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