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Copyright 2000 by Carla Bianpoen
Appearing on Javafred with kind permission of the author. First published in The Indonesian Observer, 18 November 2000.
TEGUH OSTENRIK:
TRANSCENDING TIME
by Carla Bianpoen
Throughout history, artists have tried to become important shareholders when it comes to marking the passing of time. But to transcend the boundaries of time is not for all artists. Teguh Ostenrik is an exception.
Not only is he a skilled artist possessing an unusual imagery, he is also a thinker- and a searcher for the basic truths and principles of the universe, of life and morals, and of human understanding of these. A vagabond in metaphysics, says literati cum professor of philosophy Toeti Herati. He opens up a new space, realms of freedom, asserts Franz Magnis Suseno. Raising the conscience of his race, says Nono Makarim.
The book Teguh Ostenrik: Transcending Time is therefore an art book in a class apart, as is the artist.
Austrian born, art historian Dr. Barbara Asboth is to be commended for putting in words what the works of this artist present in concept, imagery, shape, figures, color and brush strokes.
The Central Theme Homo Sapiens is the center of an intriguing tale which unfolds as Ostenrik links the past and the present in a fascinating narrative of form and color, an odyssey that extends over all humankind and a wide range of philosophic thought. It is accentuated by an exceptional command of artistic vocabulary and technical skill, as well as an intriguing imagery and the artist's personal stands.
‘The idea to explore the homo sapiens actually came from the set-up in the Berlin subway, reveals Ostenrik ‘Because you sit facing one another, I had the time to study the faces of the people and an interesting point is that if you go at seven in the morning, there are different people than when you go at ten or twelve... The faces are different...a different mentality, and different characters ... so it was really a great opportunity for me to study human beings, to analyse them, and how they use their masks, their faces'
Homo Sapiens has held Ostentrik's fascination ever since he became aware of the different faces of humankind behind the masks that cover human features of power, fear, hate and malice, as well as fragility, love, and compassion. For Ostenrik, the mask is not just what one sees, for it has gradually become one with the face, and the mind. In his search for truth behind the mask, communication is a major attribute. In the homo sapiens series, this is among others expressed by the flute.
His Homo Sapiens series communicates a sense of antiquity, and reveals a yearning for the early days when life was simpler and the human mind was still tuned to the human soul.
Archaic in style and taking the colors of Mother Earth, the works are reminiscent of Mexican Mayas, whose chastity and mystique may have much in common with the Torajas in South Sulawesi and the Asmat in Irian. An interesting dimension is the narrative feature that combines the old way of story telling in the West called Muritat and the almost extinct Javanese Wayang Beber.
A symbol of the true nature of the human soul, homo sapiens became the guiding light in the artist's many ventures throughout the world andhis explorations in artistic expression.
Ostenrik's style eventually underwent changes, along with the changes that took place in the process towards personal maturity, while absorbing the various impulses from differing environments. New York, Amsterdam, Paris, and beyond, each has its own dynamics evoking new perspectives, changing explorations of technique and style. From the archaic, into pencil drawing, chinese ink, and on to the abstract expressionism. The colors of his pallette followed the atmosphere of the environment he was in, the flow of thought they evoked and his ensuing moods. The layered shades of ochre and red, colors known to pre-historic art, and featuring his Homo Sapiens series changed into vibrancy that colored his abstract works, vanished and leaving only lines to denote his observations and ideas and returned in a series called Homo Sapiens-2.
New forms of art emerged, like installations, public sculptures and works to put an accent to architectural spaces.
Throughout his explorations on canvas, or paper, or on the stage for that matter, Ostenrik never once lost sight of the intrinsic features of homo sapiens, not even when he found himself alienated from the culture and the country he was born in.
A Rebel of Sorts
The artist's constant search for truth and justice made of him an intellectual trouble shooter. The figurative forms in the archaic style he used, for instance, were actually the earliest stages of the artist's rebellion against the learned teachings of anatomy.
Yet the artist's perfect understanding of what he has learned appears to have been a firm and solid basis without which the sublime abstractions, the layered colors and transcendental values in his works would hardly have been possible.
Rebellion against all things established was to become his trade mark. It is however, a rebellion that emphasizes the spiritual and opens spaces for further development, and evolution. As Franz Magnis Suseno says in the Prologue of the book: ....the artist takes the side of the unique, the real thing... The painter does not identify. He points out, flashlights, shows strange faces of normal reality. He is a disturber, because he does not tolerate established views. He opens up a new space, realms of a new freedom'.
It is freedom that exclude violence completely, highlighted in his second series of homo sapiens, after stating that since the early days of homo sapiens, nothing has really changed. Some of Homo Sapiens-2 works are in pink and purple hues, symbolic of the female and an undeniable art of the androgynous nature of humankind.
Imaginative
It is such realms that shine through in works that also underlines the ingenuity of an imaginative artist. The Plastic Waste Pyramid, that he erected with bricks made from melted plastic bags in the environs of Munduk, Bali, gave the plastic bags a new function, a new identity , symbolising a developing ecological awareness amongst the people in Munduk.
As this article goes to press, Ostenrik's installations exhibit Transcending Limits and Violence at the Goethe Institut is being opened for showing through December 14.
The exhibit features the historical event of the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. There ia also a mockup os statue using four sections of the Wall measuring 3.60 x 1.20 metres each, which he personally purchased and shipped to Jakarta.
Missed Chapter
Divided into fourteen chapters, the book highlights thirteen series of Ostenriks works. Departing from the Masked Homo Sapiens, it elaborates on the various impetus that has marked the artist's works in subsequent chapters on Amsterdam, Accident, Walk, Faces, Transition, the Underwater World, Poleng, Dans Paris, Japan, Kobe and Transcending Limits.
The excellent text and colorful illustrations provide a splendid view of the flow of thought, and the artistic innovations of an artist whose talents extend beyond painting.
However, it is regretful that it failed to include Ostenrik's installation art of the early 1990s , the more so as his installation art meant the beginning of a new trend in the Indonesian scene.
When he came home from a 17-year stay in Germany, his multi-media installation entitled ‘Alam di Bawah Air (The Underwater World), evoked the most heated discussions, as did also his spectacular ‘Homo Sapiens Bertopeng (Masked Homo Sapiens) in 1990. Never before had the Indonesian art world witnessed a specific aspect of art, in this case painting, supported by other branches of the arts, in this case music- sculpture and performance.
And, as the masks of the 9 x 1.89 meter canvas came to life and man emerged as homo sapiens in his numerous guises, and the earth which made an impression of being dark and formless before, was now taking shape, some people in the audience spurred a flash of self recognition amidst a sense of prehistory and cosmic power. The then Italian Ambassador was impressed.
‘It could be a Christian print of the Last Judgment', he said, it could well hang in a church', and a German lady mused 'I want to lie on a cushion, just alone and look at it while immersed in the music and the light and the darkness'. But others left in disdain and accused him of a cheap stunt. Little could they foresee that it was to be the trend of the future.
Born in Jakarta (1950), Teguh Ostenrik went into the arts on the ‘advice' of his professor at the medical faculty. ‘You would be a terrific artist', sneered his teacher who had had enough of this student. Little did the good man think that his ‘prophecy' would come true. Ostenrik left for Europe early 1970 and did indeed become a ‘terrific artist'. By then Ostenrik already proved he had courage and initiative. Having left without telling any of his family, he had to sustain himself by doing all kinds of odd jobs, including doing the dishes in a restaurant. After two years he had enough savings to enter university (1972) where he enrolled for graphic design. In 1974, he moved to the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin and received the title ‘Meisterschuler" six years later. He returned to Indonesia in 1988. |
