OBSCURA : NEW ART NEW LIGHT 4 DISEMBER 2015
First and foremost, this show would’ve not come into reality without the help of En. Fadly Sabran of Kapallorek Art Space, who provided as a host for this show which is part of our academic program under art curatorial course held by UiTM Perak, Faculty of Art and Design Bachelor’s degree in fine art programs for final semester students, we express the highest of thanks and gratitude.
We would also like to thank En Mahizan Hijjaz, our program coordinator and advisor for this course, and those involved in making this show a reality, the project managerial team, fellow course mates, and juniors as part of the development process in art management and productions.
This project aim is to give students an experience in handling a live art project, and the business side of work making, OBSCURA is a group show organized by 23 students, as a stepping stone into the managerial process in art making, focusing in the organization of art exhibitions that involves curatorial work such as art writing, curating and selecting artwork, making inventory, displaying, and organizing and promoting art. This project aim is to give students an experience in handling a live art project, and the management of art for the public.
As introduced, the show main goal is to promote time-based and new media art into the public as a fine art form, and the possibility it held as a new medium in art making. It is projected to study and experiment on how electronic art can prove to be a new challenge to the definition of 2D and 3D art, and how the public had defined it, could define it with the execution of this show.
As such, we’ve curated 15 different works by students centralizing on the medium of electronic art followed with the thematic approach of contemporary social issues for the audience to enjoy and react to.
‘’The first record of the camera obscura principle goes back to Ancient Greece, when Aristotle noticed how light passing through a small hole into a darkened room produces an image on the wall opposite, during a partial eclipse of the sun. However, it may be much older than that. Stone age man may have used the principle of the camera obscura to produce the world’s first art in cave drawings.’’ (HISTORY OF CAMERA OBSCURA)
Terminologically wise, we choose the name OBSCURA due to its common history and relativity with the medium of our exhibition which have art works that are coefficient to the invention of photography, such as short films, 3D mapping installation, and video installations.
The core concept from Camera Obscura had evolved into photography and projection technology, enabling the production of more accurate images, in which has been the pinnacle of one of the major style in time-based and contemporary art such as video art, and projection installation.
New media art had escaped many definitions over the years; it is a constantly evolving art form that stems out from the development of technology. As such, new media art are often identified and characterized by its dependency to technology. In Malaysia, such phenomenon is not excluded; Malaysian artist had started developing arts in line with the revolution of the information and technological age as well that date as early as the 1980’s.
Artistic style that centralized on media art had developed its own genre in new media arts such as computer, digital art, electronic art, interactive art, kinetic art, multimedia art, robotics art, sound art, video art and more. Among the many Malaysian artists to name a few that experimented with them are Ismail Zain, Liew Kung Yu, Lim Eng Hooi, Wong Hooi Chong, and Hasnol Jamal Saidon (From Mass to Multimedia: Malaysian Art in Electronic Era, 2013)
Filmography and video art shares similar quality in its formalistic appearance, and tend to be grouped as one genre of art, however as such. In definition of characteristic, video art relies on motion pictures, with or without sound effects.
Today, video art had splitted into several types, with the innovation of the World Wide Web, through the accessibility given by streaming website such as youtube. Some of the most popular genre today is called vines, dubsmash, where certain context is shown in a short period of time. Other genre centralized into gaming channel and usually are comedy based in term of content
The various forms it came in varies, such as broadcasted recording for public or closed viewing such as DVD, projected on sculptures or simply on a wall. Video Art is often related to experimental art, in which the treatment of form diversified, creating a various possibilities in creativity and innovation through form and context.
With the information age, the appreciation of video art had grown, due to an easy accessibility, and is constantly developing to this day.
Obscura has been, a challenging event to host, nevertheless it was a fun, exciting and good experience for us to be fortunate about, in especially, thanks to Mr. Fadly Sabran, whom had assist us under the wings of Kapal Lorek Studio, and Mr. Mahizan Hijjaz who supervised.
In the process, we’ve learn the discipline, management and organization skill for an exhibition to conceive, in which may proof to be an essential skill for future show upon entering the art scene. We’ve learned that communication has always been the key to a succesful event, accommodated by teamwork, and commitment.
In best regards, we hope in the future, many other student should have the opportunity to experience it, despite the time constraint, it can proof to be one of the most important management skill in the art scene, to promote and advertise good art to the public eyes.
- Curatorial Team OBSCURA