“The great NON-MALAYSIAN portrait” is a site-specific, interactive installation that captures and transforms the presence of an observer into an object of display. By inviting active participation of the viewer in the presentation of the artwork, the artist questions the formal environment of an exhibition space, shaped by a specific cultural history. Using the methodologies of exhibition-making as a tool for the creation of the piece, the installation (as artwork and exhibition) models non-western aesthetic theory by framing the unification of an artist, curator and audience through the method of display.
My thesis investigates the production of art in terms of modes of representation. It argues that representation of art in Malaysia is structured by its cultural politics of difference. Specifically, in this thesis I examine the artistic practice of three Malaysian artists - Reza Piyadasa, Ismail Zain, and Niranjan Rajah: and in turn reflect upon my own experience as an artist and curator, adapting to a particular mode of representation. Finally, with “the great NON-MALAYSIAN portrait”, I attempt to highlight the theoretical underpinning that reveals my dialogue with the ideas and politics of these artists.
The great NON-MALAYSIAN portrait” comes from the accumulation of philosophy and theory of Redza Piyadasa, Ismail Zain and Niranjan Rajah. This is adapted in literal, analytical and conceptual sense as the installation is divided into three components. In this respect, examining these components highlight the theoretical underpinning that reveal dialogues with the ideas and politics of these artists. The layers of meaning and subtle invocation in the artwork are meant to express the conditions of the postmodern society in Malaysia. The work generates a space for critical exchange with the audience, while creating art that reflects the cultural politics of difference from the Malaysian perspective. It is also reflective of the habits of function, forms of artistic expression and aesthetics that inform a subjective experience in adapting a particular mode of representation – as artist, curator and academic.
The artwork itself is made from a computerized surveillance system and custom-made software. Meanwhile the installation consists of a huge LCD screen mounted on a wall horizontally; similar to the way a painting would be hung on a museum wall. The LCD screen is then garnished with a huge, golden frame to enclose the edges of the screen. The golden ornamental border that surrounds the LCD screen effectively creates similarity of having a huge masterpiece painting, elegantly hung on a museum wall. A tiny surveillance camera is mounted unto the frame. This is then secured by having a stanchion in front of the screen, to distance the viewer from getting too close to the art object. The setting creates a typical museum experience, just like how a person would look at a painting, a portrait to be precise.
From a distance, a viewer will only see a blank-white surface on the LCD screen, but as the person moves closer, the viewer’s movement is captured through the surveillance camera and revealed in a form of a black silhouette that emerges on the screen. Details such as color, tone and figurative recognition are stripped away from the silhouette. Meanwhile the piece becomes really provocative when the viewer gets really close to the display. As the viewer moves closer to the screen, a video will emerge in the “head” section of the silhouette. This video is a close-up shot of a face enacting several expressions, with attributes of a tanned, male figure. The video is displayed in a square shape, overlaid on the silhouette. The custom made software identifies the face of the viewer looking at the LCD screen and accurately correlates the video with the head section of the silhouette that represents the viewer. This creates the impression of forcefully imposing a figurative identity upon the viewer. The video moves along with the movement of the viewer’s silhouette on the screen – as the viewer move around the exhibition space.
Returning to the analysis of “the great NON-MALAYSIAN portrait”, it is divided into three components, namely “the title of the artwork as well as the golden frame”, “the video of a brown tanned, male figure” and “the silhouette of the viewer”. In a simpler term, these will be referred as “the frame”, “the representation” and “the participation”.
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