Menu
So the artist doesn’t have any inclination toward any political parties, they simply just state the current situation.
HERI DONO: Yes, they only state what is currently happening. The artist isn’t included in any political practice, they only have opinions. Actually, there were many examples of this in tradition, like Ramayana, Mahabharata, the story about Panji, Joko Tingkir, and other folktales. There are many political intricacies in those. For example, in Mahabharata, there are conflicts between the kingdoms of Pandhawa and Kurawa. In tradition, there are so many political intricacies that in the New Order era, people used the metaphor of the Hastinapura Kingdom. They didn’t use Indonesia, but Hastinapura, because explicitly mentioning Indonesia would get you in jail or exile to Sukabumi at that time. So, we used metaphors. When making the painting Guernica, Picasso also created some kind of metaphor when the town of Guernica in Spain was bombed by President Franco around 1930. At that time, many civilians were killed by the military. Artists at that time had some kind of conscience to see those injustices, which were then explored into artworks that were related to large political issues.
So, it’s up to the artist to bring up the political issues? Or do you have to be able to do it as an artist?
HERI DONO: No, it’s not an obligation. Some artists are more interested in the matter of spirituality or philosophical analysis which are poured into artworks that might not have figures and shapes or are even totally abstract. The phenomenon is different for each artist.
What does being an artist in today’s era mean to you?
HERI DONO: My thoughts are that artists are people who are interested in comprehensive matters. Not only about art, but also about culture and humanities. Due to the invention of artificial intelligence and robots, there is this fear that those technologies will be used by the military. But we humans have inspirations that can’t be reproduced by robots and AI. They use algorithm theory which can imitate and develop, but they lack genuine inspiration. On July 29, 1969, when the first human Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon with Apollo 11, back then there were already advertisements on the satellite market. At that time, the management of human lives from outer space had begun. All of our activities right now are managed from space, be it using Instagram, WhatsApp, or Google Maps. These days, people no longer ask for directions from other people, we can go straight to our destination using maps. Therefore, right now, artists have to be inevitably informed about the latest technology. If not, they would only trail behind outdated issues, and so do their work of art. Art always keeps up with the matter of technology; it has always been throughout history.
When the industrial revolution happened, and factories put paint inside tubes, there was the Barbizon group who were able to paint outside their studios. It’s always connected with other issues. Therefore, being an artist means having to always see comprehensive matters from a philosophical perspective. For example, Martin Suryajaya in Principia Logica, states that maybe the truth is not always subjective, but there are also truths that are based on the third person. Because our every action is recorded, maybe what we originally thought of us as ourselves is not who we truly are. Those who see our characters from an objective lens might not have the same perception of ourselves as we, the subjective one.
Writer Kresentia
Creative Director Amino
Art Director Ariq
Photographer 038 Lab Huis
Videographer Rahmat
Assistant Antino
Social Media Specialist Rafa
