Self Identity 3: Bayu Utomo Radjikin

1.

• Lack of arms implies that traditional culture has been dishonoured and is now considered useless, similar to how a warrior who has lost his arms is humiliated and is considered worthless now that he cannot fight
• torso is riddle with holes, armour seems rusty and old, implying that the warrior's armour and defense is weak, easily defeated, just like how the traditional culture is damaged and defenseless, considered old and worthless like rusty armour that has crumbled, showing holes in that armour. Rusty armour also implies it has not been cared for... has been forgotten
• chains hanging from around neck and the legs, implying that the traditional culture is bound, restricted, chained up.
• Head tilted upwards, mouth open in a scream of what seems to be a last shout of pride and refusal to back down, almost like traditional culture has been defeated and abandoned yet it still refuses to lose its spirit despite everything.
• Use of browns and neutral colours seem to imply that the warrior is worn out and ancient, implies that the traditional culture, even with its long history, is on the verge of being forgotten as it is seen as old and 'rusting' even.

2.

• Post-Modernism is classified as visual art that criticises society and their works are anti-corporate.
• Lang Kacang is criticizing the Malaysian society for forsaking the traditional culture and slowly pushing it back in favour of the modern world, as shown by the sculpture depicting a warrior that is handicapped and broken.
• The main message of the artwork is that the people are slowly abandoning their traditional ideas and cultures, losing their sense of cultural identity.
• He seems to be indirectly disapproving of the modern society, where globalisation has caused countries to lose their sense of cultural identity through uniform and universal ideas, causing them to abandon the traditional culture and crippling it (just like how the warrior is crippled)
• Post modern art is usually mixed media, just like Lang Kacang is

3.

• artwork is a sculpture of a single traditional warrior that does not have any arms
• its torso (armour) is ridden with holes, looks ill-kept and rusty, in disrepair
• whole artwork seems to be centred around neutral colours
• wearing traditional headdress and attire of the traditional warriors
• yet is wrapped in chains (chains around neck and legs)
• Stance is such that feet are placed wide apart, head thrown back in a cry of defiance and refusal to admit defeat (exaggerated)
• artwork seems to be made up of many different materials, like metal, feathers, chains, etc.
• features are not well defined, just the basic outlines.
• artist does not seem too concerned with realistic depiction, more focused on the symbollic meaning
• Negative space (wide gap due to his stance with legs placed far apart) is balanced out by the exaggerated feathers of the headdres and his torso, which is the positive space
• seems to be under the Post-Modernism movement
• used mixed media

Vincent Van Gogh

1. Van Gogh's weakness is shown through his portrayal of himself with a bandaged ear. he seems to be highlighting his unstable mentality at that time, such taht he even cut off his own ear, which is his weakness.

Van Gogh could have shown his weakness freely in his self portrait, unlike other artists, perhaps because he want to be different from the norm. Even as a post-impressionist, his style was considered unconventional and unique, thus, he could have desired to deviate from the norm, thus portraying himself in a  undesirable light.

He could also have been suffering from depression during that time, as we know that this self portrait was painted during the last few years of his life, and during that time, he could have been feeling depressed about his life, which  led to him eventually commiting suicide. He could have shown himself with his weaknesses for all to see as he has a low self-esteem, brought about by his failure in his career so far, only having sold one painting in his life, thus, he could have felt that the only things worth remembering about his life is all the unfortunate and sad things that have happened to him, thus, he portrays himself not as a joyful person, but in a sombre and sad way.

By portraying himself with his weaknesses, Van Gogh also showed what his emotions at that time was. So, He could have done his self-portrait in this way as a form of expression of his negative feelings.

2. The mood of this artwork is subdued and depressed. This mood is given off by the use of dull colours. These colours used are mostly monochromatic, in various shades of green. These shades of green, even the yellowish-green of the background, all seem dull and washed out, thus adding to the feeling of the artwork being subdued by making the artwork seem rather dull. The facial expression of the artist is also a serious one, further adding to the subdued mood of the artwork.

The excessive use of green, a cool colour, provides a rather depressing air to the artwork, and also, due to the dark green and blacks used on the artist's clothes and hat, the viewer is inclined to think that the artist's feelings are quite negative, further adding to the sombre mood.

I know that this artwork was painted during the last few years of Van Gogh's life, and shortly before this was painted, the artist had gotten into an arguement with his good friend, Gauguin, after which he cut off his own ear. This artwork, therefore, when put into that context, can be seen as an expression of the artist's sadness of having fallen out with his good friend and his depressed and unstable mentality, which could have been slowly worsening until a year after this work was completed, when Van Gogh commited suicide. Thus, upon knowing the events surrounding this painting, the viewer would naturally understand and feel more strongly Van Gogh's depression.

Self Identity 1: Affandi

1. This artwork is a self-portrait. It is made up of many curvilinear lines that vary in thickness, colour and direction. The artist uses mainly bright and warm colours to portray himself, and chooses to just portray his head such that it takes up most of the space in the canvas and is the focal point of the artwork. There is no specific setting to this self-portrait, yet the background is merely a misture of different colours. The artist chooses to use darker colours and well as some cool colours in the background, perhaps to draw focus to the focal point which is the image of his face.

The artist is portrayed with his head slightly tilted to the side (such that we see three quarters of his face) but his eyes are staring directly at the viewer in what seems to be an intense and somber gaze. only one perspective is used in this artwork. The paint is applied to the canvas in a seemingly haphazard way, which gives the impression that the artist was very spontaneous and passionate in the creation of this work. Though bright colours such as a vibrant red is used, the artist's expression is a solemn one, thus it causes the artwork to give off a rather serious tone.

The lines vaguely define the planes and contours of the artist's features, in the style of the Post-Impressionists. Like the post-impressionists, the artist also focuses on giving the viewers a feeling to the artwork instead of being concerned with rendering a realistic portrait of himself.

1. How does the artist create movement in this artwork?

The artist creates movement in the artwork through his use of colour. The viewer's eyes are automatically drawn to the centre of the canvas, where the focal point of the artwork is, due to the use of bright red there. the bright red is interspersed with orange, yellow and black, thus, the viewer's eyes are then drawn to the left of the canvas where there are thick lines of black, causing the viewer to follow these lines to the bottom left corner of the picture.

The artist's use of line also causes the viewer's eyes to follow the lines that outline the artist's face, in order for the viewer to fully see the depiction of the artist, starting with the bottom left corner and progress around the artwork  in an anticlockwise direction. Even though the lines are haphazard and seem to point in random directions, they still lead the viewer's eyes in the anticlockwise direction as the lines are painted almost like a thick line from which curved, thinner lines branch off.

2. What is your interpretation of this artwork and why?

The haphazard way in which the lines are painted seem to suggest that the artist, at that time, was feeling conflicted and perhaps a little confused, such that his emotions seem to be in a mess and he is unable to think clearly. This is also supported by the use of vibrant red and dark, almost black green in the background on either sides of the splotch of vibrant red; it almost seems like the colours are clashing and represent his emotions at that time, due to the use of complementary colours.

The artist could also have been feeling helpless and unsure of what to do, as shown by the expression on his face in the self-portrait, which seems to be sombre and deep in thought, almost as if he is trying to come up with a solution or resolution to a problem.

The use of bright colours such as red and yellow seem to be in direct contrast with the solemn expression on the artist's face, which is rather ironic. This could symbolise how the artist longs to be happy, hence the bright, warm colours, yet is unable to feel happy and dark and unhappy thoughts seems to always loom over his head, as shown by his expression as well as the dark colours used near the borders of the canvas.