Moving over to the buffet (and this was actually a buffet!) we enjoyed the Indonesian snacks, which included ikat laut (shredded fish on a stick), something equating to lumpia (spring roll), chips and delicious salsa, some kind of rolled fish in banana leaves and chocolate brownies. I have to say that all went down a treat. Aware that it is rather uncouth, to hang around the buffet and slurp wine, I mingled by myself and gazed at the art work. The people attending were probably 50 /50 Indonesians and bules. Ebong commented that this is a great place to meet women, if you are single. I’d have to agree, and some of the ladies looked great AND smart.
Whenever I attend one of these type of do’s I always get the same feeling. That is everyone is trying to look like they have the ‘inside track’ on what the art all about, with no one except the artist having an actual clue what the thing is supposed to be.
After maybe 30 minutes we were told that a short film was about to be shown. Ebong and I sat on the floor right at the front. An older French guy who is some kind of culture guru, got up and mumbled on about the process of making the art comes from nature. The film showed Made Wianta at his workshop and in natural settings, the beach etc. making patterns and drawing shapes he’d seen in nature. He then recreated the shapes in parts of his artwork. The movie was actually the best thing I saw all night. Great camera work, perfect soundtrack, great effects and editing. Made Wianta was a the director, so hats off to him for that.
After the red wine had a chance to soak in and my mind started to factor in the bigger picture, I asked myself if Made Wianta had some kind of special talent. I actually think he isn’t a genius, but the main thing he does do is make art. In its purest form, art exists for itself. Art is actually useless, but by being useless it enables the artist to release himself / herself from the daily grind and create. The difference between Made Wianta and the rest of us is that he actually makes art and explores many mediums.
I’m sure some art expert will tell me I’m absolutely wrong and he’s got some superhuman gift, but that’s just an opinion. One of the people I met there was a guy from Central Java named Yudha, who has a company called Jala Art Agency in Denpasar. I met Made and we exchanged cards, maybe he’s reading this article. I liked some of his designs and would put them on my wall if I owned them. After maybe 90 minutes we called it quits, Ebong visiting a friend and myself going for a ride.
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“a great place to meet women, if you are single. I’d have to agree, and some of the ladies looked great AND smart”
But what if you manage to get friendly with a woman who is really into art and you ask her back to your place. The first thing she sees is that your cheap copy Picasso is upside down. Then she finds that the only things you can talk about are surfing and Bintang!
[Not talking about you, Nick. Just a general comment.]