“FRAGMENTED CULTURE

• Main Author: Gonzalo ALEMÁN AGUAY, Alex
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/79419
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The concept of art and sculpture refers to a series of human creations and practices that use quality plastic objects and materials. From the very beginning, art and sculpture have been developed in a mystical, magical, ritualistic, and religious environment. It is perceived to increase the sacred element in all civilizations in the world. Sculpture includes aspects of informal quality, function, and meaning. The sculpture has developed as one of the most widely used visual arts by humans beings because it allows them to communicate thoughts, feelings, and human emotions in a clear three-dimensional manner. Despite this throughout history, art and sculpture have raised serious doubts about their relevance and function in different societies. This sculpture project was conceived from the artist's experience and spiritual interactions with art, tradition, and Indonesian society during his stay in Bandung. These aspects have contributed to and increased the dissemination of wayang knowledge among artists. It encouraged his curiosity to rediscover different expressive values and change with new artistic symbology in this performing art. The project uses noble materials such as recycled wood from Bandung's forests. The goal is to obtain aesthetic and harmonious values to help renew the wayang symbols that have been immortalized by the artist through silhouettes. The project experiments and explores both ancient and modern art concepts. Sculptural assembly techniques are used to rediscover mystical and ritual attributes that have been hidden in wayang performing arts. The sculptures are made in the form of puppets that are assembled from wood that has been polished (sandpaper) and also textured with non-finito technical on the surface. A pleasant environment has been re-created with wooden sculptures symbolizing wayang golek in which the artist has found the right measure between mystical and religious values based on beautiful and symbolic ideas. In this project, the artist has separated the scientific-philosophical nature that has developed the artistic-scientific thinking of man at this time. These qualities directly affect the understanding and mystical meaning of sculpture especially the sacred aspects of art that are currently starting to fade. The mystery surrounding this human practice is left behind by the creative process without the aesthetics of contemporary artists. In other words, this process has hindered the spiritual, sacred, unique, and valuable experience that the statue produces on the audience's senses. The result of this sculpture cannot be considered as a sacrilege of culture because of the aesthetic and formal desecration of the wayang characters that have been divided into several pieces. However, this can be considered as one way for artists to create art objects that change the concept of wayang through innovative sculpture projects which express new perspectives and high aesthetic qualities. Artists promote the symbolic modernization of wayang through sculpture. For this project, the artist working with traditional values in an anachronic and contemporary world like this is a bold way to save traditional art. The project aims to enrich the respective cultures and traditions of human beings through visual and intellectual perceptual pleasures.