Project on the Making

Two Best Friends

The Visual Addiction and the Pioneer Maniac

What is Visual Addiction and Pioneer Maniac? Who is this people? Is this an actual mental illness? Maybe this is not a real mental illness or problem, rather a merely a statement about the art scene in Malaysia nowadays. It is not a crisis or a problem, it is more like a shout out to the Malaysian artist new or old, educated or self- taught, establish or not, that there are more to the artworks rather than visually attracted.

First we will go to Visual Addiction, just like what the name stated addicted only to visual, solely because of the spectacular, grand, majestic, effect of the visual itself. Either the artist involved or not in the visual that he or she choose to be made as a subject matter of a painting, sculpture, print or even video art, is now the freedom of artist to choose. Why he or she choose that image can be interpreted by the audience and academicians, and is the work contribute in the narrative of the Malaysian art or it is contribute to their own pocket. Surely we can’t denied that they need to survive on keeping doing what there are doing best (market pressure). But can we actually say that the artist is actually speaking on the behalf of us by using their artworks? Or it is just a bundle of image put together so it can be nice in the eyes of the beholder? Since the introduction of television we have been bombarded by images beyond our need, in a form of message, advertisement and so on, this is what Marshall McLuhan quote saying, “The medium is the message”. If in the form of the fine arts it applies the same ways that we are being serve an infinite of visual needed or not. but suppose the paintings, prints, sculpture and so on should be presenting the things that enlighten, parody, critical, serious and many issues that people especially the society have miss look or unaware. So “We became what we behold” also stated by McLuhan, is it necessary to the audience or not is also subjective topics. As the artist become more and more addicted to their own visual presentation, slave to their own style, that now are nothing but visual on a plain field. Why not we put these two different yet similar object together for example an illustration comic and a painting, we see that the collector of illustration comic is because of the series, visual art, franchise, storyline and many more obvious reason. While the painting is collect for reason of the artist recognition, the content, the context of the artwork, interior purpose and so many reason, but does the message of the artist is important to the society, representing minority people, highlight important issues and indirectly contribute in the narrative of the Malaysian art scene, is it?

           
Pioneer maniac the term may seem a bit harsh for some people, but it seems to be what it supposed to be. As many people in the art scene very well know especially in Malaysia, there are certain artist that are too egocentric about material or subject matter of their own artwork. It became their one and only tools that recognize them as an artist, so if anybody else use it will become an insult to them. Usually the material are not well known in the practising of art making because the material are actually for industrial purpose and something non art related. So it seems that other artist will need to ask their permission if they wanted to use in their artwork, to put into words the first that use the so called rare material is the pioneer, thus it become their trademark. As Fuad Ariff once told about the material studies, the creation of the material purpose is created for the certain reason, firstly are for the benefaction of the human society in helping the everyday life of the society. Thus until we come to use it in art, without defining the material purpose but just to use it as a splash of effect, rare effect of colour, and so many on, we are just borrowing it for our own purpose. Is the artist nowadays try to create something new and extraordinary to compensate the lame idea or content and became famous so desperately. As the artist try to expand the work with the material without a detail research until the art work hit a certain wall, thus artist repeat the same style until it is too obvious. 

Do these symptom that pile up in our art scene? Is not harming, not hurting anyone in particular, but there a lot purpose we can achieved in our pursuit of making art. Research based art, why it is only for those in the academician, researcher, or other institute, why not the artist involve in it, why most of the topic are very subjective very personal. Is because of these symptom that artist stuck on their own personal individual point of view and becoming very rigid. These term or symptom are already appear in our art scene a long time ago, but if it became our main identity will it display our real image our civilization. ‘The visual addict and the pioneer maniac” are they the players of our art scene or just another product maker that non-stop supplying product to be monopolize by a higher key players?