Rizki A. Zaelani
“Reality Effects” constitute the fundamental problems faced by the “realism” genre in Indonesian art. The curatorial invitation of this exhibition asks the artists to trace back the problems of “reality” in order to re-assess what has previously been called “realism”. The term “realism” does not necessarily have the same meaning with the keyword to this exhibition, or “reality”. “Reality”, however, is an important issue in the way we understand realism, as the two concepts are inextricably linked. The cultural theoretician Raymond Williams explains that realism is one of the problematic cultural terms. Realism, according to Williams, is a difficult word not only because of the intricacy of the disputes in art and philosophy to which its predominant uses refer, but also because the two words on which it seems to depend, real and reality, have a very complicated linguistic history.” In practice, the understanding of realism is often represented by our judgment about certain art expressions (a painting or a sculpture) containing forms or images that are realistic in nature. To the commoners, realism is even considered as “art-ism” that explains the ability of an artist to copy the nature and other forms in realistic manners, making them look “natural” or “honest”.
Reality Effect:
Realism in Contemporary Art
Asmudjo Jono Irianto
Technological development, especially one that is related with the production of images, has changed the perception of the contemporary society about reality and the world. Today it is difficult to determine what the true reality is as human perception is shaped by the deluge of images and spectacles, giving rise to what Guy Debord calls “the society of spectacle.” The perception of reality within the contemporary society is indeed shaped by, and depends on, the culture of spectacles. People are not aware of the political and commercial manipulations instilled in their minds through the TV sets in the family rooms. Similarly, in Indonesia the reality shows and gossip shows presented by the TVs become daily staples of the people, who ironically feel that they are in control by holding the remote controls and zapping through the TV channels.
What we consider as reality today is in fact always a construct shaped by a variety of often-conflicting interests. It is thus difficult to determine what “reality” is. The term of ‘simulacrum’ shows how hard it is for us to pin down true reality, as what is present before us is often a copy of copy.
