issues, i,e. the commodification of art works by employing the values of the history of art to determine the nominal values of the art works.
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16 The wo rks are those by the "Stars" group. Prior to the Tiananmen tragedy, in February 1989 the group, along with the eminent Chinese curato r Li Xiangting, he ld an exhibi tion titled "China/ Avant-Garde" in Beijing. The exhibition has been noted as promoting liberalization and openness in Ch ina. When the Tiananmen tragedy took place, the exhibition caught the attentio n of the international public, an d the artists were seen internationally
as the champions of freedo m. Bu t as soon as the inte rnatio nal
television station C NN lost interest in the poli tical upheavals in China, their names faded out.
The development in the art market in the United States also spread to Asia at the end of the eighties. Art auction houses such as Christie and Sotheby opened branches in Asia, selling works of the Western masters to the new museums in Asia, especially in Japan. During the eighties, they grew up to 200 new branches every year. As a result, art market in Asia grew rapidly, but it was not the works by the Western masters that dominated the market, but rather the works by Asian artists themselves . The development in the Asian art market today follows from this. In the last three decades, the art circle has grown increasingly larger, with a greater understanding about art among the public. The contemporary art works by Asian artists, whose prices have skyro cketed since 2000, are therefore works with a prominent standing within the development of Asian contemporary art. There are, however, still differences in the works that the market has been accepting. Initially, such symptom was obvious in the valuation of the China avant-garde works. whose prices were first to shoot up among the contemporary art works. Within the contemporary art realm, the works-which had caught the attention of the global art world in 1989 after the Tiananmen tragedy- have been overshadowed by controversies, disputing whether they could actually be viewed as contemporary art works, because generally they still used the conventional media.16 Although the fact that there are differences between the contemporary art works found in the art markets in Asia and those found in the Asian biennale and triennials has not emerged as a distinct issue, one can somehow sense it.
-:he contemporary art works in the market :-::ostlr use conventional media, especially ?aintings. They also betray artistic approaches ::.: at are far fro m the anti-art symptoms . hen the works that use the new media::-: :allation, photography, mixed media-also s: ow such artistic assiduousness . - _ ce 2000. the contemporary art has become a :.0 i sue in the Asian art market. In a ~LL-:1be r of Asian cities such as Shanghai, 3e_;i g. Seoul, and Taipei, the art fairs are ::e:' imultaneously with the biennales and -~:c::. jal, all proclaiming to be 'contemporary 2.:-: e ·ents. This betrays the dynamics in the .=.:-: . ':orld and it is therefore highly probable :.~ 2:: e contem porary art works in the Asian ::-: ::1a:ker actually reveal the perception :'::-.0 g he art public and the artists about :~ e co emporary art in Asia. Certainly, one ~ c:-- o ' ignore this public perception.
(: eo, "e Dickie discusses about the role of the .=.:-: "Jublic" in what would later be known as ::",~. e ' :-.stitutional theory of art. The theory that : 00 - hape in 1969 revealed critical attitude : ward the art authority, and was therefore :o -el;' related to the contemporary art. :::> ~ c -ie's critical stance was reflected in his e::o rt to include the public within the art world c:rcJe. Dickie saw the understanding of art:: e definitio n of art, the definition of the art . :or - and the meanings of art-as depending 0 :-: he dynamics in the art world, in which :~e artworld public had been an important co. ponent. :::>ickie's theory gave rise to controversies and ' n~gered a number of criticisms. There was -_ e basic question about the mechanism at ? lay in the art world, how did one define the ar public, and by the term "institution" did ~ e mean formal institutions? As he looked : 0 tho se questions, Dickie perfected his :heory in 1974 and then again in 1984. He then
nilai-nilai sejarah seni-tersebar di buku-buku seni dan data museum-untuk menentukan nilai nominal karya-karya seni. Perkembangan pasar di Amerika Serikat itu meluas ke Asia pada akhir 1980. Balai -balai lelang Christy dan Southeby membuka caba gcabangnya di Asia untuk menjual karya-kar;:a "Western masters" kepada museum- museu baru di Asia, khususnya di Jepang- pada 19 Dan menunjukkan pertumbuhan sampai 200 setiap tahun. Dampaknya, pasar seni di Asia tumbuh dengan cepat, namun bukan U\t'esu>r l: masters" yang mendominasi percaturan pasa:tapi karya-karya perupa Asia sendiri. Perkembangan pasar Asia yang sekaran terjadi merupakan kelanjutan perkemba ,:,2:-: itu. Pada perkembangan selama tiga debee :..-_ terbentuk lingkaran publik seni yang se .~,.;.:: besar. Pada perkembangan ini terlihar pul peningkatan pemahaman. Karena itu karyakarya seni kontemporer Asia yang melon l ~ harganya sejak tahun 2000 adalah karyakarya yang diakui pada perkembangan se kontemporer di Asia. u
Akan tetapi karya-karya yang diserap pa ar tetap memperlihatkan kebedaan. Pada mulanya gejala ini terlihat pada penilaian karya-karya "China Avant-garde" yang paling awal memperlihatkan lonjakan harga karya seni kontemporer. Pada percaturan seni kontemporer karya-karya ini- yang pernah menarik perhatian artworld global pada 1989 setelah terjadinya Tragedi Tiananmen-dibayangi kontroversi. apa ' bisa dilihat sebagai karya seni kontemporer karena umumnya masih menggunakan medIa konvensional. 16 Kendati tidak muncul sebagai isu, bisa dirasakan perbedaan karya -karya seni kontemporer di pasar Asia dengan karya- -ar;-a
seni kontemporer di biennale dan triennale Asia. Karya-karya seni kontemporer di pasar sebagian besar masih menampilkan media konvensional khususnya seni lukis. Karyakarya ini memperlihakan pula pendekatan artistik yang jauh dari gejala anti-art. Bahkan karya-karya dengan media baru-instalasi, photography, mixed media-menunjukkan kecermatan artistik ini. Sejak tahun 2000 seni kontemporer menjadi isu ramai di pasar seni Asia. Di sejumlah kota Asia, seperti Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, dan Taipei penyelenggaraan Art Fair disamakan waktunya dengan penyelenggaraan biennale dan triennale dan keduanya mengusung label 'seni kontemporer: Gejala ini memperlihatkan percaturan dunia seni dan karena itu karyakarya seni kontemporer di pasar Asia ini sangat mungkin memperlihatkan persepsi publik seni dan para senimannya tentang seni kontemporer di Asia. Persepsi publik ini tidak bisa diabaikan. George Dickie membahas kedudukan 'publik seni' itu dalam pemikiran yang kemudian dikenal sebagai Institutional Theory ofArt. Teori yang muncul pada 1969 ini memperlihatkan sikap kritis pada otoritas seni karen a itu dekat dengan seni kontemporer. Sikap kritis Dickie tecermin pada upayanya memasukkan publik ke lingkaran artworld. Pemahaman seni-penentuan definisi seni, definisi karya seni, dan makn a-makna senimenurut Dickie bergantung pada percaturan artworld di mana publik seni (artworld public) merupakan komponen penting.
57
16 Karya-kar ya ini karrakarya ke lompok "Stars': Beberapa sa at sebelum terjadinya Tragedi Tiananmen, pada Februari 1989, kelompok perupa ini bersama kurator terkemuka
China, Li Xia ngting menyelenggarakan pameran bertajuk "China / AvantGarde" di Beijing. Pameran ini tercatat mempromosikan
Teori Dickie memunculkan kontroversi dan mengundang berbagai kritik. Muncul pertanyaan mendasar bagaimana mekanisme percaturan di artworld, bagaimana menentukan publik seni, dan apakah institusi yang dimaksudnya institusi formal? Menghadapi ini Dickie memperbaiki
liberalisasi dan keterb ukaan China. Ketika tragedi Tiananmen terjadi, pameran in i menarik perhatian dunia internasional dan seniman-
senimannya dianggap pahlawan kebeb asan. Namun begitu CNN tidak tertarik lagi memberitakan pergolakan politik C hi na, nama mereka hilang dari peredaran.
arrived at the view accepted by many. He thus maintained that [The] artworld is a cultural construction-something that members of the society have collectively made into what it is over time. Although perhaps no one has ever consciously decided that dog shows are excluded from cultural construction that is the artworld, it has turned out that way. If the history of culture had been a little different, the artworld might also be different and include dog shows. There is a strong chance of there being an element of arbitrariness in every cultural construction simply because they come about as a result of people's behavior over time Y 58
Thus grew in Asia two distinct views on the contemporary art. One (in the biennales and triennials) sees it as signs of anti-art, another (in the art market) begs to differ. Such difference, however, actually came about due to the differing fundamental perception on art. One perception followed the perception on art in the Anglo-American tradition (through the contemporary art "paradigm"), while another rested upon-following Dickie-the history of culture, which is not the same as the AngloAmerican history of culture, although one still could not identify what it was .
17 "The Institutional Theory of A rt" George Dickie. In Theories of Art Today. Opcit.p. 100. 18 Developed by the NeoWittgens teinian grou p. W ittgenstein was an aesthetic thinker w ho did not believe that art co uld be defined because he saw art as eternally changing du e to the surrounding conditions. 19 "But They Don't Have O ur Concep t of Art': Denis Dutton. In Theories of A rt Today. Opcit. p.217
The symptom was already close to the problem of diversity. within the context of the world art. However, one had not been able to obtain a clear view of what this diversity was about, and what its basis was. George Dickie's view could not explain this symptom because he was talking about the artworld instead of artworlds. There has been a gridlock in the thinking of diversity within the context of world art. This failure to progress is due to the influence
~ . 'e~
ed by the (past) thinking in anthropology, - ':- ~ : ha for med the general understanding :::2.: 'ee the analyses of the diversity in the - 'Q'.c. art as identical with the analyses of art •-. ::-:e em nic traditions, The ethnic traditions · .=.- 'e ~een "froze n" by (past) anthropological rese2..:-ch. Therefore, ethnic traditions are seen :.: .50 :2 ed (exclusive) and existing in a fixed o:-:ci::Jor., one that is unchanging. -=-.-.e:-e:'ore. \\'hen the cross cultural aesthetic --~:-:." -g- one of the latest developments -. :::.:: -',eories- tried to break through the -.. arie between th e traditional art and the _~ _-. ::-:e .\ nglo-American tradition, the old c e::;2:e: :-e-urface d,18 There was a stream of '::.:: .: .5::-'. ' . at saw the efforts done by the cross , .:.. • ..:.:-a: ae thetic thinking as a "mistake:' In his '. '.-.g, ~ But They Don't Have Our Concept of · _. De. 's Dutton m aintained that ~:: ' ~e
current discourse on crossc:i. ral aesthetics, an oft-repeated :'o ::-mula has it that understanding the cr' of another people may be difficult or ::TqO sible because "they have a concept 0:' ar different from ours;' or "they don't :-:'a\'e art in our sense': But what does - l1e co nce pt of art" denote here? One ',\'ay to approach this question is to ask ,.·;:tat "concept of" adds to the claim that a.nother culture has "a concept of art d ifferent fro m ours:' If the claim were merely that they have "an art different r~o m ours;' there would be no issue. :he added "concept of" seems to want (0 extend the claim, as though to say at desp ite outward appearances to -he contrary, the meaning art has for ese people differs radically from the mea ning art has for us, that we may be mi take n even to call it "art': Similarly with the claim that their "sense" of "art" i diffe rent from ourS.19
teorinya pada 1974 dan kemudian pada 1984. Melalui pergolakan ini Dickie pada akhirn a sampai pada pendapat yang bisa diterima. 1a mengemukakan,
Dunia seni adalah suatu konstru ksi budaya-sesuatu yang telah dibentu . oleh anggota masyarakat setelah melalui suatu rentang waktu. Mes 'i mungkin tak ada yang secara sadar memutuskan bahwa pameran ani i n~ tak termasuk dalam ko nstruksi buda 'a yang disebut dunia seni itu, n 'atanya begitulah jadinya. Jikalau sejarah kebudayaan berlangsung sedikit berbeda, dunia seni mungk in juga jadi berbeda dan mencakup pamera.--: anjing. Ada peluang bahwa dala . setiap konstruksi budaya terdapaelemen acak karen a konstruksi b 'a ~ tersebut terbentuk sebagai hasil cia;-;. perilaku masyarakat dalam renta n ~a..L waktuY Maka di Asia berkembang dua pemaha ma:c seni kontemporer. Yang satu (di biennale da: triennale) melihatnya sebagai anti-art, dan yang lain (di pasar seni) tidak . Perbedaan ini bukan beda pendapat tentang seni kontemporer, Perbedaaan ini terjadi kare a persepsi yang lebih mendasar, yaitu perseps: tentang seni. Persepsi yang satu mengiku l persepsi seni pada tradisi Anglo- Amer ika (melalui "paradigma" seni kontemp orer), persepsi yang lain bertumpu pada- meng' pandangan Dickie-history of culture yang tidak sama dengan Anglo-American history ~ : culture, namun tidak bisa diidentifikasi apa . Gejala itu sudah dekat dengan persoalan keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia. Namun belum bisa didapat gambaran yang jelas tentang apa keragaman ini dan apa dasarnya. Pemikiran George Dickie tidak bisa menjelaskan gejala ini karena ia
mempersoalkan artworld dan bukan artworlds. Pemikiran tentang keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia sampai sekarang masih mengalami kemacetan. Kegagalannya berpangkal pada pengaruh pemikiran di dunia antropologi (masa lalu) yang membangun pemahaman umum bahwa pengkajian keragaman seni dunia identik dengan pengkajian seni pad a kebudayaan -kebudayaan etnik. Kebudayaankebudayaan etnik ini "dibekukan" penelitianpenelitian antropologi (masa lalu) . Karena itu kebudayaan etnik dipahami terkurung (eksklusif) dan berada pada sebuah kondisi tetap-tanpa perubahan. Karena itu ketika pemikiran cross cultural aesthetics-salah satu perkembangan paling akhir teori seni-mencoba menerobos batasbatas di antara seni tradisional dan seni dalam tradisi Anglo-Amerika, terjadi perdebatan yang mengulang perdebatan lama. 1s Muncul kritik yang menganggap upaya pada pemikiran cross cultural aesthetics ini sebagai "kesalahan': Dalam tulisannya, "But They Don't Have Our Concept of Art'; Denis Dutton mengemukakan, Dalam wac ana tentang estetika lintas-budaya saat ini, suatu rumus yang sering diulang-ulang menyebut bahwa pemahaman seni m asyarakat lain bisa jadi sulit atau tak mungkin karena "mereka memiliki konsep seni yang berbeda dari kita" atau "mereka tak punya seni seperti yang kita pahami': Tapi apa yang dimaksud dengan "konsep seni" di sini? Satu cara untuk mendekati pertanyaan ini adalah dengan bertanya apa kontribusi [istilah] 'konsep' dalam pernyataan bahwa budaya lain memiliki "konsep seni yang berbeda dari kit a': Jika pertanyaan tersebut semata-mata menyebutkan bahwa mereka memiliki "seni yang berbeda dari kita'; tak
59
17 "The Institutional Theory of Art" George Dickie. Dalam Theo ries of Art Today . Opcit. hal. 100. 18 Dikembangkan kelompok Neo, Wittgensteinian. Wittgenstein adala h estetikus yang tidak percaya seni bisa didefinisikan karena ia melihat seni terus menerus berubah karena kondisi.
In that essay, Denis Dutton criticized, among others, Lynn M, Hart's view which maintained that the decorative paintings by the Hindu women from Uttar Pradesh, India, were also works of art- the paintings were included in the "Magiciens de la terre" exhibition at the Pompidou Center, Paris, in 1989,20 There were actually similarities in the differing views between Denis Dutton and Lynn M. Hart in seeing the traditional arts. The difference was that Hart was in effect advocating them and viewed them as works of art; while Dutton doubted that view because he saw t raditional arts as different from the art in the Anglo-American tradition.
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20 Ibid . pp .217-220. 21 About cultural trans lat ions, Homi K. Bhabha states, "The translation is a way of imitating but in a mischievous, displac ing sense-imitating an original in such a way tha t the priority of the original is no t reinforced but by the very fact that it can be simulated, co p ied , transferred, t ransfor m ed, made into a
simulacrum and so on: the 'original' is never finish ed and complete in itself. The 'origina ry' is always open to translation so that it can never be said to have a to t alized prior m oment of being or meaning - an essence:' (The interview by Jonat han Ru therford in Identity: Commun ity, Culture, Difference. Law rence & W ishart. London . 1990,)
Such similarities and differences- judgment 'and advocating-reflected the debates about the arts of the Western and non -Western worlds since the advent of orientalism, and the debates have so far prevailed. This shows how the perception about diversity within the context of world art has not really changed. The common understanding of the issue was not aware that the differences in the diversity had not been absolute. The differences had been constantly shifting because the traditions were also changing due to the internal dynamics and constant interactions with other cultures. The common understanding also failed to address the possibility of cultural translations . Homi K. Bh abha maintains that cultures are never static because there have,been constant cultural translations among cultures. Based on that belief, Homi K. Bhabha does not believe that there is one truly original culture.21 The cultural translation which had been ignored in the debates on the issue of diversity within the context of world art actually came about because the world of traditions
=?s:ated t he culture of the West. One c~:-: :ook into several examples to show the ?x':-:e. ce of such cultural translations . ,-'::..-:: the development of art in Indonesia, :.r;> '''-oc Id of traditio ns h as since the beginning 0 :' ::':-:e :Linetee nth century interpreted what ~::o .. called "art in the Western sense:' The :' -:::?:om emerged in the classic Javanese :::...: ::.:..:-c- o ne of the ethnic cultures in ::-. ::.:: c.esia, The cultural translation gave rise :: ::-.e :e m 'kagunan: which had not been ::=-:-.5 _2.:eC rom the English term of'ad but :0:"- e:: ~::om its original so urce, the Greek -;::::- : ' ~ousike techne' which underlies the :::::;:..::-. :erm of 'art: -::::'" c:lCO nter between the traditions and :"-.e . 'e -ern thinki ng was due to the efforts -:-_~':'e o~· he Dutch colonial government. In ~: 33 :.. e.- e tablished the Institute of the · ~"=-:lese la nguage, and in 1840 the institution .. ~~ . .:.:-::her developed by the Royal Academy .-. 0e:f: and Leiden University to become the · ::v2.:-.ology Institute. e ergence of such understanding of .:::: could be seen as the ingress of modern ::':-.. :- ·ing. In the nineteenth century, there were .l:-:' mber of "first moderns" who played a role .:-. :.."le modernization process in Indonesia. .-~T:ong them was the femal e thinker R.A. :. c.:-: in i who wrote on human rights; the poet :'o:-.ggowarsito who paved the way for the 2.-;anese literature to become a part of the ::-.odern literature; the romanticist Raden -::> eh (a recognized painter for the Dutch ::o~'al fam ily) who painted the Duchess of --ent (Q ueen Victoria's mother); and Douwes :::>ekker or Multatuli (a writer of Dutch origin) '.,-ho introduced the idea of demo cracy. It was ?eo ple like them who adsorbed and spread :::rnest Renan's thinking on nationalism, · \'hic h emerged in 1882 in France. It was also ?eo ple like them who made the link between
-=-:'.?
bakal ada masalah. Tambahan kata "konsep" tampaknya ingin meluaska pernyataan tersebut, seolah- olah mengatakan bahwa meski dengan tampilan yang bertentanga n [dengan pernyataan tersebut), arti seni bagi masyarakat tersebut secara radikal berbeda dari arti seni bagi kita , bahwa kita akan salah bahkan un menyebutnya 'seni: Begitu pula dengru": pernyataan bahwa "pemahaman mereka ten tang "seni" berbeda dari kita.19 n
Dalam tulisan itu Denis Dutton mengkri( antara lain pandangan Lynn M. Hart yan~ menganggap lukisan dekoratif perempu Hindu Uttar Pradesh, India, sebagai karya seni-Iukisan-Iukisan ini disertakan pada pameran Magiciens de La Terre di Pompido Center, Paris, pada 1989. 20 Pandangan berbeda di antara Denis Du o . dan Lynn M. Hart pada dasarnya punya kesamaan dalam m elihat seni tradisional. Bedanya, Hart melakukan advokasi da n menganggapnya karya seni, sementara D 0 menyangsikannya karena menganggap e tradisional tidak sama dengan seni pada rau _ Anglo-Amerika. Kesamaan dan kebedaan pendapat seperti itu-jugdement dan advocatingmencerminkan perdebatan sen i Barat dan non-Barat sejak munculnya orientalisme dan bertahan sampai sekarang. Gejala ini menandakan bahwa persepsi tentang keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia tid pernah bergeser jauh pada pemikiran seni. Pemahaman umum itu tidak menyadari ba w differences pada keragaman itu tidak absolut Differences mengalami pergeseran posisi yang terus menerus karena tradisi mengalanu perubahan yang terus menerus juga. Tradlsi mengalami perubahan dengan sendirin a
karena dinamika internal. Tradisi berubah juga karena interaksi terus-menerus dengan budaya lain. Pemahaman umum itu tidak melihat juga kemungkinan terjadinya translasi kultural. Dalam pandangan Homi K. Bhabha budaya tidak pernah berada pada kondisi tetap karen a terjadi translasi kultural yang terus menerus antarbudaya. Berdasarkan keyakinan ini Homi K. Bhabha tidak percaya ada budaya yang sesungguhnya asli. 21 Translasi kultural yang diabaikan perdebatan tentang keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia itu adalah perubahan yang terjadi karena dunia tradisi menerjemahkan budaya Barat. Beberapa contoh bisa dikaji untuk menunjukkan terjadinya translasi kultural yang diabaikan ini. Pada perkembangan seni di Indonesia, sudah pada awal abad ke-19 dunia tradisi menerjemahkan apa yang disebut Dutton sebagai art in Western sense. Gejala ini muncul pada budaya klasik Jawa-salah satu budaya etnik Indonesia . Penerjemahan budaya ini memunculkan istilah 'kagunan'. Istilah ini tidak diterjemahkan dari kata 'art' dalam Bahasa Inggris tapi dari sumber aslinya yaitu mousike techne dalam Bahasa Yunani yang mendasari pula istilah 'art: Persentuhan tradisi dengan pemikiran Barat itu terjadi karena campur tangan pemerintah kolonial Belanda. Pada 1833 pemerintah kolonial Belanda mendirikan Institut Bahasa Jawa dan pada 1840 lembaga ini dikembangkan Royal Academy di Delf dan Universitas Leiden menjadi Institut Javanologi. Munculnya pemahaman seni itu bisa dilihat pula sebagai masuknya pemikiran modern. Pada abad ke-19 tercatat beberapa first moderns yang berperan dalam proses modernisasi di Indonesia. Di antaranya,
61
19 "But They Don't Have Our Concept of Art': Denis Dutton, Dalam Theories of Art Today . Opcit ha1.217, 20 Ibid. haL217-220, 21 Tentang translasi budaya, Hommi K, Bhabha mengemukakan "The translat io n is a way of imitating but in a mischievous. displacing sense-imitating an original in such a way that priority of the original is not reinforced but by very fact that it can be simulated, copied, transferred, transformed, made into a simulacrum and so on: the 'original' is never fin ish ed and complete in itself, The 'originary' is always open to tra nslation so that it can never be said to have a totalized prior moment of being or meaning - an essence:' (Wawancara Jonatahan Rutherford dalam Identity:
Community, Culture, Difference, Lawrence & W ishart Londo n , 1990)
the modern thinking, nationalism, and the awareness about human liberty. The definition of the term 'kagunan' betrays the influence of the philosophy of aesthetics of the eighteenth century, which has then been adapted and resulted in the translation imbued with local perception. In the definition of 'kagunan: art is seen as a form of mental capacity (sense) from which the creation of works of art arises-in the form of literature, music, and visual works. With its basis firmly fixed in the Javanese philosophy, the mental capacity is linked with morality, and especially with sagacity. In the twentieth century, the understanding . has been further developed in the modern , Indonesian language. The term 'kagunan' has been transformed into the term 'seni' (which can be translated as 'ad), but the underlying philosophy remained virtually the same. As one looks into the term 'seni' using linguistic analytical tools, one can conclude that the basic understanding of art behind it still rests upon the philosophy of aesthetics.
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In Indonesia, philosophy of art and the seething debates that seek to define what art works are have led to nowhere. In general, art theories do not develop in Indonesia. Therefore, the understanding of art still rests upon the philosophy of aesthetics that is reflected in the term 'seni' and understood with the help the language. This fact makes the understanding of art that has emerged in the nineteenth century prevail-through the language-as the basis for the understanding of art today.
22 "Manifesto. The beginning of art after the end of Art" Jim Supangkat. Curatorial introduction for the exhibition of "Manifesto': National Gallery of Indonesia. Jakarta. 2008
The art understanding has been reflected in the art practices in Indonesia. In the thirties, the modern art started to take shape in Indonesia through the views of the painter Soedjojono and the poet Chairil Anwar. Although there
: a 'e been a number of influences in modern 0::...: in the "world" (the modern art paradigms), :: e: ndamental issue in the Indonesian ~odern art never shifted from the issue of ,. orality. To detach the aesthetic objects from c:': er aspects of life was never an option here, 2I'•• this made the modern art in Indonesia :-.a.cher free fro m the reliance on modernism.
perempuan pemikir R.A. Kartini yang menulis tentang hak-hak asasi manusia, penyair Ronggowarsito yang mengembangkan sastra Jawa menjadi sastra modern, romantisis Raden Saleh (pelukis Kerajaan Belanda) yang melukis Duchess of Kent (ibu Ratu Victoria), dan Douwes Dekker atau Multatuli (keturunan Belanda) yang mengenalkan pemikiran tentan_ demokrasi.
,~~ong
the history of the modern art de .'e opment in Indonesia, there has been =-'L.:..i '\,e awareness that the understanding of _ c: art is different from the understanding of ac ,ithin the Anglo-American tradition. This - :-e::1ected in the anti-West issues that have :-.e\·er ubsided. Using today's mind frame, ::'.e ami-\'<'est attitude-which emerged in the .-;eginning of the twentieth century through ;ojono's views-'could be taken as a form of iaentity politics. (Identity politics constitutes c=or to mend the erroneous view of the ·0:':- ide" world regarding the "inside" cultural :::-.2.C ·ces.) "-: bdonesia, the influence of Western thinking ~o d be sensed only in a small circle of acacemics who explicitly stated their beliefs in !.ill~ ·ersalism. From this small circle, however, 2." o\'ement arose in the seventies which mar 'ed the emergence of the contemporary art in Indonesia. The movement actually :ollowed on the anti-West attitude, but with be er concepts and took the form of anti. odernism movement. 22 ,-\.nother example that one could look into . - the development of art in China. The encounter between the traditional art forms and the Western thinking took place through a eries of similarities.
Ln the traditional Chinese culture-just like in the traditional Japanese and Korean culturesthe art of painting has been recognized for a long time and the understanding of it can
Orang-orang seperti mereka yang menyerap pikiran Ernest Renan tentang nasionalisme yang muncul pada 1882 di Prancis. Mereka pula yang menghubungkan pemikiran modem dengan nasionalisme dan kesadaran tentang kemerdekaan. Definisi istilah kagunan menunjukkan pengaruh philosophy of aesthetics abad ke-l Namun pengaruh ini diolah dan mengha . .. terjemahan yang mengandung persepsi 10k Dalam definisi kagunaMelihat istilah 'seni' melalui kajian linguistik bisa disimpulkan pemahaman seni di baliknya tetap bertump pada philosophy of aesthen, seni dipaharni sebagai kapasitas mental (kepekaan atau sense. Dalam definisi kagunan kepekaan at au sense ini ditulis merupakan sumber penciptaan karya seni-dalam bentuk karya sastra, musik, dan karya dalam bentuk visual. Bertumpu pada filsafat Jawa, kapasitas mental ini dihubungkan dengan moralitas, khususnya sagacity. Pada abad ke- 20 pemahaman itu dikembangkan pada bahasa modern (bahasa Indonesia) . Istilah 'kagunan' berubah men jadi istilah 'sent' namun pemahaman di balik i tilah baru ini tidak bergeser jauh. tics. Di Indonesia philosophy of art dan pergolakan pemikiran mencari definisi karya seni tidak pernah berkembang. Secara umum teori seni tidak berkembang di Indonesia. Karena itu pemahaman seni tetap bertumpu pada philosophy of aesthetics yang tecermin pada
istilah 'sent' dan dipahami melalui pengertian bahasa. Kenyataan ini membuat pemahaman seni yang muncul pada abad ke-19 bertahanmelalui bahasa-sebagai dasar pemahaman seni di Indonesia sampai sekarang. Pemahaman seni itu tecermin pad a perkembangan praktek seni di Indonesia. Pada 1930-an seni modern muncul di Indonesia melalui pandangan-pandangan pelukis Soedjojono dan penyair Chairil Anwar. Kendati tampil berbagai pengaruh seni modern "dunia" (paradigma-paradigma seni modern), persoalan mendasar pada seni modern Indonesia ini tidak pernah bergeser dari moralitas. Memisahkan obyek estetik dari persoalan lain dalam kehidupan tidak pernah dipahami pada perkembangan ini dan ini membuat seni modern Indonesia tidak bertumpu pada modernisme. 63
Sepanjang perkembangan seni modern itu ada kesadaran intuitif bahwa pemahaman seni itu berbeda dengan pemahaman seni pada tradisi Anglo-Amerika. Ini tecermin pada isu antiBarat yang tidak pernah surut pada seluruh perkembangan seni modern di Indonesia. Melihatnya dengan kacamata sekarang, sikap anti-Barat ini-muncul pada awal abad ke20 melalui pikiran-pikiran Soedjojono-bisa dilihat sebagai politik identitas walau tidak disadari. 22 Di Indonesia, pengaruh pemikiran Barat muncul hanya di lingkaran kecil akademisi yang secara eksplisit menyatakan percaya pada universalisme. Namun dari lingkaran kecil ini muncul gerakan pemberontakan pada 1970-an yang menandai kemunculan seni kontemporer di Indonesia. Gerakan ini sebenarnya meneruskan sikap anti-Barat namun dengan lebih terkonsep dalam bentuk anti-modernisme.23 Contoh lain yang bisa dikaji adalah perkembangan seni di China. Persentuhan seni
22 Politik ide ntitas adalah upaya meluruskan pandangan yang salah pada "outside" world tentang "inside" cultural practices. 23 "Manifesto. The beginni ng of art after the end of Art" Jim Supangkat. Pengantar kuratorial Pameran Manifesto National Gallery of Indonesia. Jakarta 2008.
be taken as similar to the understanding of painting within the concept of fine arts (High Arts). The traditional Chinese culture also recognizes the philosophy of aesthetics and philosophy of art, albeit naturally in distinct forms. Like in the Anglo-American tradition, the focus was on the art of painting.23 With such similarities, the encounter between the Chinese art tradition and the Western thinking gave rise to further development in painting.
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The traditional Chinese culture recognizes the principles of painting realistically-a symptom which is rarely found in any other traditional art. One could already see this in the views expounded by the philosopher Gu Yanwu of the Ming dynasty (in the seventeenth century), who believed that the strength of (traditional Chinese) painting was in copying the appearance of the object through the effort of becoming one with the object. The theory referred to the arduous practice of painting. A painter must truly recognize the reality (i.e. the aesthetic object) through long contemplation instead of through rational observations. The painter must then try again and again before arriving at a realistic, expressive sketch that reflected the result of his or her efforts to become one with the object.
23 Traditional Chinese paintings are a combination between the art of painting and literature. The paintings. therefore. are invariably acco mpanied by poems.
Meanwhile, Western realistic painting made their mark in China during the Qing Dynasty in the nineteenth century along with the ingress of the modern thinkingthe modernization efforts in China began during the reign of the Qing Dynasty. By the nineteenth century, realistic painting has developed and been taught widely in China, albeit not as a form of art. It functioned as a means of documentation prior to the development of photography and grew in parallel with the efforts to understand the material world. It was only in the beginning of the twentieth century that it became an artistic issue.
~rou p
tradisional ini dengan pemikiran seni Barat terjadi melalui sejumlah persamaan.
~~
Pada budaya tradisional China-seperti halnya budaya tradisional Jepang dan Korea- seni lukis dikenal dan pemahamannya bisa didekatkan dengan pemahaman ten tang seni lukis pada konsep fine arts (High Arts). Philosophy of aesthetics dan philosophy of art dikenal pula pada kebudayaan tradisional China walau tentu dalam bentuk berbeda. Seperti pada tradisi Anglo-Amerika, seni lukis diutamakan. 24 Kesamaan ini membua persentuhan tradisi seni China dengan pemikiran seni Barat memunculkan perkembangan seni lukis.
n the beginning of the twentieth century, a of Chinese painters and intellectuals hought that the traditional Chinese painting ,'as in decline. The painters no longer went :hrough the long and arduous process of :r~'ing to become one with the objects that :hey \\'ished to paint. Instead, they took a hort cut by copying or repeating works by the old masters, which had been the result of the iaborio us process. The images produced were al most the same, but the copycat paintings :::.erely present superficial beauty because :he:' had not been based on a long process of co n emplation. uch a condition, Western painting, which ad bee n known since the nineteenth century, wa alluring as it involved quite laborious techniques to create realistic images. There ',':a thus the idea to adopt the Western concept of realistic painting to replace the declining Chinese concept of realistic painting. . 1918, two influential painters from the - hanghai Art Academy, Xu Beihong and Liu Haishu, wrote essays about the need to refor m the traditional Chinese painting. Xu 3eihong, who studied realistic painting in ?rance, combined the principles of Western ~ain t i ng with the contemplative process m the traditional Chinese painting. Xu Beihong maintained that the methods and :echniques of realistic painting were not merely about copying reality as it might appear in the tradition of Western realistic painting. .\ccuracy and thoroughness in realistic painting contained the contemplative process. uch painting technique must be viewed as a language of expression. Xu Beihong's views contained aesthetic principles as well as the princ iples of painting and could therefore be taken as on a par with the views in the philosophy of aesthetics as well as with the philosophy of art within the Anglo-American tradition.
Pada budaya tradisional China, di kenal pri ".? melukis secara realistik-hal yang jaran", ' t: ditemukan pada seni tradisiona l manapu Tecermin pada pandangan filsuf Dinasti . ~ -.~ Gu Yanwu (abad ke-17), yang berpenda?c.keutamaan lukisan (tradisional China) ad a.~ menyalin penampllan obyek yang dilak '2.:-: melalui penghayatan. Teori itu menunjuk praktek mel ukis yang e r :: dan sulit. Seorang pelukis harus sesungg Lr:-' 2mengenal suatu kenyataan (obyek estetLk melalui kontemplasi dan bukan obsen'a j rasional. Ia kemudian harus melakuka n percobaan berulang-ulang untuk sampai pada sketsa ekspresif yang realistik, yang mencerminkan hasil penghayatannya , Sementara itu seni lukis realistik Barat ma __ ke China pada Dinasti Qing pada abad ke-: ~ bersama pemikiran modern-moderni a China berawal pada Dinasti Qing ini. .\ 1a 'a pada abad ke-19 seni lukis realisti k sudah berkembang dan diajarkan secara luas di China. Namun seni lukis ini belum di kai 'a:: dengan seni. Seni lukis ini berfungsi sebagaJ pelengkap dokumentasi sebelum fotogra masuk dan berkembang paralel dengan upa' ' 2.
memahami dunia material. Baru pada awal abad ke-20 seni lukis ini menjadi persoalan seni. Pada awal abad ke-20 itu sekelompok pelukis dan intelektual China menilai seni lukis tradisional China mengalami kemerosotan. Para pelukis tidak lagi melibatkan proses penghayatan-yang membutuhkan waktu lama-untuk menghasilkan karya-karya mereka. Para pelukis menempuh jalan pintas dengan cara menyalin atau mengulang-ulang lukisan para suhu seni lukis yang merupakan hasil penghayatan. Gambaran yang dihasilkan nyaris sarna namun lukisan yang meniru cuma memperlihatkan keindahan permukaan karena tidak didasarkan kontemplasi. Menghadapi keadaan itu seni lukis Barat yang sudah berkembang pada abad ke19 menarik perhatian karen a melibatkan teknik melukis ya ng cukup rumit untuk menghasilkan gambaran realistik. Muncul gaga san mengadaptasi konsep mel uk is realistik Barat ini untuk menggantikan konsep mel uk is realistik tradisional China yang sedang merosot. Pada 1918 dua pelukis berpengaruh dari Akademi Seni Shanghai, Xu Beihong dan Liu Haishu, menurunkan tulisan-tulisan tentang perlunya reformasi seni lukis tradisional China. Xu Beihong yang belajar seni lukis realistik di Prancis menggabungkan prinsipprinsip mel uk is realistik Barat dengan proses penghayatan pada seni lukis tradisional. China. Xu Beihong mengemukakan, metode dan teknik melukis realistik bukan cuma menyalin kenyataan seperti pada seni lukis realistik Barat. Akurasi dan kecermatan dalam melukis secara realistik mengandung proses penghayatan. Teknik melukis ini harus dilihat sebagai bahasa ungkapan. Pandangan Xu Beihong ini mengandung prinsip estetik dan sekaligus prinsip melukis karena itu bisa
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24 Seni lukis tradisional Chi na merupakan penggabungan seni lukis dan seni sastra. Karena itu, lukisan selalu d ilengkapi syai r.
The strength of Xu Beihong's and Liu Haishu's arguments formed the aesthetic framework for Chinese painting, in which realistic painting served as the main idiom to recognize one's sensitivity and provided the path to explore the language of expression-which might very well evolve into paths other than that of the realistic tendency, Therefore, all signs along the development of Chinese painting-even until today-can always be traced back to the principle of 'realism' and 'realistic painting: When a number of painters returned from overseas in the thirties and brought along the influence of modern art especially impressionism, the development of their works still rested upon that aesthetic principle, Their impressionistic works had been developed from realistic painting and their views did not fully follow on the views of impressionism because it still betrayed traces of "Chinese realism" (Le. the understanding of reality through contemplation) .
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24 The source for th is analysis is the position paper by Cao Tai, the curator of the Guangdong Museum, '1\rt Journey on Realism in China in 20'" Century'; prese nted in the seminar of "Realism in Asia" at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea, 2007. 25 "Chinese Oil Painting- Past and Present :' Shui Tianzho ng. Essay in Guo Runwen. Shui Tianzhong [ed.l . Jilin Publishi ng House. C hangchun. 2008.pp.1431.
Still in the beginning of the twentieth century, the painters Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and Cai Yuanpe who had studied abroad also confirmed Xu Beihong's and Liu Haishu's views. They formed the New Culture Movement and proclaimed that realistic painting was necessary for the development of rational thinking and the understanding of modern science. This event signified how the reformation of Chinese painting on one hand constituted the development of the traditional painting and on the other hand the sign of the emergence Df Chinese modern art. The aesthetic concept of realistic painting had stabilized when the renowned author Lu Shun introduced Marxist art in 1928 and in 1930 the Chinese Communist Party promoted realistic painting on the basis of social realism. Therefore, the assumption that the realistic painting in China had developed truly due to social realism (spurred by the formal
~
-:- ct ion from Mao Zedong in 1964) was
-.0: correct. Although in 1965 - 1975 realistic \\'as fully subsumed under political :-'::e- and regulations-especially after the C..:::ural Revolution (1966 - 1976)-realistic _ 2:"!: ing \\'as a part of the Chinese painting :::e 'elopment th at rested upon the theories ~ _ : 'O\\'n by Xu Beihong and Liu Haishu. :::'e::. dur ing the Cultural Revolution, the :::2.::5 ic painting-which revealed the graphic 5' ~? :om of the traditional painting-still :<e: :-a.-ed signs of aesthetic developments. 24 ?2.~ ~ting
: ....:':er 19 O- after China's Open Door -;. .. c: \ 'as strengthening-the signs of the .:.e"e:opment that had been laid hidden during :,,:"..: ;)eriod of the Cultural Revolution came to :"-,e - rface , Shui Tianzhong wrote thus, Traditio nal Chinese painting originally possesses expressiveness. The highest e\'el of the artist's painting is to contain he ideal of concept in images, which li nks the philosophy of modern Chinese art ists with expressionism. Chinese oil painters started to change realis m to expressionism in 1980. At the beginning, it is the resistance to exoteric realistic style that obstructed the painter's personalities and deluged in painting realm, but quickly, it penetrated into extensive areas. [.. .). In 1990, two tendencies ~ppeared in Chi nese expressive paintings, which I \\'ould like to call "letting brush free" and "singing for life while crying:' The former is similar to French expressionism that seeks for new and free painting style to release personal emotional passions, while the latter is similar to German expressionism that unscrupulously reveals chaos and darkness of reality.25
disejajarkan dengan pandangan -p andangan pada philosophy of aesthetics m aupu n pada philosophy of art pada tradisi Anglo -Ameri!'a, Kekuatan pandangan Xu Beihong dan Li Haishu itu membentuk bingkai estetik seni lukis China. Pada bingkai estetik in i melukis realistik merupakan idiom uta ma untuk mengenal kepekaan (sensitivity) dan merupakan alur untuk m engembangkan bahasa ungkapan-bisa berkembang ke arah yang tidak realistik . Karena itu semua tanda pada perkembangan seni lukis C hina - ba 'ar. sampai sekarang- selalu b isa dikembali 'a -e prinsip 'realisme' dan 'seni lukis realistik: Ketika sejumlah pelukis kem bali dar i luar negeri pada 1930-an dan membawa pengar seni m o dern, khususnya impresion isme, perkembangan karya-karya m ereka tetap bertumpu pada dasar estetik itu. Karyakarya impresionistik m ereka m erupakan pengembangan sen i lukis realistik dan pandangan mereka tidak sep enuhnya m engikuti paham im presionisme karen a memperlihatkan gejala 'realisme China' (pemahaman realitas mel alu i kontemplasi . Masih pada awal abad 20 pelu kis-peluki s Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, dan Cai Yua pe yang belajar di luar negeri secara paralel me ngukuhkan pandangan Xu Bei hong dan Liu Haishu. Mereka m e mbentuk Ne w CU!:W'e Mo vement dan menyatakan seni lukis reali -" d iperlukan untuk m e ngembangkan pemikirar'.. rasion al dan pemahaman ilm u pengetahua modern. Tanda ini m embuat refor masi seni lukis China d i satu sisi m erupakan perkembangan seni lukis tradisio n al, di sisi lain merupakan t anda munculnya se n i mode ~ ;-: C hina.
pada 1928 dan pada 1930 Partai Komunis China mempromosikan seni lukis realistik berdasarkan realisme sosial. Karena itu tidak benar sangkaan bahwa seni lukis realistik di China berkembang sepenuhnya karena realisme sosial (muncul melalui instruksi resmi Mao Zedong pada 1964). Kendati antara 1965 - 1975 seni lukis realistik ini tunduk sepenuhnya pada ketentuanketentuan politik-khususnya setelah Revolusi Kebudayaan (1966 -1976)-seni lukis realistik ini merupakan bagian dari perkembangan seni lukis China yang bertumpu pada teori-teori Xu Beihong dan Liu Haishu. Bahkan pada masa Revolusi Kebudayaan, seni lukis realistik iniyang memperlihatkan gejala grafis seni lukis tradisional- tetap memperlihatkan tandatanda perkembangan estetik. 25 Sesudah 1980-setelah politil< buka pintu China semakin jelas-tanda-tanda perkembangan yang tenggelam pada masa Revolusi Kebudayaan, muncul ke permukaan. Tentang ini Shui Tianzhong menulis,
Lukisan China tradisional aslinya mengandung ekspresi. Tingkat tertinggi lukisan seorang seniman adalah bila ia mengandung yang ideal dari suatu konsep dalam imaji-imaji, yang menghubungkan filsafat seniman China modern dengan ekspresionisme. Para pelukis cat minyak China mulai menggantikan realisme menjadi ekspresionisme pada 1980. Pada awalnya, resistansi gaya realistik yang eksoteris yang menghambat kepribadian sang pelukis dan membanjiri dunia lukisan, tapi dengan segera ia menembus wilayah yang luas.
[... ) Konsep estetik seni lukis realist ik itu sudah stabil ketika sastraw an terkemuka Lu Shun memperkenalkan seni Marxis
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Pada 1990, dua kecenderungan muncul dalam lukisan-lukisan ekspresif China,
25 Sumber analisis ini, "Art Journey on Realism in Chi na in 20'" Century:' Position pdp er Cao Tai, kurator Guangdong Museum pada seminar. "Realism in Asia': Natioanal Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul. Korea. 2007.
From the two examples in the development of art, one can analyze the latent misunderstanding that has brought the effort to understand diversity within the context of the world art to a gridloclc 26 The two examples show symptoms of cultural translation, in which the understanding of art that underlies it is no longer fully the art in the mind frame of the tradition. This understanding of art contains-following Dutton-the understanding of art in the Western sense,
examples about the Asian art "; e'.-elop me nt actually showed that the ~. ---:-:pto m of "art with an accent" (in terms of ::-:12 nde rstanding and practices of art) had 2.c~all:· emerged since the nineteenth century, a:-:d ::1 the twentieth century it was even called :-.oc.ern art: _. 12
'-0
1
-=--.12 :-:1odernist misidentification viewed it as
_ ?2.:-: of a homogeneous modern art in the
'o:"_d nd preve nted it from being analyzed help us understand about the issue :' c.>er ity "'ithin the context of the world art. -::-:-.e 2..:1~y- e s of diversity then always returned : : . . . e :orm of traditional art that were seen _~ : : .. : -;mre;' like the decorative paintings :r-:-_ ,_:,Tar Pradesh which Lynn M. Hart has :::E..-:-::::.ed. This is thus the root of the deadlock.
yang ingin saya sebut "membebaskar kuas" dan "menyanyi untuk hidup seraya menangis': Yang pertama miri dengan ekspresionisme Prancis yang: mencari gaya lukisan yang bebas dan baru guna membebaskan has rathas rat emosi yang pribad i, se me n yang belakangan serupa dengan ekspresionisme Jerman yang denoan lepas mengungkapkan khaos dan kegelapan kenyataan.26
~ -.:.:-:::er : 0
The "art in the Western sense" in the two streams of development can be viewed as analogous to the development of English. There was actually no significant reason why English has become an international language. Any language had actually the same possibility .to become an international language. History, however, had sided with English and today the effort to question it would be futile. Today the English language has been entrenched in the structure of the communication in the international world.
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As a means of communication in the international world, however, English is no longer purely "English': In many international forums, the English used is English with a variety of accents. The accents do not refer merely to peculiar intonation and pronunciation, but also to various "idiomatic mistakes" that betray the logic of other languages in the use of the international language of English.
26 1he analys is can be categorized as a form of ident ity politics that today has been considered as no lo nger releva nt. Identity politics, however, has the potentials to be developed into a fo rm of "multicultural studies" to help us understand the world art today. 27 "Art with an Accent:' Jim Supangkat. Curatorial introduction to the CP Open Biennale in 2003. National Gallery of Indo nesia. Jakarta.
ConSidering this analogy, the understanding of art in the two distinct streams of development in Asia can be viewed as "art with an accent:'27 This "art with an accent" reflects the diversity in the context of the world art. The issue of "art with an accent" can be brought closer to the views expounded by George Dickie. While Dickie looked into the artworld (singular), the issue of "art with an accent" is related to the artworlds (plural).
The reconci1iation of the world art :.::-: :::e he p of t he issue of 'art with _. . . .::.cc ::.< o ne can see better how the c :-. : e~?orary art emerged in Asia without .... 0 -::-:g any traces of the anti-art symptom. ::- ::'_ t.: e (\,'0 distinct streams of development .::.::a."zed pre\-iously in this essay, one can see ''''hy the anti-art symptom has not been _;-:ders oo d in Asia, and people did not even :-ea:ize it. mo dern art that has evolved in the two 5:reams of development previously analyzed :5 e mo dern art with a peculiar position, _5 it does not rest upon the principles of ::1o de rnis m. The peculiar position of modern 2.:-: a:fected the position of the contemporary 2.:-:, which is understood as arising from the m odernism - postmodernism tension. The limitation in understanding modernism in its cultural context along with the underlying understanding of art (the understanding of art within the frame of the fine art concept) consequently imposes certain limits in -::-:.... 12
Dari kedua contoh perkembangan itu bisa dikaji kesalahpahaman tersembunyi yang memacetkan upaya memahami keraga a dengan konteks seni duniaY Kedua con 0 perkembangan menunjukkan gejala ransl3 budaya, yaitu pemahaman seni yang mendasarinya bukan lagi sepenu hnya se r": dalam bingkai tradisi. Pemahaman se ni i . mengandung-mengikuti istilah Dutto - ar.:
definisi yang disebutkan dalam kamus. Aksen ini menyangkut pula berbagai "kesalahan idiomatik" penggunaan bahasa Inggris yang menunjukkan logika bahasa lain dalam penggunaan bahasa internasional ini. Menimbang analogi itu pemahaman seni pada kedua perkembangan di Asia bisa dilihat sebagai 'art with an accent' -seni dengan suatu aksen.28 'Art with an accent' ini mencerminkan keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia. Permasalahan 'art with an accent' itu bisa didekatkan dengan pikiran George Dickie. Bila Dickie mempersoalkan 'artworld' (singular) permasalahan 'art with an accent' berkaitan dengan 'artworlds' (plural). Kedua contoh perkembangan di Asia itu menunjukkan pula gejala 'art with an accent' (pemahaman dan praktek seni) sebenarnya sudah berkembang sejak abad ke-19. Pada abad ke- 20 bahkan disebut seni modern.
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in Western sense. Art in Western sense pada kedua perkembangan itu bisa dianal ogkan denga. bahasa Inggris . Sebenarnya tidak ada alas2.r. signifikan mengapa bahasa Inggris m enja bahasa internasional. Bahasa apa pu n sebenarnya punya peluang sama untuk bahasa internasional. Namun sejarah tern -- 2 berpihak pada bahasa Inggris dan sekarar.= ini sudah tidak ada gunanya m empe rsoalka:: mengapa bahasa Inggris yang terpilih me ·2.C bahasa internasional. Pada kenyataan se 'ara:-: E bahasa ini sudah terstruktur dalam ko murlli 'as~ dunia internasional. Akan tetapi sebagai bahasa komunikasi di dunia internasional, bahasa Inggris tidak lag: sepenuhnya "bahasa lnggris': Dalam foru m internasional, bahasa Inggris yang digu na '3:1 adalah bahasa Inggris dengan berbagai ak e, . Aksen ini tidak hanya menunjuk into nasi da pengucapan yang janggal, kendati begi tulah
Kesalahan identifikasi pemikiran modern melihatnya sebagai bagian seni modern dunia yang seragam membuat gejala itu tidak pernah ditoleh untuk mengkaji keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia. Pengkajian keragaman selalu kembali ke seni tradisional yang diyakini masih "murn!" seperrti lukisan dekoratif Uttar Pradesh yang diamati Lynn M. Hart. Inilah pangkal kemacetan.
RekonsiJiasi seni duma Melalui permasalahan art with an accent bisa dilihat lebih jelas mengapa muncul seni kontemporer di Asia yang tidak memperlihatkan gejala anti-art. Dari kedua contoh perkembangan di Asia bisa dilihat mengapa gejala anti-art ini tidak dipahami di Asia, bahkan tidak disadari. Seni modern yang berkembang pada kedua contoh perkembangan itu adalah seni
26 "Chinese O il PaintingPast and Present:' Shui Tianzhong. Esei dalam Guo Runwen. Shui Tianzhong [ed. ]. Jilin Publishing House. Changchun. 2008.haI.14-3 1. 27 Analisis ini bisa dikategorikan politik identitas yang sekarang ini sudah dianggap tidak re levan dib icarakan. Poli tik identitasi ni punya peluang dikembangkan menjadi "multicultural studies" untuk memahami sen i dunia sekarang ini. 28 ''Art with an Accent" Jim Supangkat. Pengantar kurator ial CP Open Biennale 2003. National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta .
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understanding the anti-art symptoms that arose from the modernism - postmodernism tension. Outside the Anglo-American tradition of art as shown by the two examples of the streams of development in Asia, there has been a sense of continuity within the tradition of art.
_- :::'e:--:anciing of art outside the Anglo- -:-::::- ca:! : radition exist within the realm of r: :_-:.:-:>::;g. If the tradition of art is said to ::: ..;.::c i: final stage in the contemporary -: • - c:-e will be no further space for us to __ ::: :. :-. ::-:: - understanding of art.
To put it shortly, the contemporary art has two dimensions of problems, one of them being the tension between modernism and postmodernism, reflecting the significant change within the tradition of the AngloAmerican thinking. Seen from the cultural perspective, the issue of the contemporary art has thus no universal dimension. The two examples show us that it is not easy to position the issue within the underlying history of culture(s). In this dimension, therefore, the relationship between the contemporary art and the development of art outside the AngloAmerican tradition is vague.
=_r::- e. :::o,e. the world art can very well be
The link between the contemporary art and the development of art outside the Anglo-American tradition lies in the similar approach in questioning the mistake of the modern thinking that sees the world art as homogenous-a stance that has given rise to symptoms of marginalization. The central issue in this dimension is the reconciliation of the world art that depends on the understanding of diversity within the context of the world art. The problem of 'art with an accent' shows that one can comprehend such diversity by analyzing the understanding of art outside the Anglo-American traditions that reveals signs of commonality as well as differences. The two dimensions of problems reveal the paradox that takes place after the five decades of development of the contemporary art. If the anti-art symptoms of the first dimension grow to become a paradigm, then the reconciliation of the world art of the latter dimension will become a closed case. The analyses on the
=- .. e-.:ec. .. n the actual sense of the word. - - e::':: .:S ciewlopment in Asia-with the . ::-.~:. er: .!1g infrastructure-might well ___ :::: :. ::>: mct forum if the analysis on the _:-5.:-' " "::: .:n the Asian scope leads us to ; -.. ::(2. . . : SImilarity.
:
-:---:: :-:-e":'c'on, however, is too gloomy. There . _ :~. ""'":2.. ,. oppo rtunities for reconciliation - _ ~5_ dyn amics in the Anglo-American -: -:: :-:e5 till go on. There has been a kind . :- :-::-:2.:~on in \\"hich the long history of :.:-- .-. ~ a "'"ork of art as an aesthetic object-:: -::-.!: :: de:ached from all other aspects of .~-:~ :.' 2.i":coned. Through this reformation, • :::::: ::.op:::ent of the Anglo-American art :.- :- e:: ::-:~g t actually create the basis for -:::-:-:-:- :-ar ' art development, and even give -:. :. ?:2. -~orm on which we can analyze the - :::-5: . '. -' :lin the context of the world art.
modern yang punya posisi janggal dalam pemahaman sekarang, karen a seni m odern ini tidak bertumpu pada modernisme. Posisi seni modern yang janggal ini berpengaruh pada posisi seni kontemporer yang dipaham i muncul dari tegangan modernism epostmodernisme. Keterbatasan memaham i modernisme secara kultural dan pe mahama n seni yang mendasarinya (pemaham an pada konsep fine arts) tentunya berdampak pada keterbatasan memahami gejala anti-art yang muncul dari tegangan modernismepostmodernisme. Di luar tradisi Anglo American seperti diperlihatkan kedua contoh perkembangan di Asia, tradisi seni memperlihatkan kontinuitas , dan ini berlangsung sampai kini.
::,e
-:--- c _:~:: -
- :.~:: · :-::-
0:: change have made their mark
2_g~. · :es,
when there were three "2~sia: is ues that everyone in the - r.~ '.,"a talking about. They were: the -.;;: -_:.o::al theory of art by George Dickie; - -:.- C:. -0 :ne s" theo ry by Arthur Danto; and · :: --eO- - of'\dtho ut theory" by M o rris ::.::: ',"; 0 continued the Wittgenstenian -- . - ":- ;,: c:aimed how art could not be - -;- :-.2G. ::-,om these controversies, a certain - --:-:::2.. ding was formed claiming that art _ - u.- 0 en concept and therefore could not -:: -",': -ed. Its value could only be determined ~;- -he dynamics in the art world that are •. ::.:ec. :0 the dynamics of the culture in the
Bila diringkas, seni kontemporer bisa dilihat mempunyai dua dimensi persoa la Tegangan modernisme- postmodernisme itu salah satunya dan dimensi pe rsoalan ini mencerminkan perubahan besar pada tradisi pemikiran Anglo-Amerika. Dari sisi budaya dimensi persoalan seni kontemporer ini bukan gejala yang bersifat universal. Pada kedua contoh perkembangan di Asia bisa dilihat tidak mudah menemukan posisi persoalan ini pada history of culture(s) yang menjadi latar belakangnya. Maka pada dimensi persoalan ini, kaitan seni kontemporer dengan perkembangan seni di luar tradisi AngloAmerika bisa dikatakan sangat kabu r.
seni dunia ini bisa dipahami dengan mengkaji pemahaman seni di luar tradisi Anglo-Amerika yang memperlihatkan commonality dan sekaligus differences Kedua dimensi persoalan itu menampilkan paradoks setelah seni kontemporer berkembang selama lima dekade. Bila gejala anti-art pada dimensi persoalan yang satu menjadi paradigma, maka rekonsiliasi seni dunia pada dimensi persoalan yang lainnya akan menjadi closed case. Pengkajian pemahaman seni di luar tradisi AngloAmerican berada di wilayah pemikiran seni. Bila tradisi seni dinyatakan berhenti pada seni kontemporer, tidak ada ruang lagi untuk mempersoalkan pemahaman seni ini. Kemudian, seni dunia sangat mungkin akan terfragmentasi dalam pengertian sebenarnya. Paling tidak perkembangannya di Asiadengan perkembangan infrastrukturnya yang semakin kuat-mungkin saja membentuk forum sendiri bila kajian keragaman di lingkungan Asia ternyata menunjukkan kesamaan signifikan.
L
Ikatan seni kontemporer dengan perkembangan seni di luar tradisi Anglo Amerika terletak pada kesamaan dala m mempersoalkan kesalahan pemikiran modern menfasirkan seni dunia yang seragam-memunculkan marginalisasi. Isu sentral pada dimensi persoalan in i adalah rekonsiliasi seni dunia yang bergantung pada pemahaman keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia. Permasalahan 'art with an accent' menunjukkan keragaman dengan konteks
Akan tetapi prediksi itu terlalu gelap. Peluang rekonsiliasi masih terbuka lebar karena percaturan teori seni AngloAmerika ternyata masih berkembang. Terjadi semacam reformasi di mana tradisi panjang mendefinisikan karya seni sebagai obyek estetik-yang telepas dari persoalan lain-ditinggalkan. Melalui reformasi ini perkembangan teori-teori seni Anglo-Amerika sangat mungkin mendasari perkembangan seni kontemporer bahkan memunculkan platform untuk mengkaji keragaman dengan konteks seni dunia. Tanda-tanda perubahan itu sudah muncul pada dekade 1980-an ketika tiga isu kontroversial ramai dibicarakan. Ketiganya, Institutional theory of art George Dickie, teori 'aboutness' Arthur Danto, dan teori
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By mediating such thinking, a certain arbitrary understanding was formed seeing art as a cultural practice. Noel Caroll wrote about this:
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Our view-of art as cultural practiceattempts to negotiate through the pitfalls in previous theorizing. It does not foreclose artistic innovation while it does attend to the generative processes through which objects enter the realm of art. In some ways it resembles the institutional approach; however, it does not claim that art is an institution but only makes the less ambitious observation that it is a cultural practice. Also, it regards the question of whether an object is art as one internal to the cultural practice of the artworld and goes on to discuss the coherence of the practice. 28 With such changes, art theories in the Anglo-American tradition acquire a new structure. All the analyses and the theoretical explanations-the philosophy of aesthetics, the narrative of the history of art, and the philosophy of art-are no longer bounded to a structure of science that pursues grand conclusions. Realizing that art, like every thing else in life, is not a monolithic symptom but instead is a plural one, all the theories and analyses can be seen as entering layers of reality that was previously seen as having only a single substance. It is undeniable that the richness in the
28 Noel CarolL Beyond Aesthetics. Opcit. pp. 65-66. 29 Opcit. pp. 218 - 225
philosophy of art and the narratives of the art history, whether simultaneously or in part, in the form of agreement or in disputes, also affects the understanding of art today. Therefore, this array of streams of thinking (through decoding) can function separately in art criticism or practices as each is no longer bounded within a grand structure.
ar 'st's innovations, which the modern viewed as related to paradigms (or :"-.e ;-rns) of the art history, can now be seen as "-: e..x:ploration of an autonomous language of -" . res ion, because the artist also employs his 0 :- ::er intuition besides following the ideology :- :-ms). Therefore, the innovations reflect ::: e enrichment process of the language of expression. Considering this fact, there is not ~.'; reason why the conventional media of ex:pression should be separated from the media 0:' expression of the contemporary art, which 2.Ie often called the new media.
'tanpa teori' Morris Weitz yang meneruskan pandangan Wittgenstein bahwa seni tidak bisa didefinisikan. Dari kontroversi ini berkembang pemahaman bahwa seni adalah konsep terbuka dan karena itu tidak bisa didefinisikan. Kadar nilainya baru bisa ditentukan setelah melalui percaturan artworld yang berkaitan dengan berbagai dinamika budaya pada masyarakat. Dari mediasi pemikiran-pemikiran semacam itu berkembang pemahaman arbitrer yang melihat seni sebagai praktek budaya (art as cultural practice). Tentang ini Noel Caroll menulis,
3ecause it is no longer focused on the visual aes- etic object, the reformation of the AngloA.: .. erican thinking raises the philosophy 0: ae thetics to the surface after it has been o 'e:- hadowed by the philosophy of art within :"-C' ":evelopment of modern art.
Pandangan kita-tentang seni sebagai praktik kultural-berusaha bernegosiasi melewati jebakan-jebakan dalam teori-teori yang lalu. Ia tidak menutup kemungkinan bagi inO\ asi artistik sementara memperhatikan proses- proses generatif yang dilalui obyek-obyek untuk memasuki dunia seni. Dalam beberapa hal, ia mirip pendekatan institusional; namun, ia tidak mendaku bahwa seni adalah suatu lembaga, melainkan hanya mengemukaan pandangan yang tak terlampau ambisius, bahwa seni adalah praktik budaya. Juga, ia memandang pertanyaan apakah suatu obyek merupakan seni sebagai hal yang berada dalam praktik budaya dunia seni dan kemudian mendiskusikan koherensi praktik tersebut. 29
~~e
:..~ujng
:.- :.."-:is stream of thinking there have been -::= ~ - 0 explore again the Greek aesthetic ::: -..:. , g, and thus the belief about the :-",'- ' 0 ship between art and morality came -;;. _':0 the fore. Plato had once considered . ':-' a: - e narratives in the drama and poetry 2. • ..:. y were; so powerful they were in stirring _=- :..'-1e emotions among the public. Plato was -2....,,":; about the possibility that the "moral" .e·...-s presented in the narratives might ::._ ..2.;"."e the moral view of the public. Plato considered that the "power" of art was :::.a.'se ous for the balance of morality.29
:..--= ~-.e
e::lergence of the analysis on the :-ca'o hip between art and morality in the =- ~ '0 ophy of aesthetics has been inextricable ::-0::1 the tendency of the contemporary art in :-2..:5:ng the problems of life, consisting of the _- . cultural, and even political problems . _- ~ Caroll sees morality in this development 2.: c. ' oderate moralism: According to C~o:". e common values of the moderate :--: :-a:ism give rise to common emotions,
Dengan perubahan-perubahan itu pemikiran teori seni pada tradisi Anglo-American mendapat struktur baru. Semua pangkajian dan pemikiran teori-filsafat estetik, narasi sejarah seni, dan filsafat seni-tidak lagi terikat pada sebuah struktur pengetahuan yang memburu kesimpulan-kesimpulan besar. Menyadari bahwa seni, seperti semua hal dalam kehidupan, merupakan gejala plural semua teori dan pemikiran ini bisa dilihat
memasuki lapisan-Iapisan realitas yang pada keyakinan dulu dipercaya cuma punya satu substansi. Kekayaan pemikiran filsafat seni dan narasi sejarah seni, secara bersama-sama atau sebagian-sebagian, dalam bentuk kesepakatan maupun pertentangan, tidak bisa disangkal punya pengaruh pada pemahaman seni sekarang kini. Karena itu kekayaan pemikiran ini (melalui decoding) bisa berfungsi secara terlepas-Iepas dalam kritik seni maupun praktek seni karen a tidak terikat lagi pada sebuah struktur besar. Inovasi seniman, yang pada pemikiran modern terkait paradigma-paradigma (ismeisme) narasi sejarah seni, bisa dilihat sebagai eksplorasi bahasa ungkapan yang otonom karena seniman menggunakan pula intuisinya pada eksplorasi ini di samping mengikuti ideologi isme. Karena itu inovasi-inovasi ini mencerminkan proses pengayaan bahasa ungkapan. Melihat kenyataan ini tidak ada alasan untuk memisahkan media ungkapan yang konvensional dari media-media ungkapan seni kontemporer yang sering disebut sebagai media-media baru.
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Karena tidak terkonsentrasi lagi pada obyek estetik yang bersifat visual, reformasi pemikiran seni Anglo-American memunculkan filsafat estetik ke permukaan setelah tergeser fisafat seni pada perkembangan seni modern. Pemikiran ini lebih menjelajahi struktur penciptaan karya seni daripada mengkaji karya seninya. Pada alur pemikiran itu terjadi penggalian kembali pemikiran-pemikiran estetik Yunani. Dari penjelajahan ini muncul kembali kepercayaan tentang hubungan seni dengan moralitas. Plato suatu ketika memikirkan apa sebenarnya narasi pada drama dan puisi karena
29 Noel Caroll. Beyond Aesthetics. Opcit. Hal 65·66.
which Caroll calls "garden variety emotions;' such as anger, hope, fear, and sadness. Caroll sees such emotions as the basic problems in art communication as they resurface whether in the creation of narrative art as well as in observing the narratives in the art works. As if responding to Plato, Caroll maintains that such emotions have been the content of the simulation that are triggered during the process of identification as the artist stands face to face with reality, or when the public encounters a work of art. When an artist can actually sense the sadness of someone losing the loved ones, the emotion will be stirred up because the artist can create a form of simulation within his or her mind, enabling the artist to stand in the said person's shoes. 30
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30 Opcit. pp.293-316 31 Noel Caroll expresses this view in many essays, reflecting a resistance toward the contemporary criticism.
The power of the work of art that Plato and Caroll talked about can be understood as originating from the sense that exists in the realm of mental sensitivity. It is this sense that differentiates the artificial construct of reality from the "representation" in epistemology, because it is full of intentions. It is also this sense that lies at the basis of the allure of a work of art, from its charm to its power to illuminate. In the non-Western tradition of art, the sense is generally seen as depending on the artist's contemplation when facing reality. It is precisely the signs of such sense that the contemporary criticism has ignored due to its uneasiness toward the tradition of art.
The signs do not exist within the realm of the textual signs of the semiotic approach \-ithin the scope of hermeneutics. Rather, ~e signs, which are not always obvious, exist surreptitiously as points of emphases in the :1arratives or metaphors (which the approach of reading the work as text suspects as too personal) and appear as artistic signs that are not always end up at a pleasant expression, because sense exists in the emotions as well as in the mindY I is not difficult to see how the reformation !n the Anglo-American thinking gives rise to the thinking that approaches the problem of -art with an accent" and creates a platform o n which one can analyze the commonality and differences in the world art. Through the , . 'namics in the thinking offered on such a ? latform, the reconciliation of the world art \ -ill not be mere empty talks. :: i not difficult either to conclude that the ? a arm resides within the tradition of artO:1e must underline this fact to challenge the i e\ - within contemporary criticism, which -ees it as having reached an impasse. If one da: the thinking of art develops multicultural :-:.tdies to analyze the tradition of art. one -. 'ght find that this tradition of art is none 0 - er than the continuation of the traditions o ~ art in all the cultures along the history of ::-.uman civilization. Is it not the contemporary 2...."l in the contemporary culture?
bisa membangkitkan emosi publiknya. Plato khawatir padangan-pandangan "moral" pada narasi ini akan mengubah pandangan moral masyarakat. Karena itu Plato menganggap "kekuatan" seni berbahaya bagi keseimbangan moralitas. 30 Munculnya pengkajian hubungan seni dengan moralitas pad a filsafat estetik tidak bisa dilepaskan pula dari kecenderu ngan seni kontemporer mengangkat persoalan kehidupan yang meliputi persoalan sosial. budaya. bahkan politik. Noel Caroll melihat moralitas pada perkembangan ini sebagai moderate moralism. Menurut C aroll nilainilai umum pada moderate moralism ini membangkitkan emosi umum yang disebu ~"2 garden-variety emotions seperti kemarahan, harapan, ketakutan. kesedihan dan sebag . \(L Caroll melihat emosi-emosi ini persoalan mendasar komunikasi seni karena muncul baik dalam penciptaan karya seni yang nara maupun dalam mengamati narasi pada karya seni. Seperti menjawab pertanyaan Plato, CaroU mengemukakan bahwa emosi-emosi itu merupakan kandungan simulasi pad a proses indentifikasi ketika seniman menghadapi realitas atau ketika publik menghadapi sesuatu karya seni. Bila seseorang seniman sesungguhnya bisa merasakan kesedihan orang; yang kehilangan pacarnya, emosi akan bangkit karena si seniman bisa membangun simulasi pada imajinasinya. di mana dia berada pada posisi orang yang kehilangan pacar itu.31 Daya pada karya seni yang dipersoalkan Plato dan Caroll bisa dipahami berpa ngkal pada sense yang berada di wilayah sensitivity pada mentalitas manusia. Sense ini yang membuat konstruk artifisial realitas pada karya seni berbeda dengan "representasi"
dalam epistemologi, karena penuh dengan tekanan-tekanan (intentions) . Sense ini pula yang mendasari daya tarik karya seni, mulai dari pesona sampai daya mencerahkan. Dalam tradisi non-Barat. kekuatan sense ini hampir merata dipercaya bergantung pada kontemplasi dan penghayatan senimannya ketika berhadapan dengan realitas. Tanda-tanda sense itu yang diabaikan contemporary criticism karena kecurigaan pada tradisi seni.Tanda-tanda ini tidak berada pada tanda-tanda tekstual pada pendekatan semiotik dalam lingkup hermeneutics. Tanda-tanda yang tidak selalu jelas ini menyelip sebagai tekanan pada narasi atau metafora (dicurigai terlalu personal pada pembacaan karya sebagai teks) dan muncul sebagai tanda-tanda artistik yang tidak selalu berhenti pada ekspresi yang menyenangkan karena sense ada pada perasaaan dan juga aka1. 32
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Tidak sulit untuk melihat reformasi pemikiran seni Anglo-American itu memunculkan pemikiran yang mendekat ke permasalahan art with an accent dan bisa memunculkan platform di mana commonality dan differences seni dunia bisa dikaji. Melalui percaturan pikiran pada platform ini rekonsiliasi seni dunia jauh dari perkara omong kosong. Tidak sulit juga untuk menyimpulkan platform itu berada pada tradisi seni-perlu diberi garis bawah untuk menyangkal pandangan pada contemporary criticism yang menganggapnya sudah berhenti. Bila suatu ketika pemikiran seni mengembangkan multicultural studies untuk mengkaji tradisi seni ini. mungkin bisa ditemukan bahwa tradisi seni ini tidak lain kelanjutan tradisi seni yang ada pada semua budaya sepanjang sejarah peradaban umat manusia. Bukankah ini seni kontemporer pada kebudayaan kontemporer?
30 Opcit HaI.218-225. 31 Opcit. Ha1.293-316. 32 Pendapat seperti ini dikemukakan Noel Caroll pada banyak esainya yang mencerminkan resistensi pada contemporary criticism.
