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| Tintin Wulia: Deconstruction of a Wall, solo show at Ark Galerie, Jakarta. Curated by Alia Swastika. Thanks to Ronald Akili, Jason Gunawan, Putri Ayu. Photos courtesy of the artist, which is me. |
| I love to sit before my window, looking out to the world where art happens: |
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| Sketch for The Window of Contemporary Art (2010). |
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Installation view of the Great Wallpaper series. Photo courtesy of Cemeti Art House/Sari Handayani.
It was a big tall wall. And on it, a big tall drawing. Bluish. Vague. In her right hand was not a straw; it was a brush, its bristles wet. A mosquito flew by my ear and, reflexively, I slapped my own face. I woke up. I didn’t sleep well last night. So why, I asked again, are you drawing on the wall. She skipped back in, with her cocktail glass, brush and all. Why do people scribble on toilet doors, she asked me back. Why graffiti, she asked me again. Why do dogs pee on lampposts. Why was Kilroy here, there and everywhere. Why do you sign letters. Why do you label things. Why do we define. And why do you want to know why. The mosquito landed on her cheek, her nose only an inch away from my face now, and I, reflexively, slapped her. I woke up. I didn’t sleep well last night. On my palm the remaining of the mosquito, and a speck of blood: mine or hers? So why do you have to know why, she asked again. Because, I said, I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. Still not, she asked. Still not, I said, but I still really want to know why. Well, she said. It really doesn’t matter. Just enjoy it. And from that moment on, as though rescued by the baptism, I do. At the end of the exhibition, she punched a window onto that very wall, right at the middle of her bluish drawing on that very wall, a drawing of the world according to the mapmakers. She then cut that rectangular hole that was the window into small pieces, and sold them away. I framed mine as a reminder of nothings. |
| The Window of Contemporary Art (WOCA) a proposal for DICA (Donkey Institute of Contemporary Art) |
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| by Tintin Wulia |
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| King Midas could turn anything into gold. Rumor had it that he had donkey’s ears. |
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| After thinking for donkey’s years, I’ve finally come up with the Window of Contemporary Art (WOCA). WOCA can turn anything into contemporary art! |
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| The WOCA setup is simple and straightforward. On top of the usual DICA setup, you would need just any kind of window, any kind of curtain, several stools and chairs, and a desk lamp (or camping lantern). |
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| Using WOCA is also simple and straightforward. Just sit down on either side of the window, and watch. You will be surprised how exciting mundanity is when seen through the frame of WOCA. |
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| When the donkey decides to move, the spectators should move their stools and chairs to the new position. Even a tiny move of DICA’s donkey can make a big difference to the framing of WOCA. |
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| Opening the window also gives a different effect. You are somewhat connected to the world that you’re watching, but still … not really. The presence of WOCA somehow allows you to ignore them. |
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| When it gets dark, turn on the solar-powered desk lamp (or camping lantern). This will provide the effect of reflection in the glass window, temporarily converting your WOCA into a MOCA (Mirror of Contemporary Art). |
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| Feel free to experiment when opening the window: do it quarter opened, half opened, fully opened. Once opened, the windowpane will also separate you from the other spectators on your side. |
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| WOCA works two-ways. While people can choose to watch you, you can also choose whether to be watched. When you’re on the other side and don’t want to be watched, just pull the curtain down. |
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| Looking at the WOCA from the other side is also as fascinating. Look at those people just sitting and watching, and moving along whenever and wherever the donkey decides to move. |
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| Watching the WOCA from a distance is even more amazing. Look at those people watching; look at those being watched. |
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| And look at us, watching people watching people being watched. Aren’t we all part of this big performance? |
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| Windows were once part of walls. Thanks to WOCA, they are now liberated. Gone are the days of the window tax and all those daylight robberies. The show is now free. |
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| “What is contemporary art?” we used to ask. With the arrival of WOCA, we now ask, “what is not contemporary art?” |
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| The Window of Contemporary Art (WOCA): a proposal for DICA (Donkey Institute of Contemporary Art) ©2010 Tintin Wulia for Daniel Wolfson Modeled with Google SketchUp 7.1. Models credit: desk lamp by RDrayMan 101, Light beam by MorBius, Saddle from Cavalry Mount by MorBius, Cartwheel by Aarni, Window by bocian, Rideau drapé by vick, Stool by Graham, Viennese chair by k15a, all other models by Google and Tintin Wulia. |
In the morning of new year’s day I pondered, horizontally and from my bed, on how I liked my bedroom window. How it has given me joy, and made me wake up happy. Then I thought I should do a window myself.
Construction of a Window, in which I will make a window on a solid outer wall of preferably a museum, but only after commissioning several painters to paint what they imagine to be the view the finished window will give us in the end.
I’m wondering whether this project has something to do with Angles and Shadows and a little bit of physical computing. I’m also thinking of it in light of my previous works with visual references to bureaucratic material.
In the meanwhile, I’m surveying the logistics of it. It seems to be able to be done in a few hours, so perhaps it is possible to make a whole window in an exhibition opening. It seems to be simple enough, provided the wall is not a bearing wall, to do it myself. It seems that I will have to get a building permission, and I have yet no idea how, how much and how long. Other than that it seems to be not so costly to do. Perhaps it is even possible to work with my audience again. And it would be nice to do another Do It Yourself video out of it.
I ran the idea through Daniel, and his response was “I always think of windows as borders as distancing as walls because you are now aware of what is over there but can remain separate, and this time through choice.” Good. It might work well.
There are more details to be thought about. Maybe there’s a machine that helps people demolish the necessary part of the wall and so that machine can also be controllable through the internet. The paintings are like people talking about culture from a distance. Physical distance, like what theorists do, and temporal distance, like interpretation of history. The wall is simply a wall. The window is a willingness to see, or sometimes it’s a pretense to see, but not seeing anyway. Window as a construct. Only to provide view. When it’s dark inside, we are not visible from the outside. Light will come in, and that’s beneficial. but you are separated anyway. Which brings me to another question: will the window be closed (with glass) or openable, or what?
This needs more thoughts.
I hope I’ll be able to do this project soon. Gimme gimme gimme a museum wall.
When she was thirteen, Tintin Wulia wished that Peter Pan would lose his shadow in her neighborhood, because she thought that Peter Pan was kinda sexy. Night after night, she would think a happy thought, wishing that Peter would find her if she could fly. Nothing happened – Tintin discovered that Peter had much preferred Wendy.
Two decades and almost seven years later, Tintin is still discovering many things. One, that Peter Pan is a fictional character invented by James Matthew Barrie. Two, that the fact that Peter is fictional doesn’t mean that he’s illusory. She is also discovering that, three, it is not a happy thought that one needs to be able to fly – it is, rather, the combination of a passport and a valid visa. And also, four, that the fact that one needs a passport and a valid visa to be able to fly is just shitty.
