by Sharon Chin

In the spirit of stretching out April Fools as long as it can and will go, I thought I’d put together a quiz called ‘But… Is It Art?’

For people who haven’t sat through a course of post-modernism 101, alot of contemporary art can be a big question mark. I wish we could show people walking through a gallery , with thought bubbles above their heads showing what they’re thinking. Think of it as Art (instead of Night) Vision goggles. Patents pending.

Installation practice can be particularly puzzling. Especially exhibitions of ready-made objects arranged artfully in white spaces, or featuring materials sourced from everyday – also known to the layman as ‘trash’. The whole looking experience can become a game of ‘Where’s Wally?’, i.e. ‘spot-the-art’. I remember thinking this during Not That Balai’s ‘Bangun/Abandon’ project in an abandoned bungalow last year. As I wandered the derelict compound, I had a great time trying to figure out if that pile of scrap in a corner was on purpose or not.

by Sharon Chin

We have a new Prime Minister! If I had said that yesterday, I would have been able to wipe that glum, ponderous look off your face with ‘Haha! Just kidding! April Fool!’. Unfortunately, that wonderful day in the year when nothing can be taken seriously is no longer with us – slipped away completely unappreciated, as so many things do. Today, 2 April, Kampung Malaysia really does have a new Person-In-Charge. HRH the King announced his pwnage consent just hours ago.

by ARTERI

It is not uncommon for me to be stumped whenever I am asked for a reading list on contemporary art in Southeast Asia. So much of what I know is acquired through fieldwork, contacts, long hours spent talking to artists, curators, historians, critics. So little of this knowledge (gossips, legends, histories, theories) has yet to be documented and written down, analysed and most importantly shared.

by Simon Soon

On view now in Cemeti Art House, Jogjakarta, is Eko Nugroho’s spell-binding foray into the world of wayang (shadow puppetry), exploring a centuries-old performance medium that functions both as popular entertainment and as a form of culturally sacrosanct art in his ever expanding body of experimentation with different representational formats.

by ARTERI

Open Call for ASEF’s upcoming 7th Asia-Europe Art Camp – Art Workshop for Visual Arts 2009 in Luxembourg

by Tanya Soong

It is possibly one of the art world’s big little ironies that one of the hardest hit country in Southeast Asia by the current economic crisis is playing host to 80s ‘neo-expressionist’ extraordinaire, Julian Schnabel, who led the charge in painting’s postmodern renaissance and whose seemingly soaring fame and ego was neutered by the financial meltdown of ’87.

by ARTERI

Why so ssserioussss? Watching the late Heath Ledger perform that line as The Joker was surely one of the best moments in The Dark Knight. One day someone has to organize an exhibition with that title (along with ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’). With all that’s happening in the country these days (weird new PM, triple by-elections), there’s no better time to celebrate the fool in us all. There are some excellent events coming up in the next couple of days that you don’t want to miss. I’m going to indulge in some serious art-going and recommend you do the same, starting with:

by Yee I-Lann

Nine things that inspire Sabah-born Malaysian artist, Yee I-Lann.

by Simon Soon

Indieguerillas consists of Miko and Santi, a dynamic husband and wife tag team, who operate the label as a design firm/consultancy as well as an artistic collaboration. It’s not entirely true, though, to consider what they do as purely collaborative because an element of combat is central to their creative process, reflecting a practice that pays homages to two different cultural streams – one that is as contemporary as street art and as old as the wayang.

by Simon Soon

Once in awhile, it’s nice and healthy to be reminded how insipidly and painfully middle class KL is. That’s one big reason to travel.

by Johnny McGeorge

“The ancients built Valdrada on the shores of a lake, with houses all verandas one above the other, and high streets whose railed parapets look out over the water. Thus the traveler, arriving, sees two cities: one erect above the lake, and the other reflected, upside down…” (from Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino)

by Zedeck Siew

Behind Australian ape-lover Lisa Roet’s recent In-Sight exhibition are worthy sentiments: generally, that the environment is in bad shape; more specifically, that our simian kin are almost all endangered because of human activity. If you see Roet’s ten orangutan portraits – each sketching a different individual ape that she worked with in the 15 years of her enthusiasm – and are then persuaded to donate to the WWF, that’s cool. Perhaps the works have served their purpose.

by ARTERI

Is your life governed by a never-ending series of deadlines? Do you lose track of all the hats you wear? Is your job description so hyphen-heavy that it barely fits on your (self-designed-self-printed) business card? Then you’re probably that special species of worker known as the freelancer.

by Daniel Chong

[WARNING! (IM)MATURE CONTENT AND POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE PICTURES AND LINKS AHEAD. SCROLL DOWN AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. REMEMBER, ONCE YOU SEE, YOU CAN’T UNSEE]

By Eva McGovern

I would like to take the opportunity to use my inaugural contribution to contribute an editorial of sorts since I have very kindly been accepted as contributing editor for Arteri. This entry therefore is about a question. A question I have been trying to understand so I can posit it in a more sophisticated way.