BUKA MULUT
A Performance Art Event | 20 March 2010 | Dave's Pizza Pasta Vino | Petaling Jaya, Selangor
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Another month, another art space opens. Another night, another art opening. But how 'OPEN and accessible is Malaysian art? Can it be as appreciated as Nasi Lemak or Char Kuey Teow? We're moving art out of the gallery and into the public realm of the Malaysian stomach. One night of daring performance art in a shopping mall restaurant - is the public going to eat what artists have to offer? How digestible are their ideas? What's the fiber content? Vitamins and minerals in a candy coated shell? Artificial seasoning or the hard-boiled truth? It's time to....open your mouth.
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Bulan ini, terbukalah sebuah lagi ruang seni. Malam itu, terlancar pula sebuah lagi pameran. Tapi setakat mana seni tempatan bersifat 'BUKA' dan senang didekati orang ramai? Bolehkah seni dinikmati seperti sebungkus Nasi Lemak atau Char Kuey Teow? Kami pindahkan seni keluar dari galeri dan masuk ke ruang publik yang lain, ke gelanggang menjamu selera. Mempersembahkan seni performans satu malam di sebuah restoran terletak di pasaraya terkenal. Adakah para hadirin akan mengemari apa yang disajikan artis? Adakah idea-idea mereka senang dihadam? Cukup atau tidak isian serabutnya? Penuh atau tidak dengan vitamin dan mineral? Perencah tiruan ataupun kebenaran sejati? Barangkali sudah tiba masanya kita.....buka mulut.
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Buka Mulut: Artists and Their Works:
01
Rahmat Haron
“Connections & Disconnections Series No.5”
I will break eggs and put the egg white on my hair. Then I will tie my hair to the front of my face and put it on the table. I will ask the audience to connect my hair with cotton wool thread to anywhere they want
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02
Tan Zi Hao
“Reconsideration of an Artificial Space in the Conscience of Reciprocating with Real Food and Real Beverage, if not with Real Love”
“…coined money is a mere sham, a thing not natural, but conventional only, which would have no value or use for any of the purposes of daily life if another commodity were substituted by the users.”
-Aristotle, Politics: Book II
Food being part of human needs has been repackaged to become part of human wants. Amidst of consumerism and cultural insecurities, consumer-driven society has gradually become extreme where even our basic social and survival system has been indubitably yet unconsciously exploited for specific individualistic benefits (which is part survival too). The nature therein of course is inevitable, but how can we concurrently reclaim ourselves the social instincts in these constructed space?
Restaurants and bars are part of the constructed spaces, it is an equivocal platform meant for eating and a narrower sense of social-networking. This piece thereby intends to infiltrate a collective sense of social instinct, to allow diners to not just dine and socialize among known friends, but also passing a kind of dialogues (verbal, non-verbal or mental) around, through this communication method, diners can order drinks for strangers, the strangers may in turn paying for another group or person sitting nearby. The aim is to “Pass It On”, structuring connection(s) in a constructed space
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03
Intan Rafiza Abu Bakar
“Guess How Much I Love You (dedicated to SCD)”
For me, the idea of ‘opening one’s mouth’ is that of a mother reading bedtime stories to her child. It comes from my personal experience communicating with a child of mixed parentage in English, when that language was previously not used as the main medium of communication. As a mother, reading bedtime stories in a non mother-tongue language is a new thing for me.
This personal experience is no longer personal when opened to the public. Events and memories happen to each individual in different times and spaces. As an artist, exploring issues openly is my way of sharing art with a wider community.
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04
Akbar a.k.a Bebe
"Eat Wise (Don't Waste Your Food)"
Have you ever faced a food shortage? Ever dug for scraps in a rubbish bin for your dinner? Ever thought that at this very moment, while we are eating, someone somewhere is starving? Do we wonder if one day we will behave like dogs, fighting for scraps in order to survive?
In 2009, FAO reported that the world is facing a food shortage crisis partly due to free-market consumerism and depletion of natural resources. Land is continuously built up with high-rises. Agricultural-dependent countries are badly affected due to water shortage and unpredictable weather caused by global warming. This condition will continue if we don’t start to change our lifestyles. Be wise, be smart and don’t waste your food. Share it!
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05
05
Aisyah Baharuddin
"Berikan Bunga Kepada Mereka"
Referring to the issue of child abuse, I’m going to perform with my son giving the audience some flowers to show love, respect, hope and peace.
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06
Simon Soon
“Delectable Pastime of the Bourgeoisie K.O.”
This performance is conceived as a long durational participatory epicureal tableaux that encapsulates the ennui, joy, sorrow, and tenderness of our contemporary imagination.
Throughout the duration of the event, the performance artist will be playing Cooking Mama in a corner of the bar. The audience is invited to compete with the performance artist to see who emerges as the champion chef.
The performance will employ the participatory element of gaming console to explore questions relating to the value of entertainment and spectacle in art. The performance is also an experiment in seeing whether non-art audience can relate and use the piece as an entry point into performance art. And question how other performances in Buka Mulut can hold their grounds in relation to a performative form that takes after popular entertainment.
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07
Safriman & Ridfan
Safriman & Ridfan
“LOMPAT”
“LOMPAT” is a performance that allows the audience to interact with the piece. It begins with one of the performers on a chair blurting political statements, while the other performer (THE MAN) feeds him with fast food intermittently. The audience is invited to label this act accordingly.
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08
Chi Too
"I Love this Shit" is an attempt to break down Chi Too’s favorite food items before his digestive system gets to. Featuring Orangina, kettle chips, Dutch Lady fresh milk, and many more.
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09
Niki O Heykal"NATIVE"
I will be talking and singing 2 songs about: ring leaders/circus/avatarism/the self-consciousness of ‘the other’/native chic/globalization and “multiculturalism”
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10
Ray Lagenbach
"Sakit Berangin"
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BUKA BAJU
A Symposium and Open Discussion on Performance Art | 27 February 2010 | CHAI | Petaling Jaya, Selangor
A Symposium and Open Discussion on Performance Art | 27 February 2010 | CHAI | Petaling Jaya, Selangor
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What is performance art? Is it a dance to music you can't hear? Is it when artists take their clothes off and make love to chairs? Is it using fake or real blood and shocking an audience that is half-afraid and half-fascinated? Is it an art movement that began in the west a few decades ago and then spread across to Asia and the rest of the world? Is it stuff you see at current performance art festivals like Future of Imagination (Singapore) and Asiatopia (Thailand)? Is it confusing your audience to the maximum level? KO! Powerup! Is it politics? Is it protest? Is it freedom? Is it giving out flowers to the public on the street or is it giving a pillow to the Prime Minister? Why is the art scene so boring right now? Can you get arrested doing performance art? Naked! Naked! Naked!
Let's whet our appetites by uncovering all this and more. Take it off! Presentations, talks and open forum on performance art - what it is, what it isn't, what people have done, what people would like to do, what is possible and what is just... like dat.
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Seni performans itu apa? Adakah ia berdansa mengikut lagu tak terdengar? Adakah apabila artis berbogel lalu meraba kerusi? Adakah ia memerlukan darah tiruan atau betul untuk membingungkan para hadirin yang setengah takut, setengah tertarik? Adakah ia pergerakan seni yang bangkit di dunia barat beberapa dekad lepas sebelum merebak ke negara Asia dan lain-lain? Adakah ia macam yang dipentaskan di pesta seperti Future of Imagination (Singapore) dan Asiatopia (Thailand)? Adakah ia melibatkan kekeliruan para penonton sampai ke tahap maksimum? KO! Powerup! Performans itu politik ke? Protes ke? Kebebasan ke? Berdiri di tepi jalan dan memberi bunga kepada orang ramai atau hantar batal kepada perdana menteri ke? Kenapa seni tempatan begitu membosankan sekarang ni? Buat performans boleh masuk lokap ke? Bogel! Bogel! Bogel!
Mari kita alaskan perut dengan menelanjangkan semua ini dan banyak lagi. Buka baju! Persembahan, diskusi dan forum terbuka tentang seni performans - apakah itu, apakah itu bukan, apakah yang telah dibuat, yang hendek dibuat, yang mungkin dibuat dan yang memang... begitu saja.
