By Faiq Airudin
When it comes to the creation of art I experience several processes that I enact and are enacted on my body. They are lived as separate entities freely moving in-and-out of each other. From researching, brainstorming, development, testing until installation. However, in-between is doubt, hesitation, dread and discomfort among other moods and sensations too numerous to count, some without names. Art is created in those spaces - between processes such as:- doubt and brainstorming; discomfort and researching. While the intermingling of emotion and developmental processes are essential to create art they don’t explain motivation or why it's created.
Creative work is moulded by socio-economic circumstances. Everyday life is affected more than ever by global circumstances out of our control. The lack of local creative events over the past couple of months has inspired the desire to create - to fill in a gap. Limitations of movement in and out of the country caused by the pandemic has provided some much needed introspection. I’ve been revisiting past exhibitions through leaflets and postcards wondering why it worked for me. Was it the lighting? The prestige of the place it was held? Was I in a good mood that made me more receptive to the work displayed? There are several contributing factors but I think more broadly the ability for art to create conversations through the re-framing of a theme drew me to particular pieces and exhibitions. I’m interested in how the gallery space can be used as a frame to invoke conversations around a theme.
When we think of a frame our mind immediately calls upon a literal frame with gilded edges. Most likely the gilded edged frame would be of a Renaissance painting where the frame is used to create a sense of finality, to ensure preservation and to lead the viewer's eye to the subject on the canvas. In a traditional theatrical space, the frame can be understood to be the stage. While in a building, it can be understood to be an atrium. The frame in an art context can be understood to be the gallery space - the literal space confined by white walls and a door. Artwork shown in a gallery space is re-framed and transformed. This can also be done through a coherent theme - expressed through strong curation and precise descriptions. This can also be accentuated through the artwork shown in a gallery space that aligns itself with a refined theme. Themes can be broad like the previous exhibitions at Creative Space such as folklore or identity. Themes can also be narrow and focussed like the current “Contoh” exhibition touching on importing, manufacturing and self-sufficiency in Brunei.
As the Russian installation artist Ilya Kabakov shared in an interview, “Works of art, I think, consist of a series of traps, or concealments, through which the viewer has to pass.” he continues, “There is a naive notion that past art was easy to understand but today’s art is too closed and yields itself poorly to discovery.” Kabakov’s art is known as “total installations” that completely transform gallery spaces with immersive exhibits. In relation to the notion of ”to pass” as explained by Kabokov, during the exhibition of “Contoh” it is to move around the physical space and installations, to inspect materials and trust the ability of the eyes to discover the space. While the theme provides clues into what is being displayed, it calls upon the visitor to unlock the concealments set in place by the artists (Yasmin Jaidin, Ian Chan and Faiq Airudin). Further traps are laid by the curator Osveanne Osman through the manipulation of light, labelling and positioning of artwork. The art begins not at the edge of a canvas frame but at the opening of the gallery door.
Social media has accelerated artist development, allowed access of resources to those with limited financial means and moved conversations further and deeper than ever before. However, there are limitations to the online space which is confined to phone screens, devices and streams of comments. This is where installation art can find itself - beyond the phone screen space and completely occupying the vision and more importantly attention of a visitor in a gallery space. Conversations are created once visitors enter the space and when they negotiate themselves around the artwork. Installation art has the powerful ability to transform a visitor within a space. I create art to provoke meaningful conversations around themes. In the “Contoh” exhibition this was expressed through the dialogue between artists, curator and gallery space but also more importantly with visitors.
How to Book your exhibition pass:
Plan your visit to the Contoh Exhibition by checking our schedule.
DM via Instagram @creative.space.brunei or text +673 836 3303 (Whatsapp / Telegram) the following information:
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Exhibition date: Till the 9th of August 2020
Entry fee: $15.00 (single entry), $20.00 (unlimited entry)
Location: Unit 6B, Block B, 1st Floor, Sengkurung Shopping Complex.
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