| Yoyo Yogasmana
"Crisis" Background It starts from witnessing a sorrowful situation and condition in the country, competition of interests among one individual with another, among one community group and another, group with government, among political elites, and even among the countries. This competition does not lead to a solution but it creates complicated upside down situation in all lines of human life. This kind of sorrow is called emergency for community life. The country is absolutely in crisis, and I would like to see this as catastrophic emergency that devastates societal life. The country which is this critical situation is close to crimes everywhere which are very close to our reality of life. This is really a menacing fact to face by the societal members. In creating work of arts, I do not refer to situation of a certain country, I prefer to say that this kind of crisis might happen in any country in the world, besides which I would also put some emphasis to human figures who run all life activities that lead to such kind condition. The person who is full of egoism to become the best one by way of exploiting other people is one who puts some individual business above societal business. This might happen to us, to me, to you, to our family, our neighbours, our environment, to us all, possibly without our awareness involved within.
Ideas People seem to be always interested to view the bad sides of other people and they are not interested in their positive sides instead. It is also my firm belief that people have got ability to cheat, exploit and even hurt other people. On the other hand, people have got conscience that lead them to goodness. Conscience categorizes our behaviour of hurting and exploiting others as bad inappropriate behaviour, as evil one. This kind of bargaining between these two sides (good and bad poles) has been a basic of people relationship. History has pointed out that there have been many momentums that people proved to be releasing their evil side, their dark side. It is war. War is organization of human capacity to hurt and destroy others. These facts imply that collectively people can create evil deeds and actually, at the same time, they can also create the opposite.
Performance Art as a Choice Performance art as a work of art has opened some possibilities of actor's involvement directly without any conventional media. This possibility is of course related to direct presentation format (on the spot presentation). Consequently, all humanitarian elements such as identity, feeling and emotions, and environment of togetherness can be created at that very occasion. In observing or appreciating works of conventional (fine) art, the visitors (or on-lookers or guests) are not absolutely alone as individual, they are formulated by historical agreement. In the presentation of performance art, the on-lookers can become the participants by way of involving themselves into real situation at the given moment. At that moment historical agreement can be delayed and at the same time the participants' cultural background can be involved further. The arena or place of performance can become a form of inter human relation. In this performance arena all of guests, visitors are involved within the relationship:
as on-lookers or those who are watched by, or a mixture of becoming on-lookers and the watched ones at the same time. This is also a kind of agreement. A single performance idea that can create involvement of the on-lookers, which are exhibited a couple of times in different places and in front of different on-lookers can possibly examine what kind of "agreement" to emerge in each performances. And then this kind of heterogeneity can, in turn, become very interesting topic of discussion concerning cultural background and influences of situational atmosphere which happen during each performance.
Crisis In this occasion, I would like to use rope as my major instrument in the performance. This rope can, first of all, be an invitation to the visitors. The second, this rope can actually create a "real relation" which has actually been created. And at last, I would make myself a knot of this kind of relationship. A number of rope piece are needed with one end is tightened to my body and the other is hold by individual participants. The more ropes, the more participants, the better. The participants' ends are distributed into multi directions, and the pattern of our relationship is: action contra reaction. I would like to become the first to offer the action although there will come a time for me to depend on the participants' agreement when they pull the ropes to many directions meaning I will become the "passive bodily knot" whose movements absolutely depend on the participants' directive pulls. The patterns and rhythms of movements being created would be very different and situational in every performance. For this reason I would take advantages of traditional elements such music as well as dresses. Why? First, these traditional elements will become the basic stance for pattern and rhythm and as emotional substitute. Secondly the traditional element can also be interpreted as self-identity that directly faces participants' identity together with those involving people in the performance. Third, music and dresses can become special characters. From the beginning of the performance, the impression of hurting has existed. Could you imagine an individual who is tightened by ropes from multi directional holders. It is a really uncomfortable situation isn't it? And when they are asked to pull the ropes' ends they will do it unwillingly. An argument is needed and through music people are asked to collectively manage their movement and in full spontaneity. People seem to be asked to dance. The impulse to play and tendency to look for pleasure – which is inherent in every individual holders- are triggered to play their roles. The problem of identity is then meaningful to be put forward since the performer will face many kinds of identity with very different cultural background. Self identity which is firmly declared will result in the contrast of performer's identity with the participants' identity as a background. Heterogeneity is the problem of how differences can be made to meet one another.
The image of tradition and other elements which are created thereon can suggest to us problems such as ethnicity revitalization, in form of spontaneity to create choreography, or merely sensation to be watched and enjoyed. Good and comfortable things which tend to be nothing but pleasure. Back to the core: we all need to be critical to see how far and how long we are aware that beyond "pleasure moment or activity" that we have enjoyed, there are people who are hurt, or at least, find themselves in a critical menacing situation and in danger.
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