HUNTING DOWN THE TIME: MYTHS AND RELATIVITY OF TIME

“The beauty of art does not refer to certain media. In fact, it can refer to any spaces.”

Moch Basori

A troubadour figure was riding a bicycle with super high speed. He passing through with his body bent like a racer, while his left hand besides the front axle as if will 'clutch' something of the path. Its roar cleaves the wind and the blood-red of mist. Behind the mist, Mount Merapi vaguely upstands and dead silence.

ELEMENTS of aspect Basori inscribed on canvas of his work titled Hunting Down the Time made in 2011 was lyrical. Picture of the situation which depicts a figure in the middle of a high-speed arus really has a power to inspire and is very dramatic as the slow motion scenes we encounter in many action movies. That's how Basori describes the existence of the time. He does not pretend to cite 'more serious' problems such as the famous theory of Einstein's relativity time. Whatsoever, the figure of his creation is not glide over the rocket speed of light. He was only driving a conventional transport aircraft before coming of civilization of engines.

Indeed, it is very much so not clear whether the troubadour figure is a human, a human of a half-robot, or a robot? So what is the correlation of Mount Merapi with the figure who are hunting for (or hunted) the time?

Mount Merapi is exactly located in the middle of the Java Island and has a height of about 2.968 m on the sea-level. It is one of the most active mountains in Indonesia because of an eruption once every two to five years. Lately, the mountain erupted on October 26, 2010, killing dozens of residents. The impact of the cold lava is still felt by the people who live along rivers which have upper course on Merapi, to this day. Its existence can not be separated from the city of Yogyakarta with Ngayogyakarta Palace as its center.

Concerning to Ngayogyakarta it comes from Sanskrit 'Ayodhya' or Javanese 'Ngayodya', that is capital of kingdom of Rama in the Ramayana epic. Notabene, Rama is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, namely the god of savior and guardian of the earth. Vishnu is the ideal type of each Sultan Yogyakarta.

Yogyakarta city cleaved by an 'imaginary line' is formed by a series of five points, namely the South Sea → Ngayogyakarta Palace → Beringharjo Market → Yogyakarta Monument → Mount Merapi, which are geographically located in one straight line, stretched out from South to North. In a philosophical sense of Java, this 'vertical straight line' (or in the teachings of Islam might also refer to the Arabic letter 'Alif') has meaning as a process of human life from his birth to face to the Creator. This is inherent with time, which inherent continuously in every human life process that started from the mother's womb until death arrives.

Context of the issues raised by Basori onto his canvas is always inseparable from the phenomenon of humans and the environment. Just we take a look at the life of the various social ladders and the profession in the middle of big cities such as Jakarta, Manila, Seoul, Taipei, Shanghai, Tokyo, New Delhi, Paris, London, New York, etc.. People hurried down on sidewalk or running after to catch public transport, bus drivers drove quickly to meet payment, contractor of property who needs to make a decision quickly, restaurant waiters canter  to serve their guests, marketing managers spur his vehicle for a late of presentation, transactions in a stock market, deadline news, banking services, etc.. For those who live in the middle of a big city, time is money.

In the case of Yogyakarta city -- where Basori lives for years with a wife and his three children -- precisely occurs the opposite scene, in which the andong (traditional four-wheeled carriage drawn by horse) slowly strolling on the protocol streets, the people absorbed to chat in angkringan (thrust cart which sells a variety of foods and beverages commonly found on the roadside of Yogyakarta) while enjoying coffee or tea all a day, or the youngsters follow Malioboro Street with their bike. The rhythm of such a life perhaps caused by the people of Yogyakarta (and Java in general) has a philosophy of life 'alon-alon waton kelakon' (slowly but surely implemented). It is said that a famous marketing expert from Jakarta labeled to Yogyakarta as 'the city of slow'. Well, what a relative of time.

Actually, urban society who fast-moving in the rushed cities of the world and traditional communities live in Yogyakarta city or in rural areas, each driven by a desire to 'reach' highest degree along the trajectory of their life. Buildings of social relationships in the capitalist economic system can be described as follows ... level of position is always proportional to its responsibility, and also self-regard is always directly proportional to his economic level. Higher a position, greater its responsibility, and so higher an economic level, higher his self-regard. For those who are enslaved to passion, they must (willingly or unwillingly) work all the time. What a professional duties eventually seize the time to socialize, or simply watching television with the family, recreation, rest regularly, eat healthily, enjoying the arts, etc.. As a result, they turn into human (semi) robotic since their humanity sides increasingly blunt because it has been manipulated.

Basori is well known as a unique painter. His hand's sweep is autodidact, expressive and intuitive. He is the type of artist who would prefer to follow his unconscious (instinct) than his universe of thought. He was also very interested in Javanese ritual (Javanese mysticism). It is not infrequently he explores medium such as car glass, coconut fibers, wood, resin, acrylic, digital print and metal. To master the techniques of making artworks of the metal medium, he was even willing to learn peculiarly to weld for two months till finally get a certificate from Nikko Steel company.

The way he works is also different. He is often mixes colors directly on canvas painting. It is not just one or two mediums, he mixes oil paint, acrylic and other coloring materials at once, including a dye of batik. It is also not only one or two techniques (in addition to batik technique) he combines technique of Arabic calligraphy and pointillism as a detail element of workart. Concerning to his ability to master the technique of batik it was acquired from the Brahma Tirta Sari (BTS) studio, a studio of contemporary batik (batik fine art) in Yogyakarta City that led by Agus Ismoyo and Nia Fliam. Such an ability and mastery of techniques often gave birth to unexpected works.

Practical of traces of batik techniques can you browse in the works of ‘Hunting Down the Time’ entirely, as well as other works created in 2011. Basori uses paraffin (wax resist technique) to create detailed gradations of a fog effect colored of red, white, and yellow. Paraffin (wax) is commonly used in the practice of making batik in the pattern on the cloth. It is used to protect the pattern in order to not impenetrable of batik dry during dyeing.

No matter how an artist is a troubadour that should never be tired of exploring the spirit of the time, his presence in the midst of the community often invite controversy. However, his roles can not be underestimated. Their works often contain a spark of moral values hidden behind the visual metaphors they created. Good artists would not agrounded to fight the time. He should be able to presents something that is not only different, but also something that is not repetition. And isn't it true that it is the essence of professional responsibility as an artist?

‘Hunting Down The Time’ is as a mirror to tidy self up. Advanced civilizations have been glorified as the highest achievement of human history seems to risen to a phenomenon; urban man had not only deprived of family and (nature) environment but also of himself. Gradually the sides of his humanity are depleted by eroded. Although Leonardo da Vinci in an opportunity once said, "man is a model for the world !".

Yogyakarta, 21 Desember 2011
Dedi Yuniarto