ART | BASEL 45 : THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE ART WORKS

Saturday, June 20, 2015 at 8:00 PM | Posted by Johan




The Director of Tate Modern, London, closed off the discussion by saying, "I fear that the current lack of knowledge in contemporary art amongst artists, gallerists, auctioners, academicians and collectors might just kill contemporary art and with that, something else, something we do not know what yet, will emerge."


RT | BASEL has now reached its 45th year. For me, it is my 1st attendance. My passion is in art, contemporary art. However, my fascination for contemporary art was only limited to the exposure I had on Malaysian contemporary art. I did once attended Art Dubai in 2013 but it was only to conclude, in the hindsight, that Malaysian contemporary art has matured to an international level. My personal opinion of contemporary art is that it manifests 50% story telling and 50% aesthetics. Some artists disagreed with me and some do agree. Anyhow, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 

There was also a debate on Facebook amongst artists, collectors and gallerists on whether contemporary art is the work of conmen. Things got heated and some were upset. I wish that that question was discussed in a civilised manner just like how I observed in Art | Basel 45 in Basel, Switzerland, yesterday. They discussed whether contemporary is a garbage bag of things we do not know or a significant contributor to the development of approach in addressing societal issues. It was a fantastic session that concludes, if read between the lines, that contemporary art is not garbage but knowledge. The Director of Tate Modern, London, closed off the discussion by saying, "I fear that the current lack of knowledge in contemporary art amongst artists, gallerists, auctioners, academicians and collectors might just kill contemporary art and with that, something else, something we do not know what yet, will emerge."

Well back to my definition of 50% : 50% split between story telling and aesthetic, in my opiniom, if you sway too much on the story telling and significantly ignore the aesthetics, the knowledge quest in contemporary art may just render it non-art in the visual sense. In fact, what is thought to radiate knowledge may just have the opposite effect making contemporary are an incomprehensible subject matter. So far, Malaysian contemporary art has not yet reached that level and personally, for the sake of the industry in Malaysia, I do hope that it maintains the fair split between story telling and aesthetic values. It cannot evolve too fast when society (in Malaysia) had just only started to learn about contemporary art (the Malaysian way) since around 2008/2009 when the first art auctioning activities started in Malaysia. The Europeans started contemporary way back in the 70's when Malaysia was just about to enter the pre-contemporary stage, i.e. modernist abstract.

To demonstrate my confusion of the incomprehensible art works that I had observed at Art | Basel 45 for the past 3 days (17 - 19 June 2015), please find below a selection of my favourite pieces befitting my incomprehensible state of mind. Enjoy!

Something and Nothing
By Damien Hirst

(Untitled) Colour
By Michael Riedel

Under This Perspective
By Jana Euler

Crepuscules - Crepuscule IX
By Jean-Baptiste Huynh

Display #26 - Barn Wall
By Haim Steinbach

Egocentric System
By Julius von Bismarck

Life Model
By David Shrigley

Arab Spring
By Kader Attia

Scapegoated
By Gilbert and George

Your Space Embracer
By Olafur Eliasson

Wallformation Gelbmodellierung
By Franz Erhard Walther

Plastic Tree
By Pascale Marthine Tayou

Food for Thought 'Almuallaqat'
By Maha Malluh

Untitled (Blue Plazebo)
By Gonzalez-Torres

An Extended Gray Scale
By Marcia Hafif

112 ● Never Argue with Police Officers,
and Address Then as "Officers"
By Tony Lewis

Under Blossomb : Lousy Elegy
By Helen Marten

Stacked
By Ai Weiwei

Portrait of Marie
By Mickalene Thomas

VSG-Gruppe
By Martin Honert

We No.1
By Xie Nanxing

Access
By Rita McBride

Emma (Pink)
By Yves Scherer

Eclipse
By Claude Leveque

Five and Twenty
By Cosima Von Bonin

MammeryLooLoo
By Sarah Lucas

Albizzin
By Damien Hirst

Bamboo Forest
By Liu Wei

Paper Bag
By Susumu Koshimizu

n.t.
By A. R. Penck

Dialogue
By Lee Ufan

Zwillingstochter (No.2)
By Gregor Schneider

Plan for Brugge No.3
By Tadashi Kawamata

Senza Titolo
By Jannis Kounellis

Aggression of a Writer
By Camille Henrot

Orrizonte
By Alberto Garutti

Ecology and Socialism
By Joseph Beuys

The Watcher
By Jan Worst

Tool Vitrine
By Thomas Hirschhorn

Hollow Mouse
By Katharina Fritsch



I cannot wait to go for Art | Basel 46


*****



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THE GREEN DRAGON

Saturday, May 23, 2015 at 5:14 PM | Posted by Johan


THE GREEN DRAGON
Johan Ishak
23 May 2015
Pencil on Paper with Instagram Photo Effects
15cm x 15cm
Buanaseni Studio Shah Alam

Given Away a Gift to a Friend

This sketch was done during STAROBA National Convention 2015, a convention for the old boys for Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman (STAR), Ipoh, Perak. It was changed to green via Instagram to signify the hostel house that was in back in the school days, i.e. Green House at STAR. However, I have subsequently reproduced the image on other colours that signify the other hostel houses namely, Blue, Black, Red, White and Yellow as below. Also printed below is the original pencil sketch.
THE BLUE DRAGON
THE BLACK DRAGON
THE RED DRAGON
THE WHITE DRAGON
THE YELLOW DRAGON
THE ORIGINAL DRAGON


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ALAQ KEMBALI LAGI / THE BLOOD CLOT RETURNS AGAIN

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 at 2:13 PM | Posted by Johan

AL-ALAQ KEMBALI LAGI
THE BLOOD CLOT RETURNS AGAIN
Johan Ishak
12 May 2015
Acrylic and Ink on Canvas
90cm x 90cm
Buanaseni Studio Shah Alam
 www.buanaseni.blogspot.com

SOLD


This is one of the works done for the Al-Alaq series (as shown in the images on the Left). Al-Alaq is the 96th sura or chapter of the Qur'an. It is composed of 19 ayat (verses or "signs"), and is traditionally believed to have been revealed at Mecca at cave Hira. It is sometimes also known as Sūrat al-Iqrā ("Read"). The first five verses of this sura are believed by nearly all sources to be the first verses of the Qur'an to be revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The linguistic definition of ′alaq'  is "leech", "medicinal leech", "coagulated blood", "blood clot", or "the early stage of the embryo". ′Alaq' is also a derivative of 'alaqa' which means "attached and hanging to something." The term ′alaqah' is the second stage of human prenatal development (sura Al-Mu’minoon 23: 12-14) which "descriptively encompasses the primary external and internal features" of the early embryo. The term ′alaqah' also occurs in several languages related to Arabic. In Hebrew there is 'alûqāh' (or alukah), the generic name for any blood-sucking worm or leech, and in Aramaic and Syriac there are words with apparently similar meanings. This sura has two parts: the first part consists of vv. 1-5, and the second of vv. 6-19. About the first part a great majority of the Islamic scholars are agreed that it forms the first revelation to be sent down to prophet Muhammad in 610. In this regard, the Hadith from Aisha, which Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari, Muslim and other traditionists have related with several chains of authorities, is one of the most authentic Hadith on the subject. In it Aisha narrates the full story of the beginning of revelation as she herself heard it from Muhammad. Besides, Ibn Abbas, Abu Musa al-Ashari and a group of the Companions also are reported to have stated that these were the very first verses of the Quran to be revealed to Muhammad. The second part was composed later, when Muhammad began to perform the prescribed prayer in the precincts of the Kaaba, and Abu Jahl tried to prevent him from this with threats.

The English translation of Al-Alaq is as follows:

1. Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists),
2. Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).
3. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous,
4. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen [the first person to write was Prophet Idrees (Enoch)],
5. Has taught man that which he knew not.
6. Nay! Verily, man does transgress all bounds (in disbelief and evil deed, etc.).
7. Because he considers himself self-sufficient.
8. Surely! Unto your Lord is the return.
9. Have you (O Muhammad) seen him (i.e. Abu Jahl) who prevents?,
10. A slave (Muhammad) when he prays?
11. Tell me, if he (Muhammad) is on the guidance (of Allah)?
12. Or enjoins piety?
13. Tell me if he (the disbeliever, Abu Jahl) denies (the truth, i.e. this Qur'an), and turns away?
14. Knows he not that Allah does see (what he does)?
15. Nay! If he (Abu Jahl) ceases not, We will catch him by the forelock,
16. A lying, sinful forelock!
17. Then, let him call upon his council (of helpers),
18. We will call the guards of Hell (to deal with him)!
19. Nay! (O Muhammad)! Do not obey him (Abu Jahl). Fall prostrate and draw near to Allah!
  
When read, I was fascinated by ayats (verses) 9 and 14 which reads "Have you seen him who prevents?" and "Knows he not that Allah does see?". This emphasises symbolic status of the sura (chapter) of the Holy Quran for being the first sura to be revealed to Prophet Muhammad and to mankind. The sura was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by Angel Jibrail (Gabriel) when he (Muhammad) was not even aware that he has been appointed by Allah (God). Therefore, this sura is the only sura revealed to Prophet Muhammad before he knew he is a prophet. So strong is the relevance of this sura that I have noticed ayats 9 ad 14 to be acknowledged as the key points as they portray the essence of the sura in the context of enlightening mankind to the existence of God - by suggesting the idea of the threat of rejection of Prophet Muhammad by Abu Jahl, a prominent Arab Aristocrat, or any man at all (or even Muhammad himself), but in the end, Muhammad triumph (as a prophet), for which, only Allah (God) Himself knew best, and well in advance of this (referring the the 2nd leg that says "Knows he not that Allah does see?"











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AL-ALAQ KEMBALI / THE BLOOD CLOT RETURNS

at 2:09 PM | Posted by Johan
  
AL-ALAQ KEMBALI
THE BLOOD CLOT RETURNS
Johan Ishak
12 May 2015
Acrylic and Ink on Canvas
90cm x 90cm
Buanaseni Studio Shah Alam
 www.buanaseni.blogspot.com

SOLD


This is one of the works done for the Al-Alaq series (as shown in the images on the Left). Al-Alaq is the 96th sura or chapter of the Qur'an. It is composed of 19 ayat (verses or "signs"), and is traditionally believed to have been revealed at Mecca at cave Hira. It is sometimes also known as Sūrat al-Iqrā ("Read"). The first five verses of this sura are believed by nearly all sources to be the first verses of the Qur'an to be revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The linguistic definition of ′alaq'  is "leech", "medicinal leech", "coagulated blood", "blood clot", or "the early stage of the embryo". ′Alaq' is also a derivative of 'alaqa' which means "attached and hanging to something." The term ′alaqah' is the second stage of human prenatal development (sura Al-Mu’minoon 23: 12-14) which "descriptively encompasses the primary external and internal features" of the early embryo. The term ′alaqah' also occurs in several languages related to Arabic. In Hebrew there is 'alûqāh' (or alukah), the generic name for any blood-sucking worm or leech, and in Aramaic and Syriac there are words with apparently similar meanings. This sura has two parts: the first part consists of vv. 1-5, and the second of vv. 6-19. About the first part a great majority of the Islamic scholars are agreed that it forms the first revelation to be sent down to prophet Muhammad in 610. In this regard, the Hadith from Aisha, which Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari, Muslim and other traditionists have related with several chains of authorities, is one of the most authentic Hadith on the subject. In it Aisha narrates the full story of the beginning of revelation as she herself heard it from Muhammad. Besides, Ibn Abbas, Abu Musa al-Ashari and a group of the Companions also are reported to have stated that these were the very first verses of the Quran to be revealed to Muhammad. The second part was composed later, when Muhammad began to perform the prescribed prayer in the precincts of the Kaaba, and Abu Jahl tried to prevent him from this with threats.

The English translation of Al-Alaq is as follows:

1. Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists),
2. Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).
3. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous,
4. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen [the first person to write was Prophet Idrees (Enoch)],
5. Has taught man that which he knew not.
6. Nay! Verily, man does transgress all bounds (in disbelief and evil deed, etc.).
7. Because he considers himself self-sufficient.
8. Surely! Unto your Lord is the return.
9. Have you (O Muhammad) seen him (i.e. Abu Jahl) who prevents?,
10. A slave (Muhammad) when he prays?
11. Tell me, if he (Muhammad) is on the guidance (of Allah)?
12. Or enjoins piety?
13. Tell me if he (the disbeliever, Abu Jahl) denies (the truth, i.e. this Qur'an), and turns away?
14. Knows he not that Allah does see (what he does)?
15. Nay! If he (Abu Jahl) ceases not, We will catch him by the forelock,
16. A lying, sinful forelock!
17. Then, let him call upon his council (of helpers),
18. We will call the guards of Hell (to deal with him)!
19. Nay! (O Muhammad)! Do not obey him (Abu Jahl). Fall prostrate and draw near to Allah!
  
When read, I was fascinated by ayats (verses) 9 and 14 which reads "Have you seen him who prevents?" and "Knows he not that Allah does see?". This emphasises symbolic status of the sura (chapter) of the Holy Quran for being the first sura to be revealed to Prophet Muhammad and to mankind. The sura was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by Angel Jibrail (Gabriel) when he (Muhammad) was not even aware that he has been appointed by Allah (God). Therefore, this sura is the only sura revealed to Prophet Muhammad before he knew he is a prophet. So strong is the relevance of this sura that I have noticed ayats 9 ad 14 to be acknowledged as the key points as they portray the essence of the sura in the context of enlightening mankind to the existence of God - by suggesting the idea of the threat of rejection of Prophet Muhammad by Abu Jahl, a prominent Arab Aristocrat, or any man at all (or even Muhammad himself), but in the end, Muhammad triumph (as a prophet), for which, only Allah (God) Himself knew best, and well in advance of this (referring the the 2nd leg that says "Knows he not that Allah does see?"










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AL-ALAQ / THE BLOOD CLOT

at 1:57 PM | Posted by Johan
  
AL-ALAQ
THE BLOOD CLOT
Johan Ishak
12 May 2015
Acrylic and Ink on Canvas
90cm x 90cm
Buanaseni Studio Shah Alam
 www.buanaseni.blogspot.com

SOLD

This is one of the works done for the Al-Alaq series (as shown in the images on the Left). Al-Alaq is the 96th sura or chapter of the Qur'an. It is composed of 19 ayat (verses or "signs"), and is traditionally believed to have been revealed at Mecca at cave Hira. It is sometimes also known as Sūrat al-Iqrā ("Read"). The first five verses of this sura are believed by nearly all sources to be the first verses of the Qur'an to be revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The linguistic definition of ′alaq'  is "leech", "medicinal leech", "coagulated blood", "blood clot", or "the early stage of the embryo". ′Alaq' is also a derivative of 'alaqa' which means "attached and hanging to something." The term ′alaqah' is the second stage of human prenatal development (sura Al-Mu’minoon 23: 12-14) which "descriptively encompasses the primary external and internal features" of the early embryo. The term ′alaqah' also occurs in several languages related to Arabic. In Hebrew there is 'alûqāh' (or alukah), the generic name for any blood-sucking worm or leech, and in Aramaic and Syriac there are words with apparently similar meanings. This sura has two parts: the first part consists of vv. 1-5, and the second of vv. 6-19. About the first part a great majority of the Islamic scholars are agreed that it forms the first revelation to be sent down to prophet Muhammad in 610. In this regard, the Hadith from Aisha, which Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari, Muslim and other traditionists have related with several chains of authorities, is one of the most authentic Hadith on the subject. In it Aisha narrates the full story of the beginning of revelation as she herself heard it from Muhammad. Besides, Ibn Abbas, Abu Musa al-Ashari and a group of the Companions also are reported to have stated that these were the very first verses of the Quran to be revealed to Muhammad. The second part was composed later, when Muhammad began to perform the prescribed prayer in the precincts of the Kaaba, and Abu Jahl tried to prevent him from this with threats.

The English translation of Al-Alaq is as follows:

1. Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists),
2. Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).
3. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous,
4. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen [the first person to write was Prophet Idrees (Enoch)],
5. Has taught man that which he knew not.
6. Nay! Verily, man does transgress all bounds (in disbelief and evil deed, etc.).
7. Because he considers himself self-sufficient.
8. Surely! Unto your Lord is the return.
9. Have you (O Muhammad) seen him (i.e. Abu Jahl) who prevents?,
10. A slave (Muhammad) when he prays?
11. Tell me, if he (Muhammad) is on the guidance (of Allah)?
12. Or enjoins piety?
13. Tell me if he (the disbeliever, Abu Jahl) denies (the truth, i.e. this Qur'an), and turns away?
14. Knows he not that Allah does see (what he does)?
15. Nay! If he (Abu Jahl) ceases not, We will catch him by the forelock,
16. A lying, sinful forelock!
17. Then, let him call upon his council (of helpers),
18. We will call the guards of Hell (to deal with him)!
19. Nay! (O Muhammad)! Do not obey him (Abu Jahl). Fall prostrate and draw near to Allah!
  
The art work has red highlights of ayats (verses) 9 and 14 which reads "Have you seen him who prevents?" and "Knows he not that Allah does see?". This highlighting is done to emphasise symbolic status of the sura (chapter) of the Holy Quran for being the first sura to be revealed to Prophet Muhammad and to mankind. The sura was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by Angel Jibrail (Gabriel) when he (Muhammad) was not even aware that he has been appointed by Allah (God). Therefore, this sura is the only sura revealed to Prophet Muhammad before he knew he is a prophet. So strong is the relevance of this sura that I have chosen ayats 9 ad 14 to be highlighted as they portray the essence of the sura in the context of enlightening mankind to the existence of God - by suggesting the idea of the threat of rejection of Prophet Muhammad by Abu Jahl, a prominent Arab Aristocrat, or any man at all (or even Muhammad himself), but in the end, Muhammad triumph (as a prophet), for which, only Allah (God) Himself knew best, and well in advance of this (referring the the 2nd leg that says "Knows he not that Allah does see?"
  








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