| |
|
||
| |
|
|
|
home > art > former resident artists |
ABDUL MULTHALIB MUSA |
jump to biography >>jump to Gunnery Residency >>
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Above: Sixty Turns by Multhalib, installed at Rimbun Dahan in 2009, and part of the outdoor permanent collection. |
Artist's Statement for Rimbun Dahan ExhibitionINTRODUCTION It is my intention to highlight in my work some of the issues related to space and temporality, the integration of technology and inspiration, truth and illusion affecting everything that we perceive as tangible and implied, in an attempt to establish a complex relationship between art and architecture. When considering my work, it is necessary to be aware that current thinking suggests that each domain may be addressed in isolation from one another, and that academically there are perceptible similarities and differences between art and architecture. However, for me any distinctions are becoming more difficult to distinguish from what was preconceived. It is at this initially conceptual level that an intangible idea (re)shuffles between what can be classified as art and what architecture, and thus is materialized into the final body of work. CONCEPTION Most of my work is derived from a sort of spontaneous, nonlinear, seemingly non-sequential contemplation between what could be and what exists, what is meant to be experienced and what is actually felt. It is from our surrounding natural and built environment, and consequently the interactions or lack of them, that we acquire knowledge and inform our thinking, and it is from others that we learn about the self and how to nurture any talent that God has given us. At this stage, I have come to perceive the self as a composite that is often contradictory and internally incomplete. Perhaps this is one way to relate to my work, in a sense that it is conceptualized and manifested in fragments and aggregates to reveal a certain personal characteristic that challenges the reader to engage with the work at various levels of interpretation. CONFLICT It has been a struggle for me to envisage a three-dimensional non-planar composition such as a non-Euclidean design for a sculpture, which is represented on the two-dimensional plane in terms of plans, sections, and elevations. Even more difficult perhaps, is the need to acquire a sort of paradigm shift from thinking in terms of large-scale projects such as buildings, to a more subtle language that is better suited for a sculptural undertaking, much smaller in scale by comparison. Hence, the problem with physical models is that you can only do so many and while computer-aided designs are better for the diversified repetitive tasks, the form is only virtual and lacks the inherent property of the finished material to create a spatial-temporal relationship between the viewer and the work. These concerns have been an ongoing personal conflict and the result, whether successful or not, is apparent in the work. My undergraduate studies in architecture have undoubtedly molded a certain way of thinking in conceptualizing the physical body of the work. PROCESS As a result
of this particular way of thinking, the process of realizing an idea can
be scrutinized as rather architectural in its approach, yet does not have
the constraint architects normally face. It is said that one way of differentiating
art and architecture is their different responses to objective requirements.
Hence, if art is seen as speculative thinking, then what I am doing must
be art by default since everything I do is conjectural and self-directed
- though I am not implying that architecture is already art, or vice-versa.
Consequently, I do not design the final works themselves, but am more
oriented towards conceiving the possible relationship between solids and
voids, which is more analogous to the notion of suggestive space. I prefer
to consider this process as parallel to generating a conceptual system
in order for the tectonic idea to be realized. This would result in the
actual fabrication DO-UNDO-REDO All of the possible generative sources are given adequate consideration during inception and this develops into a wide spectrum of architectural and artistic interpretation. Although difficult to describe, the work often begins from this infinite and productive intuition which is challenged and tested both physically and mentally. It then matures from the intangible realm of thought, propelled by its own internal energy, in an effort to consciously make something out of nothing. This is an iterative methodology of working and reworking an idea at various stages of the design development, and perhaps a feasible justification on the continuity of form that is apparent from one work to another. In a way, the coherence is a result of the consistent use of this repetitive method, which evidently is carried throughout the physical aspect of the work itself. TECTONIC The works themselves are certainly 'end products' in their own respect. Basically, the final built objects are finite, well-defined, and are more or less free from the imperfections of the production process. Nevertheless, I still consider the works to be incomplete, schematic, trapped in the midst of their production, with potential to be further developed. Seen from this perspective, the work is left as if merely to engage other students and professionals within the field of art and architecture. However, as built and finished works they also have the opportunity to engage the public for whom they were meant and any subsequent unanticipated public. Therefore, the work is indeed offered with the intention of being read while addressing the reader with a multitude of interpretations, and to personally sustain the intellectual animation of the design process. Biography1976 Born in Pulau Pinang. As a child, I was interested in drawing and won several
competitions in Malaysia and overseas. The most recent and important being
the Malaysian nominee and Asian finalist for the prestigious Oita Asian
Sculpture Exhibition and Open Competition at the Fumio Asakura Memorial
Park in Oita, Japan to be held in June 2002. After secondary school, my interests broadened to theoretical
thinking, science and engineering. I studied architecture at the
University of Adelaide, Australia and obtained a Bachelor Degree in Design
Studies in 1996. I later obtained the Bachelor of Architecture with Honours
at UiTM. I always longed to do fine arts while studying architecture and
fortuitously an opportunity arose. I applied for the 2001 Rimbun Dahan
Residency Program organized by Angela and Hijjas Kasturi at their residence
at Kuang and was accepted as the Malaysian resident artist. The year-long residency has revived my interest in fine
arts and again in architecture, with a more serious conviction and undertaking.
In my work, I attempt to highlight some of the issues related to space
and temporality, the integration of technology and inspiration, truth
and delusion, affecting everything that we perceive as tangible and implied,
in an attempt to establish a complex relationship between art and architecture. Malaysian
Nominee and Finalist '6th Oita Asian Sculpture Exhibition' 'Open Show' National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur 'Rimba Ilmu Nature Art Week' University of
Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 'Manusia' NN Gallery, Kuala Lumpur 'Tasik Kenyir' Pengkalan Gawi Tourist Information
Centre, Tasik Kenyir, Special Mention Prize 'World-Wide Millennium'
Painting Competition, Winsor 'Watercolour Competition & Exhibition'
Creative Art Centre, The National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur; Second
Prize 'National Fire Prevention Week' Galeri Shah
Alam, Selangor; First Prize Institut
Bahasa, Kuala Lumpur1999 'Creative Craft Design' Competition &
Above: Abdul Multalib Musa has been awarded a 3 month residency at the
Gunnery Studios in Sydney from June to August, 2004, sponsored by the
Australian High Commmission in Kuala Lumpur. Here Talib receives the award
from H.E. Mr. James Wise, the Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia,
at the Australian High Commmission on Friday 23rd April. The announcement
of the award coincided with the posters from the urbanart2003 project
being placed in the lobby of the High Commission for exhibition. All five
artists on display have been resident at Rimbun Dahan: Chong
Siew Ying, Noor Mahnun
Mohamed, Wong Perng Fey,
Ahmad Shukri Mohamed and Abdul
Multalib Musa. The website for this Melbourne Tram Shelter exhibition
is www.vicnet.net.au/~urbanart/
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Last updated 16 Jan 2010. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
home · about · art · architecture · environment |
