what had became my conclusion was that it really takes something else to be able to create. certain emotion, certain pain, struggle, or anything negative. i had been in italy for three months prior to the event and it came across my mind that italy inherited too much beauty from the ancient time, it's like you take all the beauty around you for granted, and there's no longer any necessity to create more beauty coming from inside yourself.
it was also here that i really realized how a city, a place where you live, defines who you are and what you become. i was a byproduct of jakarta. my attitude towards life was shaped there. but when i was in italy i was a completely different person. it was on cyprus pavilion when all of the sudden i missed my jakarta personality, the one who bothers to create, the one who's sensitive enough to the agony of living to be able to create. it had been so stable, so normal and functional in italy i don't find that pessimistic attitude towards life i usually had.
i experienced lots of great things here. it's impossible to record the emotion with pictures or words. there were works that made me say things like, "shit this is awesome, i think i can also do this kind of thing". there were works that really evoked deep thoughts and feelings, like the third picture below. the sculptures' faces radiated real human emotion while their bodies weren't even human. then there's this south american pavilion where they use smell to define the space (fifth picture), it was just genius. then there's also the one who really really portrayed one of my biggest fear: the ocean. for real. there's this vault where you could enter and walk on a bridge toward a large video display of the ocean at night time. i couldn't even approach it nearer as i almost lost my breath i needed to get out of there. it was like someone projected your scariest feeling for real. then the second last picture was an art installation on an artist research in an insane asylum before turning herself into one.
while some works impressed me a lot, some others not at all. i think that's what so great about art, it speaks differently one person to another. you got to choose what's more comfortable for you.
"it is a major achievement to realize that the body is only a vehicle for the soul."
