Samsul Arifin

This work is in good condition, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. Minor indications of wear and handling around the edges, corners and margins but only evident upon close observation. Under ultraviolet light inspection reveals no evidence of restoration. Unframed, on stretcher.
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Samsul Arifin is a contemporary Indonesian artist, whose works analyses, and reflects upon the repercussions that modernization has had on the younger generation. His works embrace humour, and tongue-in-cheek innuendos, to further convey the underlining message of the pieces. Ever present throughout the installations and two-dimensional pieces, is the rag doll Goni, who exists as an extension of the artist’s psyche.

Encompassing the roles of commentator, spectator, guide or simply a model, Goni (whose name refers to rice, or Goni— sack) interacts with the viewer through the artworks. Absent of expression, save for two plastic googly eyes, the doll is Samsul’s alter ego that allows him to act as third person observer within the works. “Artists must strip themselves bare”, he has said.

In the painting Telescope, Goni stands alone peering out of an object that is suggestive of a telescope. The work makes reference to vintage adventure stories, the pioneering astronaut charting new horizons, or the explorer who discovers a lost civilization, classic childhood tales that inspired the imagination.

However, the work may also reveal the darker, adult side to these stories. Man lost in his environment, the adventure misguided as he searches for signs of life to pay him company. Painted in a variation of grey tones, Goni dominates the viewer’s attention, while he the solitary figure chooses to look away.

A relatively recent work in the artist’s oeuvre, Telescope may address the influence that digital technology has on a child’s creativity, and subsequently, society as a whole. As a developing country, Indonesia is fully experiencing the materialistic desires that modernization has brought with it. However, there remains an economic divide, with luxury and secondary education limited to only a select few.

Samsul grew up in a working class family whose parents were tradesman, struggling to save money to send him to school. He was aware from a young age the significance that a secondary education had on determining an individual’s direction in life, specifically their financial independence and security. His artworks further demonstrate the conflicted relationship of wanting an education, and yet not having the means to do so.

Therefore as the country becomes more developed, the economic divide grows wider. Within an existential framework, the painting Telescope becomes a pictorial representation of the alienation that people are experiencing. Goni with his optical instrument becomes a blank metaphor, commanding the viewer to place their opinions onto his passive form.