FADE INTO OBSCURITY: EXPRESSION OF ALIENATION IN URBAN LIFE THROUGH DRAWING

• Main Author: Mahadewi, Kirana
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/83697
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The final assignment artwork 'Obscurity series' is a form of author's exploration which intends to express alienation in urban life in big cities. The creation of this work began with a feeling of emptiness and an experience of disconnection from identity and self-satisfaction that the author felt while trying to blend in and live a routine as part of urban society. In this case, the author views most people relationships in urban setting as fleeting, pseudo-relationships based on shallow, interest-based interactions. The phenomenon of urbanism, which is characterized by high population levels and the constant presence of crowds, could not erase the void and detachment or alienation of the individuals within it. The concept is then based on urban alienation as a collective phenomenon and focuses on presenting the paradox of urban alienation which is realized through the presence of crowds. The method in the process of creating this artwork is carried out through intuition which is then accompanied by imaginative expression, in line with Croce and Collingwood's argument regarding the essence of art. The author places herself in the scenario of urbanism in the city to re-experience and identify the feelings or expressions that arise as a member of urban society. In the end, the author’s desire to express through work emerged, where the idea of visual embodiment came from the author's artistic intuition and imagination. In compiling the visual construction, the author divides the visual aspects of the work into crowds and city, which are depicted with the qualities of vagueness and coldness. Through the externalization of the work Obscurity, the author ultimately presents the work in the form of an impression of an urban atmosphere which is modified in such a way as to express the impression of distance or disconnection which then defines urban alienation.