konservatif namun memiliki arti yang menarik, khususnya bagi peta seni lukis Yogyakarta (Indonesia). Pertama adalah pemeran Pelukis Muda Yogyakarta (Januari '94 lalu) yang tidak begitu menarik dan tampak lemah dalam proses kurasinya. Dan yang kedua adalah pameran lukisan (kelompok) Spirit '90 (5-10 Februari 1994), keduanya berlangsung di Purna Budaya Yogyakarta.

Pameran yang diselenggarakan oleh para mahasiswa Seni Lukis Fakultas Seni Rupa (FSR) ISI Yogyakarta angkatan tahun 1990, terdiri dari 24 orang yang tergabung dalam nama (wadah) Spirit '90 tersebut menarik dan pantas dicatat.

Pertama, di tengah arus persaingan antarindividu yang terus berpacu dengan ketat, di tengah semakin terkikisnya semangat kelompok, mereka justru hadir dengan semangat kelompok yang penuh percaya diri, solid dan tertib. Mereka bekerja keras dan serius dalam menyiapkan karya-karya maupun dalam persiapan pameran. Kita tahu, kerja kelompok terlebih bagi para seniman yang cenderung egoistik-tidaklah mudah mengkoordinasikannya. Namun tampaknya semangat dan romantisme angkatan merupakan faktor yang cukup menguntungkan mereka untuk menyelenggarakan kegiatan. Hal ini jika dapat mereka pertahankan tidak saja aktivitas menjadi 'kekuatan' kelompok yang menarik, tidak saja aktivitas pameran-pamerannya, melainkan juga (mudah-mudahan) pemikiran-pemikirannya. Sebagai pelukis yang masih muda usianya mereka memiliki kesempatan cukup panjang untuk melengkapi diri dengan pemikiran, mengolah serta mengeksplorasi kreativitas serta keinginan untuk tampil beda di masa-masa mendatang.

Kedua, karya-karya yang mereka sajikan rata-rata tampak menunjukkan kelasnya lebih tinggi, jika dilihat dari usia angkatan (pendidikan) yang mereka tempuh. Sebagian besar dari mereka menunjukkan totalitas yang cukup menggembirakan. Satu hal yang saya catat dengan menarik adalah bahwa mereka menawarkan satu ekspresi kata hati yang total-leluasa-penuh keyakinan, potensial dan ternyata mendapatkan tempat (lagi) di tengah penikmat seni lukis.

Ekspresi kata hati yang saya maksud adalah munculnya kembali ekspresi yang total, cenderung abstrak dan jauh dari kesan menata-nata format atau bentuk serta elemen-elemen dasar lainnya. Karena selama ini kesan menata-nata itulah-dan karenanya sebuah karya menjadi kehilangan ekspresi dan misterinya-yang nyaris selalu kita temui dalam setiap peristiwa pameran.

Pada mereka terlihat kecenderungan ekspresi yang mengabstraksikan realitas maupun yang merealitaskan abstraksi sesuai dengan kata hatinya. Lihatlah misalnya karya I Nyoman Sukari ('Bali Action' dan 'Bali Night') yang mengolah nafas bentuk-bentuk seni tradisi Bali dengan cara ungkap modern. Sapuan kwas (brushtroke) yang ekspresif, cat basah yang dibiarkan meleleh di sana-sini, pilihan warna-warna berat serta permainan bidang yang acak, adalah bobot visual dari karya tersebut. Hal senada juga dapat dilihat pada karya Ida Wayan Bagus Krishna Santi Baskara ('Berkelana Dalam Gejolak Putih' atau 'Bersimpang Dalam Senandung Putih') yang menawarkan absurditas mimpi-mimpi dalam idiom Bali.

Kemudian karya Rudy Pariasa, I Made Wiradana, I Wayan Sunadi, atau I Ketut Tenang, menunjukkan spirit Bali yang 'hanya' mengolah ornamen-ornamen Bali dan lebih sederhana. Herman Susila dan Burhanuddin menawarkan fantasi dengan nafas surealistik. Sedangkan permainan cat air Tommy Faisal Alim bisa diharap untuk meloncat lebih dari sekadar permainan teknis.

Empat pelukis lainnya yang menonjol yang saya catat adalah Yani Halim, Moch Basori, Multazam Kamil dan Temmy Setiawan. Karya Yani, ('Love, Devil and Wild Bords' dan 'Ridiculous Love Stories') karya Basori ('Dari Balik Jendela Sunyi') karya Multazam ('The Wild Thing') adalah karya-karya yang kuat bahasa ungkapnya maupun muatan isinya. Mereka membungkus gagasan dengan 'bahasa rupa' yang dikuasai dengan meyakinkan.

Tawaran rupa yang paling berbeda adalah karya Temmy Setiawan. Ia tampak memiliki semangat menjelajah, semangat melakukan eksplorasi material untuk menampung gagasan-gagasannya. Lihatlah karyanya yang terkuat, 'Penghasilan yang Tak Seisi Perut' dengan bingkai lembaran-lembaran kayu yang masih asli, menjadi elemen yang kuat dan menyatu. Atau karyanya yang lain, 'Di Pintu Ku Menghadap, di Pintu Ku Berharap' yang menggunakan selembar daun pintu utuh sebagai 'kanvas' lukisannya. Eksplorasi yang meyakinkan dan tentu bisa diharap untuk memperkaya ungkapan rupa seni lukis Indonesia.

Spirit '90 adalah kelompok pelukis muda dan sekaligus potensi seni lukis yang dimiliki Yogyakarta. Mereka telah menyatakan diri tampil sebagai upaya meraih jatidirinya yang sejati kelak. Pameran adalah batu loncatan dan batu ujian mereka; akan bertahan dan terus menggenggam erat profesi sebagai pelukis yang penuh tantangan, atau kemudian mengundurkan diri dari gelanggang kompetisi yang sengit. Kompetisi meraih jatidiri, bukan yang di luar itu.

Jika mereka atau tepatnya di antara mereka ada yang kemudian terperangkap ke dalam 'urusan-urusan di luar kesenimanan', merasa cepat puas, dengan mudah ia akan segera terpelanting ke luar dari predikat seniman (perupa) yang memiliki jatidiri sejati.

Pergulatan kesenian memang rumit dan penuh tantangan. Kepada Spirit '90, selamat memasuki realitas yang semakin terbuka dengan semangat dan 'iman' yang kuat atau meninggalkan gelanggang dengan segera.

SUWARNO WISETROTOMO
(Pengamat seni rupa, staf pengajar FSRD ISI Yogyakarta)

THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF NURUL HAYAT (Urban Discourse connectivity with Dimension)

What remains of urban life are only the texts that you can read so well in naked bodies.
 (Nurul Hayat)

In the context of urban life, the question of identity is absolutely necessary for interaction between people. Through his works, Acil was trying to criticize a misunderstanding when the stress of identity itself relies solely on advertising, lifestyle or trend. He wanted to 'expose' the bodies that rely on that nonsense. Even in the extreme, he 'removed' all the attributes of beauty or handsomeness by removing the hair on the heads of his figures.

Creative Process Background
A YOUNG MAN ran into the crowd fighting to get in a city bus crowded with people. His relatively small body got caught in the door before it finally succeeded in breaking into the middle of the crowd. People were squeezed in around him. One-two people are talking, but most were silent, hardly greeted each other.

Out there, the ads on large standing billboards were seen at the crossroad of many roads. There were giant televisions and dull banners, some of which appear to be torn. Buildings were reaching into the sky. And further, he saw the dazed people stopping at the bus stops. People were fighting over something. People were chasing each other. And people swarmed down to either doing nothing. That is how he went through the day-to-day life in the city from 1999 to mid 2006.

Time blows quickly and unconsciously the living experience for nearly seven years in the city left a deep impression in the minds of Nurul Hayat, a young artist whom by his colleagues is often called Acil. The frozen faces without expression that he found when traveling by bus or electric train suddenly appeared back in all his paintings. So it is with the people who are huddled and high-rise buildings with a complex winding layout, which are always equipped with emergency stairs.

Nurul Hayat (Acil) was born in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on 6 September 1972. An alumnus of Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa University, he is going through post-graduate education at the Indonesian Arts Institute (Institut Seni Indonesia) Yogyakarta majoring in Art Creation. He now lives in Perum Sewon Asri, Bantul, Yogyakarta together with colleagues.

Acil is a unique and multitalented artist. In addition to drawing, installation and painting, he enjoys composing songs. His collection of songs has reached tens or even hundreds of titles. He explores different types of music from ballads to reggae. His musical activities got a boost from when he was still joining Suwung studio Yogyakarta and continue even when he travels. Music is his greatest weapon to kill his boredom that often strangles him during his stay in Jakarta.

PERINGKAT, 2010

In addition to painting, tri-dimensional works is a new activity that he is now engaged with no less seriousness. Acil deliberately chooses newspaper, as the media of his tri-dimensional works for its ecological reasons as well as it is readily available and so easily transmitted to others. His tri-dimensional works have been exhibited at the Taman Budaya Yogyakarta and reviewed by the Kompas newspaper (the Friday edition, October 29, 2010), Kedaulatan Rakyat (the Sunday edition, October 31, 2010) and Tempo (the Monday edition, November 1, 2010).

MEMBABI BUTA, 2010

The Framework of Thought and The Search Phase of Two-dimensional Works
Many years of contact with the environment, human characteristic and social problems of the city itself is the inspiration for Acil. Almost every day he saw people from different backgrounds doing their respective activities in order to realize their dreams and goals. For Acil, all that a man does is an attempt to establish his existence. It has been that the nature of human desire is always to be recognized in the middle of his society.

In that framework, the nature of competition is something natural. And is it not that competition in a variety of reasons and forms always present in our midst? This is not surprising considering that nature of human beings is always the desire to be the premier. But then the question arises, what is the essence of competition between the men?

To answer the question above, Acil deliberately quoted Friedrich Wilhelm Nietsche’s philosophy of human existence; "In inter-human relationships that have grown there are great human beings, ueber-Mensch, superman, that they can overcome the strength of the group of people in mass. That should be the goal of human life is embodying great human beings who are stronger, smarter and more daring ".

So it is only natural that a bunch of masculine bodies, naked, colorful bald heads, with flat facial features, often appear in Acil’s fine works. They are always in chasing, jumping, embracing or reaching 'something' poses. Acil has a view that the essence of artistic professional attitude is absorbing environmental phenomena and then communicating them. So he chooses the way of narrative communication just like a novel or comic book storyline that has elements in it, where there will always be leaders who represent a certain character. But in this case, Acil tells us all just by drawing a single frame.

Personality is an important element in a story, not to mention great ideas about human nature that Acil tried to narrate through his works. He adopted the stereotype Si Polan as the figure in his works. Si Polan is a figure without identity (noname) who is perfect and perfectly follows the lack of benefits as men. As we all know that the name itself is often associated with the yellow book of the students to represent ‘the who’ in religious cases ─ frequently found in books that discuss the field of Shariah.

The name of the stereotype Si Polan has different versions in other countries, for example, in Arabic it is called Fulan, the Americans call him John Doe, the Chinese call him Thio Sam, he is called Ah Beng in Singapore and the Portuguese people call him Fulana. Now, Acil described Si Polan as a bald-headed man (colorful) with one tone body-color, because body movement is a shadow (wayangan; one colour tone). The body is simply the tools of the brain in the head. Without a head, the body would have no identity. And of course, different heads have different ways of thinking (contents of mind).

Therefore, the biggest 'goal' to be achieved by a man in his life was often translated as 'perfect man'. Just as the works of the series "Nine Spirit" that were made during the year 1999, Acil described the glorious achievement by the symbol digit '9 '. The interpretation of the symbol will not be discussed here, but basically Acil wanted to stress out that the competition between people to achieve superiority will end in a noble purpose (the highest), which is dimensional (multilevel) ─ the circumstances of one situation will not be equal of the other situations, or one subject to another.

In another point of view, WT Stace in his book The Concept of Morals confirmed that something that is said to have existence is when it is public. That is, the existence of something should be 'seen' and 'experienced' by many people.
It is a valuable experience when standing on the bus or the city of Jakarta-Bogor electric train, he saw people standing or sitting so close to each other but they do not greet each other. They do not know the background of each other, name, address, education and so forth. For Acil, the people in front of him ' do not exist' because he does not know their identity, nor the person in front of Acil. And so forth. All people mutually negate their existence.

In the context of urban life, the question of identity is absolutely necessary for interaction between people. Through his works, Acil was trying to criticize a misunderstanding when the stress of identity itself relies solely on advertising, lifestyle or trend. He wanted to 'expose' the bodies that rely on that nonsense. Even in the extreme, he 'removed' all the attributes of beauty or handsomeness by removing the hair on the heads of his figures.

WHERE AM I
Mixed media on canvas, 120 x 150 cm, 2010

He tries to answer the symbolization of the urban life phenomenon by putting the areas of building complete with their stairs. At first, he found the stress of urban life phenomena in the areas of the building, but when the process of his thinking continued to evolve, it is found that it is the text that actually forms the context (urban phenomenon).

MANY WAYS TO NINE
Acrylic on canvas, 140 x 200 cm, 2009

When confronted with the distance, the text reflects the reality in the minds of men that often even reproduces itself into new meanings. Acil seems to understand this phenomenon in which the framework of visual semiotics he 'flipped' the text to be an element of artistic (encourage) to his works, which was interleaved with carefulness and accuracy.

The recent facts of the communication revolution era - by the visual, are represented by newspaper sheets. We cannot deny that the newspaper is the product of urban life. But then naturally it bounced and turned into the most dominant agent in shaping the patterns of lifestyle and self-image of the urban society itself. The relationship of both is clearly manifested by gadget ads, good services, clothing, accessories, beauty, and others.

Departing from that idea, Acil decided to change into a collage-painting technique by placing a newspaper collage on the areas of his two-dimensional works. This decision is fundamentally important to maintain a strong connectivity between the aesthetics language (visual media) with the discourse initiated.

REDIRECTION
Mixed media on canvas, 145 x 220 cm, 2011

The inevitability of fine art today is that it will continue to grow and continues to find its shape. Hence, the artist is expected to continue to explore options in terms of aesthetic language and thinking pattern, which are the background to the birth of his works.

In this case, Acil is special as a professional artist. Although he is still new but he is a hard worker and learner, as evidenced by his growing ideas in line with his passion to continue foster his creativity and rejection to be limited by the media and dimensions alone. We are all waiting for Acil’s next creative exploration.

Yogyakarta, Desember 2010
DEDI YUNIARTO

PROSES KREATIF NURUL HAYAT (Keterhubungan Wacana Urban dengan Matra)

What remains of urban life are only the texts that you can read so well in naked bodies.
 (Nurul Hayat)

Dalam konteks kehidupan masyarakat urban, identitas adalah persoalan mutlak bagi pergaulan antar manusia. Melalui karya-karyanya Acil mencoba mengkritisi pemahaman yang salah ketika aksentuasi identitas itu sendiri semata-mata disandarkan kepada iklan, lifestyle atau trend. Ia ingin ‘menelanjangi’ tubuh-tubuh yang bersandar kepada omong kosong itu. Bahkan secara ekstrem ia ‘hilangkan’ segala atribut kecantikan atau ketampanan dengan menghilangkan rambut di atas kepala tokoh-tokoh dwi matranya.

Latar Belakang Proses Kreatif
SEORANG anak muda berlari-lari berebut masuk ke dalam sebuah bis kota yang penuh sesak dengan manusia. Tubuhnya yang terbilang kecil itu sempat tertahan di pintu sebelum akhirnya berhasil menyusup ke posisi tengah. Di sekitarnya orang-orang saling berhimpit. Satu-dua orang terlihat berbincang namun nyaris sebagian besar diam tak saling menyapa.

Di luar sana nampak iklan pada baliho-baliho jangkung yang banyak berdiri di perempatan jalan. Televisi raksasa serta spanduk-spanduk kusam yang beberapa di antaranya nampak tercabik-cabik. Gedung-gedung menjulang ke langit. Dan lebih jauh lagi ia melihat orang-orang termangu di halte-halte pemberhentian. Orang-orang berebut sesuatu. Orang-orang saling berkejaran. Dan orang-orang bergerombol yang entah melakukan apa. Demikianlah ia lalui hari demi hari kehidupannya di kota Jakarta dari tahun 1999 hingga medio 2006.

Waktu berhembus cepat dan tanpa disadari pengalaman hidup selama hampir tujuh tahun di kota Jakarta menyisakan kesan mendalam di benak Nurul Hayat, seorang seniman muda yang oleh teman-teman seprofesinya kerap dipanggil Acil. Betapa tidak, wajah-wajah beku tanpa ekspresi yang dahulu kerap ia jumpai ketika menempuh perjalanan dengan bis atau kereta listrik tiba-tiba muncul kembali pada setiap karya-karya lukisnya. Begitu pula dengan manusia-manusia berjubel serta gedung-gedung bertingkat dengan tata ruang berkelok-kelok nan rumit yang selalu dilengkapi dengan tangga darurat.

Nurul Hayat (Acil) lahir di Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat pada 6 September 1972. Alumni Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa ini sedang menempuh pendidikan pasca sarjananya di Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta dengan mengambil program studi penciptaan seni lukis. Bersama rekan-rekannya ia kini menetap di Perum Sewon Asri, Bantul, Yogyakarta.

Acil adalah seorang seniman unik dan multitalented. Selain piawai drawing, instalasi dan melukis ia juga gemar mencipta lagu. Koleksi lagu-lagu ciptaannya telah mencapai puluhan bahkan ratusan judul. Ia menjelajah berbagai jenis musik dari mulai balada hingga reggae. Aktivitas bermusiknya mendapatkan dorongan sejak masih bergabung di Sanggar Suwung Yogyakarta dan terus berlanjut hingga ia melanglang buana. Musik pulalah senjata pamungkasnya untuk membunuh rasa suntuk yang kerap mencekiknya selama di Jakarta.

PERINGKAT, 2010

Selain melukis, kini membuat karya-karya tri matra merupakan aktivitas terbarunya yang digeluti dengan tak kalah serius. Acil sengaja memilih kertas koran bekas sebagai media karya-karya tri matranya dengan alasan ramah lingkungan sekaligus mudah didapatkan sehingga dengan mudah pula ditularkan kepada orang lain. Karya-karya tri matranya sudah pernah dipamerkan di Taman Budaya Yogyakarta dan diulas oleh harian Kompas (edisi Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010), Kedaulatan Rakyat (edisi Minggu, 31 Oktober 2010) dan Koran Tempo (edisi Senin, 1 November 2010).

MEMBABI BUTA, 2010

Kerangka Pikir dan Tahap Pencarian Karya-karya Dwi Matra
Bertahun-tahun bersinggungan dengan lingkungan, karakteristik manusia serta gejala sosial kota Jakarta merupakan bahan inspirasi tersendiri bagi Acil. Hampir setiap hari ia saksikan orang-orang dari berbagai latar belakang melakukan aktivitasnya masing-masing demi mewujudkan impian dan tujuan mereka. Bagi Acil, semua yang dilakukan manusia merupakan upaya untuk membangun eksistensi dirinya. Sudah jamaknya bahwa hasrat alamiah manusia selalu ingin diakui keberadaannya di tengah-tengah pergaulannya.

Dalam kerangka itu maka kompetisi menjadi sesuatu yang lumrah saja terjadi. Dan bukankah kompetisi dalam berbagai alasan serta wujudnya selalu hadir di tengah-tengah kita? Hal ini tidak mengherankan mengingat naluri manusia selalu ingin menjadi yang terunggul. Namun lantas timbul pertanyaan, apakah esensi dari kompetisi antar manusia tersebut?

Untuk menjawab pertanyaan di atas, secara ekstrem Acil menyitir filosofi Friedrich Wilhelm Nietsche mengenai eksistensi manusia:

“Dalam pergaulan antar-manusia maka yang harus ditumbuhkan adalah manusia-manusia agung, ueber-mensch, superman, yaitu mereka yang oleh kekuatannya bisa mengatasi kumpulan manusia dalam massa. Yang harus dijadikan tujuan dalam kehidupan kemanusiaan ialah menjelmakan manusia-manusia besar yang lebih kuat, lebih cerdas dan lebih berani.”

Sehingga tidaklah mengada-ada apabila kita menyaksikan segerombolan tubuh-tubuh maskulin, telanjang bulat, berkepala plontos warna-warni, dengan raut wajah datar, kerap muncul dalam karya-karya rupa Acil. Mereka selalu dalam pose-pose mengejar, melompat, merengkuh atau menggapai ‘sesuatu’. Acil memiliki pandangan bahwa esensi laku kesenimanan secara profesional adalah menyerap fenomena lingkungan dan kemudian mengomunikasikannya. Maka ia memilih cara komunikasi naratif sebagaimana layaknya novel atau komik yang memiliki unsur alur cerita di dalamnya, di mana akan selalu ada tokoh yang mewakili suatu karakter tertentu. Namun dalam hal ini Acil hanya bercerita melalui satu bingkai lukisan saja.

Tokoh merupakan unsur penting dalam sebuah alur cerita, tak terkecuali gagasan besar tentang naluri manusia yang coba dinarasikan Acil melalui karya-karyanya. Ia mengadopsi stereotype si Polan sebagai tokoh dalam karya-karya lukisnya. Si Polan adalah tokoh tanpa identitas (noname) yang sempurna; sempurna berikut kekurangan dan kelebihannya sebagai manusia. Seperti kita semua ketahui bahwa nama Polan itu sendiri acap dikaitkan dengan kitab kuning para santri untuk mewakili ‘si anu’ dalam kasus-kasus keagamaan-banyak dijumpai dalam kitab-kitab yang membahas bidang syariah.

Nama stereotype si Polan memiliki sebutan yang berbeda-beda di negara lain, misalnya di Arab ia disebut Fulan, di Amerika sebutannya John Doe, di Tionghoa disebut Thio Sam, di Singapura disebut Ah Beng dan di Portugis orang-orang menyebutnya Fulana. Nah, si Polan dalam rekaan Acil digambarkan sebagai lelaki berkepala botak (berwarna-warni) dengan tubuh berwarna satu tone; karena gerakan tubuh hanyalah bayangan (wayangan; warna satu tone). Tubuh sekadar alat dari otak yang berada di kepala. Tanpa kepala, niscaya tubuh tidak memiliki identitas. Dan tentu saja lain kepala lain pula warnanya (isi pikirannya).

Syahdan, ‘tujuan’ paling tinggi (mulia) yang hendak diraih manusia sepanjang usianya kerap diterjemahkan sebagai ‘insan kamil’. Maka sebagaimana karya-karya seri “Nine Spirit” yang dibuat sepanjang tahun 1999, Acil menggambarkan pencapaian mulia tersebut dengan simbolisasi angka ‘9’. Interpretasi mengenai simbolisasi tersebut tidak akan dibahas di sini, namun pada dasarnya Acil hendak menegaskan bahwa kompetisi antar manusia untuk mencapai keunggulan akan berakhir pada satu tujuan mulia (paling tinggi) yang bersifat dimensional (bertingkat-tingkat)-tidak akan sama antara situasi satu dengan situasi yang lain, atau subyek satu dengan yang lainnya.

Dalam sudut pandang yang lain WT Stace dalam bukunya The Concept of Morals, menegaskan bahwa sesuatu dikatakan bereksistensi apabila ia memiliki sifat publik. Artinya, keberadaan sesuatu itu harus ‘disaksikan’ dan ‘dialami’ oleh banyak orang. Adalah sebuah pengalaman berharga ketika berdiri di dalam bis kota atau kereta listrik Jakarta-Bogor, ia saksikan orang-orang berdiri atau duduk begitu dekat satu sama lain namun mereka tidak saling menyapa. Mereka tidak saling mengetahui latar belakang; nama, alamat, pendidikan dan lain sebagainya. Bagi Acil, orang di depannya ‘tidak ada’ sebab ia tidak mengetahui identitasnya, begitu pun sebaliknya bagi orang di depan Acil. Demikian seterusnya. Semua orang saling meniadakan eksistensi masing-masing.

Dalam konteks kehidupan masyarakat urban, identitas adalah persoalan mutlak bagi pergaulan antar manusia. Melalui karya-karyanya Acil mencoba mengkritisi pemahaman yang salah ketika aksentuasi identitas itu sendiri semata-mata disandarkan kepada iklan, lifestyle atau trend. Ia ingin ‘menelanjangi’ tubuh-tubuh yang bersandar kepada omong kosong itu. Bahkan secara ekstrem ia ‘hilangkan’ segala atribut kecantikan atau ketampanan dengan menghilangkan rambut di atas kepala tokoh-tokoh dwi matranya.

WHERE AM I
Mixed media on canvas, 120 x 150 cm, 2010

Ia mencoba menjawab simbolisasi fenomena kehidupan urban dengan meletakkan bidang-bidang bangunan lengkap dengan anak tangganya. Semula ia menemukan aksentuasi fenomena kehidupan urban pada bidang-bidang bangunan itu, namun ketika proses berpikirnya terus berkembang ia menemukan bahwa tekslah yang membentuk konteks (fenomena urban).

MANY WAYS TO NINE
Acrylic on canvas, 140 x 200 cm, 2009

Ketika berhadapan dengan jarak, teks memantulkan realitas di dalam benak manusia bahkan acap kali mereproduksi diri menjadi makna-makna baru. Acil rupanya memahami fenomena ini di mana dalam kerangka semiotika visual ia ‘balikkan’ teks menjadi salah satu elemen artistik (encourage) bagi karya-karyanya yang disisipkan dengan penuh kehati-hatian dan kecermatan.

Fakta mutakhir era revolusi komunikasi saat ini yakni secara visual teks diwakili oleh lembar-lembar kertas koran. Tak dapat dipungkiri bahwa koran adalah salah satu produk kehidupan urban. Namun kemudian secara alamiah ia melantun dan berbalik menjadi agen paling dominan dalam membentuk lifestyle serta pola citra diri masyarakat urban itu sendiri. Pertalian keduanya sangat jelas termanifestasi melalui iklan-iklan gadget, good services, busana, aksesoris, kecantikan dan lain sebagainya.

Bertolak dari gagasan tersebut di atas, Acil memutuskan untuk merubah teknik melukisnya menjadi kolase-kolase dengan menempatkan kertas koran bekas pada bidang dwi matranya. Keputusan ini sangat fundamental mengingat penting menjalin keterhubungan yang kuat antara bahasa estetik (media visual) dengan wacana yang digagas.

REDIRECTION
Mixed media on canvas, 145 x 220 cm, 2011

Keniscayaan fine art hari ini ialah bahwa ia akan terus berkembang dan terus-menerus mencari bentuknya. Sejurus dengan itu seniman dituntut untuk terus bereksplorasi dalam hal pilihan bahasa estetik serta kerangka pikir yang melatar belakangi kelahiran karya-karyanya.

Dalam hal inilah letak keistimewaan Acil sebagai seorang seniman profesional yang meski perjalanan kesenimanannya masih terbilang hijau namun ia tipe seniman pekerja keras dan pembelajar, terbukti dengan jelajah gagasannya yang kian berkembang sejalan dengan hasratnya untuk terus mengembangkan kreativitas dan menolak dikungkung oleh media serta matra (dimensi) semata. Kita tunggu penjelajahan kreativitas Acil berikutnya.

Yogyakarta, Desember 2010
DEDI YUNIARTO

The Career Journey and Creative Process of Zam Kamil

Art is moreover available in bareness, imperfection or being tucked in kerfs. It sometimes needs to be reborn to discover its fate.
(Multazam Kamil)

Career Journey
MULTAZAM (Zam) Kamil was born on August 5, 1969 in Makassar, South Sulawesi. He is an alumnus of 1990 Faculty of Art, Indonesian Art Institute (Institut Seni Indonesia) in Yogyakarta. He lives with a wife and two daughters in Wirosaban, Yogyakarta. Unlike his colleagues at ISI Yogyakarta who mainly adopt expressionism, Zam Kamil’s works are categorized into Impressionism.

Zam Kamil was very active in student activities at his alma mater. He was always involved in the exhibitions "Spirit 90". The Spirit 90 is the name of a group of students of the Faculty of Fine Arts 1990. In the beginning of 1994, The Spirit 90 held a five-day exhibition (5-10 February 1994) in Purna Budaya,Yogyakarta. In this event, all the paintings on show were sold out like hotcakes. Some people believe that that event was the first explosion of ' Art Bomb ' in Yogyakarta. After the successful exhibition in 1994, the Spirit 90 continued to exhibit their works about a dozen times until 2005.

Although his classmates were enjoying the newly acquired success, Zam Kamil preferred not to follow the flow and instead left his social environment. He did not believe the new reality that he experienced. He then traveled to various places. Commencing from 1994 to 1999, he traveled to Bali, Mataram, Toraja, Bandung, Jakarta and various other places that appealed to him. In these places, he immersed himself into the world of junkies, street women's groups, street children communities, the freebooters and even groups of preachers in the mosques. A world in which for a majority of people had nothing to do with his activities as an artist. He calls what he did as a 'journey of observation'.

Still in the same time frame, Zam Kamil still worked to simply comply with the exhibition invitations that were initiated by his companions in the Spirit 90. He even had time to do some research on prehistoric cave wall paintings at the Leangleang site in South Sulawesi. The study was a part of his preparation for his thesis in order to achieve his Bachelor’s degree. Interestingly, during the process Zam Kamil got guidance from Masters because the weight of his research is generally considered to be beyond the capacity of the prospective undergraduate degree (S-1).

Entering 2001, he held his solo exhibition at Leangleang Art Studio, Yogyakarta. Six years later, precisely in 2007 Zam Kamil made a big leap in the history of his painting career. He was invited to establish a solo exhibition at The Aryaseni Art Gallery, Singapore.  He sent about 20 paintings to Singapore. Up to now, The Aryaseni Gallery continues to mediate an auction of Zam Kamil’s works of painting over Borobudur Auction and Masterpiece Auction; two most prestigious auction forums in Singapore.

In the mid of 2008, CG Gallery Jakarta was opened. In the beginning, CG Gallery occupied Plaza Indonesia Building Level 3 # 56, Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta. And to complement the soft opening, Zam Kamil was invited to hold his solo exhibition there. Perhaps the moment is the most monumental opening gallery in the history of both Zam Kamil and the management of the CG Gallery. Just imagine, an exhibition event that 'only' lasted for ten days (6 to 15 May 2008) successfully sold nearly all the works on display, which is roughly about 30 works of painting. Fantastic. Such a glorious history that is difficult to reoccur. CG Gallery documentation regarding this single exhibition can be seen below.

Creative Process
The editor of the Asian Art News magazine, Ian Findlay, linked an admirer of Picasso and Vincent Willem van Gogh, Zam Kamil with Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. Not only Ian, even Wang Zineng, a Singapore-based curator and Cosmas D. Gozali of The Aryan Management had a similar opinion. Perhaps indeed there are similarities in the spirit forms of the figures of these two artists of different eras.

There are four fundamental things that Zam Kamil processed through his works, namely: 1. Figure; 2. Text; 3 Composition; 4. Process.

1. Figure
Figure is an integral part of the narrative works of Zam Kamil. The figures were intentionally lost in details. Nude, incomplete faces, unclear expression, unclear identity, some have indistinct gender and have no attributes as well. The audience is given the widest possible space for the imagination to fill that emptiness. However, later some of these figures wear clothes and even accessories. So what exactly is he trying to convey through these unclear figures?

Zam Kamil is apparently very interested in the gesture. Physical cues are all that he wants to convey through these figures. He often jokes, “When words could no longer be put into mouth as they become more and more accumulated and oppressive, it is the body that will spontaneously speak, shout, be furious and even continues to writhe, and at its peak becomes silent”.

Wang Zineng in his review on a solo exhibition entitled A (') postrophe asserted that the abstract and simple figures à la Zam Kamil recalls the fauvist manifesto at the beginning of the 20th century as echoed by Andre Derain and Henri Mattise whose whole works raised the expressive potential through colors and artistic freedom of academic realism.

2. Text
During his 'contemplative journey' and research on the cave of Leangleang, South Sulawesi, Zam Kamil found literature that later turned out to influence his creative process. The texts that seem to be pasted haphazardly, if further investigated, many quote the script of I La Galigo, a Bugis longest epic in the world. Some figures 'without gender' which sometimes appear in some of Zam Kamil’s paintings are also an evidence of his association with ancient Greek mythology and the Bissu phenomenon which until now is still a part of Makassar society.

In fact, this text could have been there long before the painting itself was born because so many works of Zam Kamil painting inspired by the poems he had written himself and the fruit of the hands of others. On the one hand, there are times when these texts were only the artist’s jabber. Its value is no longer meaning but turned into shape. The visible forms of the text were finally blended as contour and color. Furthermore, these texts, for Zam Kamil is like a string of prayer beads when remembrance echoed in his inner self. Or like the dialogue (read: prayer) a mother (read: Zam Kamil) who is pregnant, says to her future ‘child’.

3. Composition
In the case of Zam Kamil, Jules O Bawole, a curator alumnus of the Jakarta Arts Institute (Institut Kesenian Jakarta) once said that in addition to gestures, composition (contours and color) is Zam Kamil’s ultimate weapon to build rhythm and intonation into a poetic visual expression in his every work.

Ian Findlay then continues that Zam Kamil’s courage to indulge in colors like blue and green to contrast colors like red and yellow is precisely his special ability to bring the situation in his creation alive.

In later days, mature colors like red, green, blue, yellow are more frequently used. This is not surprising because of the choice of colors and composition, Zam Kamil clearly asserts that he is a fauvism follower.

4. Process
The process is, of course, has a relationship with the artist's inner experience. Perhaps to trace the creative process can be started from the development of Zam Kamil’s thematic works from 1990 when he first started his painting career up to now. He began with series such as “the wild thing”, “solitary”, “junkies”, journey, red and white, poetry, starting reinforcements, the lights to the last one is serial go green. So what is interesting about the subject of this thematic?

Zam Kamil’s observation journey is already described in the previous section. Of course, 'artistic behavior' gradually will crystallize and turn into inner experience over time. This inner experience is very unique and will never be the same between artists from each other - the impetus of the creative process itself. And are unique works not be born by individuals who are unique?

The themes of Zam Kamil’s paintings never stop. Even he does not have the clarity of time at all. It could be overlapped. This also means the figures in Zam Kamil’s paintings are still going to continue to explore shapes. He still will continue to be. The works that already exist need to be squeezed back into new works. Only he is to find his own essence (destiny).

Primadona, 1995

Primadona, 1999

This problem of the 'process' can be proved in the work entitled Kutunggu di Jakarta that was 'never finished' in 2006 but re-signed by the artist in 2010. Or have a look at the work of Primadona, which was originally signed in 1995, but then squeezed into the essence, 'simplified' and finally signed back in 1999. The naked forms will be returned to nudity.

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

It is not enough to stop there, for Zam Kamil the perfection of new works created precisely when there have been 'disturbances' attached. Conspicuous Graffiti. It may be because Zam Kamil did not believe that there is real perfection under the sun.

The birth of Zam Kamil‘s best paintings has gone such a long process and ins and outs of travel. And unfortunately a very valuable creative process is almost impossible to read in pieces the artist's curriculum vitae. It took a bit longer to trace the quality of a work because work is intact, strong and long lasting was ever born of the artist's strong personal as well, simply accept the blows life has been pretty well absorbed and other issues beyond the issue itself. So that's what this writing, namely to express what is implied.

Yogyakarta, October 2010
Dedi Yuniarto

Perjalanan Karier dan Proses Kreatif Multazam Kamil

Art is moreover available in bareness, imperfection or being tucked in kerfs. It sometimes needs to be reborn to discover its fate.
(Multazam Kamil)

Perjalanan Karier
MULTAZAM (Zam) Kamil lahir pada tanggal 05 Agustus 1969 di Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan. Ia adalah alumni angkatan tahun 1990 Fakultas Seni Rupa, Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta. Kini dengan seorang istri dan dua orang putrinya tinggal di Wirosaban, Yogyakarta. Tidak sebagaimana para sejawatnya di ISI Yogyakarta yang rata-rata bergaya ekspressionis, karya-karya Zam Kamil digolongkan ke dalam genre impressionis.

Semasa kuliah Zam Kamil aktif dalam kegiatan kemahasiswaan di almamaternya. Dan yang terutama ia pun selalu terlibat mengikuti pameran-pameran “Spirit 90”. Adapun Spirit 90 adalah nama bagi kelompok mahasiswa Fakultas Seni Rupa angkatan 1990. Awal tahun 1994, Spirit 90 melangsungkan pameran selama lima hari (5-10 Februari 1994) di Purna Budaya, Yogyakarta. Dalam event ini semua lukisan yang dipamerkan ludes terjual bak kacang goreng. Beberapa orang meyakini peristiwa itu merupakan ledakan ‘bom seni lukis’ di Yogyakarta yang pertama. Setelah sukses pameran tahun 1994 itu, Spirit 90 masih terus berpameran sekitar dua belas kali hingga tahun 2005.

Kendati teman-teman sekelasnya yang lain tengah menikmati gelimang sukses yang baru didapat itu, Zam Kamil lebih memilih tidak mengikuti arus dan malah meninggalkan lingkungan pergaulannya. Ia tidak percaya dengan kenyataan baru yang dialaminya. Ia lalu berkelana ke berbagai tempat. Terhitung sejak tahun 1994 hingga 1999 ia melanglang buana ke Bali, Mataram, Toraja, Bandung, Jakarta serta berbagai tempat lain yang menarik hatinya. Di sana ia berputar haluan memasuki dunia para junkies, kelompok perempuan jalanan, komunitas anak-anak jalanan, para bromocorah bahkan kelompok dakwah di masjid-masjid. Sebuah dunia yang bagi awam tak ada sangkut-paut sama sekali dengan aktivitasnya sebagai seorang seniman lukis. Ia menyebut apa yang dilakoninya itu sebagai ‘perjalanan observasif’.

Masih dalam rentang waktu yang sama Zam Kamil pun masih tetap berkarya untuk sekadar memenuhi undangan pameran bersama yang digagas oleh para sahabatnya di Spirit 90. Ia bahkan masih sempat melakukan penelitian lukisan dinding situs prasejarah gua Leangleang di Sulawesi Selatan. Penelitian ini adalah dalam rangka penyusunan skripsi strata satunya. Uniknya selama proses tersebut Zam Kamil harus mendapatkan bimbingan dari dosen strata dua (S-2) karena bobot penelitiannya dianggap melampaui kapasitas pada umumnya calon sarjana strata satu (S-1).

Memasuki tahun 2001 ia melangsungkan pameran tunggalnya di Leangleang Art Studio, Yogyakarta. Selang enam tahun kemudian, yakni tepatnya tahun 2007 Zam Kamil melakukan lompatan besar dalam sejarah karier melukisnya. Ia diundang untuk melangsungkan pameran tunggalnya di The Aryaseni Art Gallery, Singapura. Sekitar 20 karya lukis ia kirimkan ke Singapura. Hingga saat ini mediasi lelang karya-karya lukis Zam Kamil lainnya melalui Borobudur Auction dan Masterpiece Auction; dua forum lelang paling bergengsi di Singapura, masih terus dilakukan oleh para kolektornya.

Medio tahun 2008 CG Art Space Jakarta dibuka. Pada mulanya CG Art Space menempati Gedung Plaza Indonesia level 3 #56, Jl. MH Thamrin, Jakarta Pusat. Dan untuk melengkapi soft opening, Zam Kamil diundang berpameran tunggal di sana. Barangkali moment tersebut merupakan pembukaan galeri paling monumental dalam sejarah keduanya; Zam Kamil dan manajemen CG Gallery. Betapa tidak, acara pameran yang ‘hanya’ berlangsung sepuluh hari tersebut (6-15 Mei 2008) sukses menjual hampir seluruh karya yang dipajang, yakni kurang-lebih sekitar 30 karya lukis. Fantastis. Sungguh sejarah gemilang yang sulit terulang kembali. Dokumentasi CG Gallery mengenai pameran tunggal ini dapat disaksikan di bawah ini.

Proses Kreatif
Pengagum Picasso dan Vincent Willem van Gogh ini oleh redaktur Majalah Asian Art News, Ian Findlay, dihubung-hubungkan dengan Henri Matisse dan Paul Cezanne. Bukan hanya Ian, bahkan Wang Zineng, seorang kurator berwarga negara Singapura, dan Cosmas D. Gozali dari The Arya Management pun bernada serupa. Barangkali memang ada kemiripan semangat dalam bentuk-bentuk persona (figur) kedua seniman beda jaman itu.

Ada empat hal fundamental yang diolah Zam Kamil melalui karya-karyanya, yakni: 1. persona (figur); 2. teks; 3. komposisi; 4. proses.

1.    Persona
Persona adalah bagian tak terpisahkan dari narasi karya-karya Zam Kamil. Persona-persona itu sengaja kehilangan detail. Telanjang, tak lengkap wajahnya, tak jelas ekspresinya, tak jelas identitasnya, beberapa tak jelas gendernya dan tak memiliki atribut pula. Para audiens diberi ruang seluas-luasnya untuk berimajinasi mengisi kekosongan-kekosongan itu. Namun dikemudian hari beberapa diantara persona ini sudah mengenakan busana bahkan aksesori. Lalu apa yang hendak disampaikan melalui persona-persona yang serba ‘tak jelas’ itu?

Zam Kamil rupanya sangat tertarik dengan gestur. Isyarat badaniahlah yang hendak disampaikannya melalui persona-persona tersebut. Ia acap berkelakar, “Ketika kata-kata tak bisa lagi dibahasakan karena semakin menumpuk dan menyesakkan, tubuhlah yang akan spontan berbicara, berteriak, marah bahkan terus menggeliat, dan pada puncaknya adalah diam.”

Wang Zineng dalam kuratorialnya pada pameran tunggal bertajuk A(‘)postrophe menegaskan bahwa figur-figur sederhana dan abstraktif ala Zam Kamil mengingatkan kembali akan manifesto kaum fauvist pada awal abad ke-20 yang dikumandangkan oleh Andre Derain dan Henri Mattise yang keseluruhan karya mereka mengangkat potensi ekspresif melalui warna dan kebebasan artistik dari realisme akademis.

2.    Teks
Selama masa ‘perjalanan kontemplatif’ serta penelitiannya di gua Leangleang, Sulawesi Selatan, Zam Kamil menemukan literatur-literatur yang dikemudian hari ternyata memengaruhi proses kreatifnya. Teks-teks yang terkesan disisipkan sembarangan itu apabila diteliti lebih lanjut banyak mengutip kata-kata di dalam naskah I La Galigo, sebuah epos Bugis terpanjang di dunia. Persona ‘tanpa gender’ yang kadangkala muncul pada beberapa lukisan Zam Kamil juga merupakan bukti keterkaitannya dengan mitologi Yunani kuno dan fenomena para bissu yang hingga sekarang masih menjadi bagian masyarakat Makassar.

Bahkan teks ini bisa jadi sudah ada jauh sebelum karya lukis itu sendiri terlahir sebab banyak sekali karya-karya lukis Zam Kamil yang terinspirasi dari puisi-puisi yang ditulisnya sendiri maupun buah tangan orang lain. Di satu sisi adakalanya teks-teks ini pun hanya berupa racauan-racauan sang seniman. Nilainya bukan lagi makna namun berganti menjadi bentuk. Bentuk-bentuk teks yang terlihat itu pada akhirnya menyatu sebagai kontur dan warna. Lebih jauh lagi, teks-teks tersebut bagi Zam Kamil tak ubahnya untaian tasbih ketika zikir dikumandangkan di dalam bathinnya. Atau ibarat dialog (baca: doa) seorang ibu (baca: Zam Kamil) yang sedang mengandung, kepada calon ‘anak rohani’-nya.

3.    Komposisi
Dalam hal Zam Kamil, Jules O Bawole, seorang kurator alumni Institut Kesenian Jakarta (IKJ) pernah mengatakan bahwa selain gestur, komposisi (kontur dan warna) merupakan senjata pamungkas Zam Kamil untuk membangun irama dan intonasi ke dalam ungkapan visual yang puitik pada setiap karya-karyanya.

Ian Findlay kemudian melanjutkan bahwa keberanian Zam Kamil mengumbar warna-warna seperti biru dan hijau hingga warna-warna kontras seperti merah dan kuning justru merupakan kemampuan khususnya dalam hal menghidupkan situasi yang ia ciptakan. Dikemudian hari warna-warna matang seperti merah, hijau, biru, kuning tersebut makin sering digunakan. Hal ini tidak mengherankan sebab mengenai pilihan warna-warna serta komposisinya, Zam Kamil jelas-jelas menegaskan bahwa dirinya adalah penganut fauvist.

4.    Proses
Proses yang dimaksud tentu saja ada keterkaitan dengan pengalaman bathin sang seniman. Barangkali untuk merunut proses kreatif  ini dapat dimulai dari perkembangan tematik karya-karya Zam Kamil dari tahun 1990 ketika ia pertama kali memulai karier melukisnya hingga sekarang. Ia memulai dengan serial the wild thing, solitary, junkies, journey, merah putih, puisi, tolak bala, cahaya-cahaya hingga yang terakhir ialah serial go green. Lalu apa yang menarik mengenai perihal tematik ini?

Sudah diuraikan pada bagian sebelumnya mengenai perjalanan observasif yang pernah dilakukan Zam Kamil. Tentu saja dengan berjalannya waktu, lambat-laun ‘laku berkesenian’ itu akan mengkristal dan berubah menjadi pengalaman bathin. Pengalaman bathin ini sangat unik dan tidak akan pernah sama antara seniman satu dengan lainnya-merupakan cikal-bakal dari proses kreatif itu sendiri. Dan bukankah karya-karya unik hanya dilahirkan oleh pribadi-pribadi yang unik pula?

Syahdan, tema-tema karya lukis Zam Kamil tidak pernah berhenti. Bahkan ia tidak memiliki kejelasan waktu sama sekali. Bisa jadi saling tumpang tindih. Hal ini pula yang menyebabkan persona-persona dalam lukisan Zam Kamil juga masih akan terus mengalami eksplorasi bentuk. Ia masih akan terus menjadi. Karya-karya yang sudah ada perlu diperas kembali menjadi karya-karya baru, ialah untuk menemukan esensinya (takdirnya).

Primadona, 1995

Primadona, 1999

Persoalan ‘proses’ ini dapat dibuktikan pada karya berjudul Kutunggu di Jakarta yang ‘pernah selesai’ pada tahun 2006 namun ditandatangani ulang oleh sang seniman pada tahun 2010. Atau lihat saja karya Primadona yang semula ditandatangani tahun 1995, namun kemudian diperas menuju esensi, ‘disederhanakan’ dan akhirnya ditandatangani kembali tahun 1999. Bentuk-bentuk telanjang akan kembali kepada ketelanjangan.

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

 Bagi Zam Kamil kesempurnaan karya baru tercipta justru ketika telah menempel ‘gangguan-gangguan’ di sana. Coretan-coretan yang mencolok mata itu. Boleh jadi lantaran Zam Kamil tidak percaya di bawah matahari benar-benar ada kesempurnaan.

Demikianlah proses panjang dan lika-liku perjalanan seorang Zam Kamil dalam melahirkan karya-karya lukis terbaiknya. Namun malangnya proses kreatif yang sangat berharga ini nyaris tidak mungkin dibaca dalam lembar curriculum vitae sang seniman. Perlu waktu agak panjang untuk merunut kualitas sebuah karya sebab karya yang utuh, kuat dan long ever lasting hanyalah terlahir dari pribadi sang seniman yang kuat pula, cukup menerima pukulan-pukulan kehidupan dan telah cukup pula menyerap persoalan lain di luar persoalan dirinya  sendiri. Maka untuk itulah tulisan ini dibuat, yakni untuk mengungkapkan apa yang tersirat dari yang tersurat.

Yogyakarta, Oktober 2010
Dedi Yuniarto