Documentation of ‘Mandi Bunga/Flower Bath‘ is currently showing at National Visual Arts Gallery in Retrospektif Biennale, an exhibition of artworks that have been in included in biennales around the world.
An art biennale (or biennial) is a large-scale exhibition/festival surveying contemporary art forms, trends and developments, occurring once every two years. ‘Biennial’ comes from the Latin: bi- meaning ‘twice’, and -annual meaning ‘yearly’. Since the 1990s, the number of biennales worldwide has grown exponentially.
Kuala Lumpur will hold its inaugural biennale in 2017, organized by the National Visual Arts Gallery.
‘Mandi Bunga/Flower Bath’ was a performance project at Singapore Biennale 2013, in which I orchestrated a flower bath in public with a hundred people. It is based on my experiences taking part in Bersih 2 and 3 protests, and witnessing mass protests around the world in 2011 – 2012. It explores the meaning and form of collective action.
This installation consists of the yellow sarong I wore on the day. Spread on it are small polaroid photos of the performance, which were taken by ten volunteers. Included are dried limes, leaves and flowers collected after the performance. On the wall are original drawings for a zine, which explained what I was trying to achieve, and was given out for free.
You can read it, and download a printable copy, here.
This seems to me the most un-monumental work in Retrospektif Biennale. It hugs the floor, and looks as if a strong breeze could blow it away. If the performance was ‘epic’, its documentation is brought down to a human scale. You have to bend close to see the pictures, which are lo-fi, ephemeral – true to that passing moment. Yet, this artwork has flowed many places, under many doors, like water. Now it’s come to rest here on the floor of the National Art Gallery of Malaysia. It feels like coming home.
When I opened the bag of dried flowers and leaves, I caught a whiff, faded, but distinct, of the smell that filled the air that day. The freshness in this work has gone, but the questions, and what we do with them – that is, its bones – remain.
“What does it mean to do something alone?
What does it mean to do something together?
How can we be ourselves with others?”
Retrospektif Biennale is on in Gallery 2A and 2B at National Visual Arts Gallery of Malaysia until 8 Jan 2017.
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Dokumentasi ‘Mandi Bunga/Flower Bath’ sedang dipamerkan di Balai Seni Visual Negara dalam Retrospektif Biennale, suatu pameran karya-karya seni yang pernah disertai dalam biennale di luar negara.
Biennale (atau biennial) adalah acara atau pameran seni besar-besaran yang memaparkan bentuk, gerakan dan perkembangan seni tampak semasa, diadakan setiap dua tahun. Perkataan ‘biennial’ berasal daripada bahasa Latin: bi- berarti ‘dua’ dan -annual berarti ‘setiap tahun’. Sejak 1990-an, jumlah biennial telah menambah berkali ganda di seluruh dunia.
Kuala Lumpur akan mengadakan biennial sulungnya pada 2017, di bawah anjuran Balai Seni Visual Negara.
‘Mandi Bunga/Flower Bath’ sebuah projek persembahan di Singapore Biennale 2013, di mana saya dan 100 orang bermandi bunga di luar bersama. Ia berdasarkan pengalaman saya semasa menyertai protes Bersih 2 dan 3, serta penyaksian beberapa demonstrasi besar yang tercetus di seluruh dunia sekitar tahun 2011 – 2012. Projek ini mempertimbangkan erti dan bentuk tindakan kolektif (collective action).
Dokumentasi ini terdiri daripada sarung kuning yang saya pakai untuk persembahan Mandi Bunga. Gambar-gambar kecil polariod yang ditangkap oleh sepuluh sukarelawan pada hari itu diletak di atas kain bersama limau, daun dan bunga kering yang dikutip selepas persembahan. Pada dinding ada lukisan asal untuk zine percuma yang menghuraikan apa yang saya ingin sampaikan dengan projek itu.
Zine Mandi Bunga boleh dibaca dan dimuat turun di pautan ini.
Di mata saya, karya ini nampaknya paling kurang agung di kalangan karya lain dalam Retrospektif Biennale. Ia memeluk lantai, ia tidak kukuh. Kalau persembahan hari itu boleh dikatakan ‘epic’, dokumentasinya dibawakan kepada skala yang sederhana. Audiens mesti tunduk untuk membelek foto kecil yang peleraian rendah. Bagaimanapun, karya ini telah masuk ke banyak tempat, menyusup di bawah banyak pintu, seperti air mengalir. Sekarang sampainya di Balai Seni Visual Negara, dan rasanya seperti suatu pemulangan.
Bila saya membuka bekas yang mengandungi bunga dan daun kering, saya tercium wangi yang memenuhi udara pada hari itu tiga tahun yang lalu, meskipun sedikit hapak. Karya ini telah hilang segarnya, tapi soalannya masih tinggal.
“Apa ertinya bertindak berseorangan?
Apa ertinya bertindak bersama?
Bagaimana kita boleh kekal diri kita apabila bersama dengan orang lain?”
Retrospektif Biennale berlangsung di Galeri 2A dan 2B, Balai Seni Visual Negara sehingga 8 Jan 2017.