History shows
that the technology Balinese artists had
available to them changed the style of
painting they created. Will the computer
itself be used to create new works in
Bali, might it be used to readdress old
themes. Just how significant is a new
tool after a forty-year long period of
increased Western influence?
"Materials
always effect artists," states
Arie Smit,
"Van Gogh is one of the best examples.
He exploited the change in availability
of commercial art supplies, using abundant
layers of paint. Until that time, an artist
needed a servant to prepare the pigments
and ready them for the painter. His work
reflects the availablity, although he
relied solely on his brother Theo to provide
them. Look at the abstract artists (like
DeKooning) who just pour the paint onto
a canvas, they didn't have to care about
where the next can would come from, it's
nothing, endless." He points to an
ornately carved door at his home, "People
wonder why traditional Balinese painting
seems so flat, without depth. This is
why, their original canvas was wood, and
carving was how they painted. These materials
effected how their painting developed."
Smit
is credited with bring modern material
to Balinese painters, inspiring an entire
genre, the
Young Artists.
"(In th 1940's) Bonnet used Goache
paint, Even as Balinese artists began
utilizing these, they used them very
judiciously," says Smit, "and
sometimes I think it was not for the
better. Look for instance at the introduction
of color in movies." Perhaps the
films were more attuned to light and
composition before the new color? "Yes,
I think they were better."
Smit had worked in Bandung with, among
others, the UNSECO International Childrens's
project where he gained much experience
with childrens painting. "Children
always paint their environment, so when
I got to Bali I opened my studio, provided
materials, and let the children paint
what they wanted." But materials,
the technology that allowed them to create
were in very short supply even up through
to the 70's. "I used any means possible
to get supplies, I traded my own paintings,
begged for care packages from visiting
tourists, eventually in 1963 the MOMA
in San Francisco staged an exhibit of
our work that traveled to colleges around
the United States. That exposure finally
started a steady stream of supplies, and
continued to grow the Young Artists community."
What
about the computer as a tool for making
art? "Yes, you use you eyes, your hands,
your artistic vision," replies Smit.
"I don't know about computers, but
who knows, maybe the art of the future is
some sort of 3D experience you go into and
Coke bottles come down from the sky. It
could be the natural death of physical art."
The
topic of the computer as a means of creating
art is a logical question. When photography
was invented people thought it would be
the end of portrait painters. In Bali, where
art forms seem to be strongly influenced
by culture and a persons soul, the question
elicits strong opinions.
Agung Rai explains,
"The computer is too artificial to
create Pure Art. It blocks the transformation
of spirit into real form." Suteja Neka
disagrees, "Yes there is computer art,
like there is sculpture as art, painting
as art. The problem is trying to compare
them. You can't! They are completely different,
but art just the same." He suspects
that some Balinese artists will embrace
the computer just as they adapted to oil
and acryilic painting.
Antonio Blanco,
a Manilla-born Spanish artist has lived
in Ubud for 50 years. His works are primarily
erotic, but his inspiration has always
been from Ubud. "The computer for
me only speeds messages I get from around
the world. I look at the computer and
think 'I already use my eyes for painting,
and I would use my eyes for this?' It
is a matter of dicipline for me, I am
the captain, I do not let the boat steer
me, I steer the boat."
Arie Smit
thought that his friend
Han Snel
might have made some abstract experiments
with computers, Carin Versteegh explains
that, "no, Han is very interested
in what we do with computers, but when
we tried to get him to try a little, maybe
to make sketches as studies for paintings.
He said, 'no, if I start this I will never
paint again.'" So there will continue
to be the argument of wether the computer
can be used to make art. However,every
new tool finds a user.
Some
Balinese artists are already using the computer
to make their art. A variety of local artist's
work can be seen at
http://www.artbali.com/.
Asmat,
by Alex Sandlin is a digitally reworked
photographic trio of a traditional Barong
Dance mask.
David Trevellayn,
an Ubud resident sculpture for ten years,
teaches computer creativity at a local art
school. He points out that Balinese belief
of Taksu, the creative force, is a 4000
year-old phenomena. He likens the computer
to a Taksu amplifier, changing his personal
work in human forms, through the use of
digital photography and computers, in ways
he couldn't dream of without technology's
influence.
http://www.symonbali.com/
is an introduction to the "Bali Legend"
painter, actually a simple electronic business
card.
What's Next?
If you look at the localization
of craft in Bali, the woodcarving villages
of Tegalalang, the stonecarving village
of Batubulan, Batuan's painting center and
Ubud, each of these areas has developed
around a particular craft. Perhaps a hi-tech
artisan groups will develop here as well,
maybe not constrained by physical location,
but bound together by their abilities to
use the computer as a tool in art. The next
few years will tell if Balinese artists
use the computer to help create new work
inspired by their local culture and surroundings,
or use the computer merely to recreate the
works of previous artists.
However, the increased
use of computers here doesn't seem to
be the beginning of a monumental change
in Balinese art, certainly not like the
period around 1940. Computerization is
merely a continuation of Western influence
that has gone on for 50 years, not a lightning
bolt innovation like singular foriegn
artists arriving in the center of an ancient
culture. I believe there will be a rush
of Balinese to learn about the technology.
The interesting trend to watch will be
if any artistic innovation is sparked
by the computer. We wait and see.
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