AEP Block Test

Three dimensional art arranged to form something. It should be seen and/or experienced as a complete whole in the environment it is in. It can and should be seen from any angle that the viewer wishes, like a sculpture. But unlike a sculpture, an ‘Installation Art’ may convey different meanings, evoke different emotions in different settings while a sculpture is more unwavering in the sense that its meaning does not change when put into another setting. The viewer may or may not interact with the ‘Installation’, according to the wishes of the artist. An ‘Installation’ requires the viewer to be in the same environment that the artwork is in. And the art may be the environment. A person would then experience the artwork, from a view inside the artwork, and the person would feel a stronger sense of being drawn into the artwork as compared to a casual viewer observing a sculpture or painting from a distance. Two Buffaloes in an installation. Its subject matter is two buffaloes. Buffaloes are highly revered in Boonma’s culture.. It is something that the farmers cannot live without. And that are a very common sight, hence playing a big part in people’s lives. Two Buffaloes shows two buffaloes, one with its head covered by the other, and the other with its tail covered. The installation is made out of two 10kg (just to illustrate how big it is.) sacks of probably flour or rice, each resting on a four legged wooden square stool with wood connecting each of the legs like so. (INSERT IMAGE) Both of the connecting sacks (which are made out of rough, thick cloth) have a single bluish-green stripe running down its middle. The two chairs are placed right next to each other, with the sack on the ight slightly behind the chair sack on the left. A single natural, brown horn sticks out vertically from the top right of the right sack. The horn makes a 90 degree turn such that the horn is pointing to the left. On the left sack, a “tail” about 70 cm long comes out horizontally from the left side of the opening of the sack, and coils in front of the left sack. The “tail” has a rough texture, probably made out of dry coconut husks or similarly rough plants. The tail starts off thin, widens in the middle, and becomes thin again as it reaches the end and it is coiled up. There is a slight indent in the right sack, suggesting the facial shape of the buffalo facing to the right. All of teh materials used are non-artificial. All of it is natural, and although some have been modified to suit human needs, most of it is more traditional, handmade, rather than machine made. I think the materials show how buffaloes are a center point between nature and man, as illustrated in the installation by how people use nature to make things, and then make the buffalo, while in real life farmers use buffaloes to help plough the earth. This then shows the interaction between man, nature, and buffaloes. Lastly, the fatness of the sacks resembles the stout buffalo, which is its strength tha is used for ploughing. c)It shows the texture and bumps and folds clearer. 2a) Teh subject matter of “Seated Model” (1953) is what seems to be an Indonesian model sitting sideways on a green rattan chair, resting her arm on the top part of the back rest and putting her head on her right arm. Her right hand is holding her left shoulder. Her facial expession is contented and calm, her balck hair is pulled back, and there is a red rose of the top of her head, somehwere near the middle of the crown. She is wearing a white sash around her waist and red, loose traditional “pants” with gold and green lining at the bottom. She is holding what looks like a few white daisies in her right arm, and she is wearing a white circular earring on each earlobe. She is naked from waist up. She is in a garden, as in the left background there is a part of a brick structure and a coconut tree growing at the left of the picture. There seems to be an almost black, waist high wall and plants growing near it. The model is composed to be in the center of the painting and she seems to be the main, or even sole, focus. The colour choice of the artist are naturalistic tones.

Hendra Gunawan’s “Bandung as a sea of fire” (1972) depicts a nightmarish, state of chaos, horror and doom. His colour tones are vivid reds and yellows, with a mix of earth tones for painting the people, as well as the occasional grey, hardly saturated tones for buildings, concrete and the like. The painting uses a lot of black to emphasize the dark, scary pessimistic mood of the painting. In the centre foreground of “Bandung as a sea of Fire”, a man lies on his back on the ground with his hands clutching his bloody chest, his hollow eyes staring at the viewer. He is very simply dressed. Blood can be seen on his face, chest and clothes and he looks as if he is about to die. Less than a metre away from him lies the bloody head of a woman lying with her belly facing the earth. She seems to be crushed under the weight of the fallen debris. A dark sloping line from the top left downwards seperates the foreground from the background. The background is mainly composed of fire and thick black smoke billowing from it. At the right of the picture is a building being torn apart by the fire. Silhouettes are shown of various villagers running up the hill to safety. There seems to be a family close to the foreground. The poor (monetarily) father struggles up the hill with his child secured on his back. His wife is also having difficulty going up the hill. She is carrying one baby in her arms and at the same time carrying another child in the same manner. She is hunched over, visibly tired. This artwork conveys a highly emotional state of stress and destruction.

b)Liu Kang wants to paint a photorealistic artwork. He stays true to teh colours as seen in reality and transfers that onto the canvas. Almost every detail is faithfully reproduced on canvas. Hence it leads me to believe that this painting is an exercise for Liu Kang to exercise his skills in rendering naturalistic paintings, or that he wants to record what he sees to remember his experiences.

Hendra Gunawan’s painting is highly dramatized and emotional, as seen in the vivid, bright colours in his paintings which are not at all naturalistic
. It leads me to believe that he is trying to convey something he feels very strongly about to the viewer. I thin he wants to show the situation his countrymen went through, probably due to a political conflict which caused their houses and village to be destroyed, forcing them to flee for their lives. I think that he wants to inform the viewer of how horrible that experience was, and that he feels very strongly and maybe is very angry (red can also mean anger) about what happened.

c)Liu Kang’s “Seated Model” (1953) makes me feel at ease. The whole naturalistic look of the painting makes me feel a sense of familiarity as that kind of colour palette is something commonplace.The peaceful smile of the model and the flower in he hand also suggests a calm, restful, easy-going, relaxed and slow-paced environment. The trees and the sky (and the lack of modern building) in the background make that place seem spacious, further easing any tension. The painting has a soothing effect on me.

Hendra Gunawan’s “Bandung as a sea of Fire” is a nightmarish scene, like something out of a horror movie. The sense of death and the frantic state of the people in the painting of fire, destruction and blood is shocking and scary. The colours are highly saturated, giving the emotion conveyed a lot more intensity. When I look at it, I get a very negative and scared feeling. This picture impacts me a lot more due to the strong colours and highly emotive subject of death and doomsday. But it is very negative, compared to “Seated Model” (1953), which in contrast is calm, and expresses beauty and relaxation. Liu Kang’s painting has a positive though less dramatic effect on me.