PUNKASILA
Wangsa Marabahaya / Crash Nation
30 June – 21 July 2012
“Indonesian shockwaves from a barrage of natural disasters, including numerous earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, deadly floods, landslides and parching droughts have reached even Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Irked by nationwide whisperings that the calamities were a divine statement against his rule, Mr. Yudhoyono told state meteorologists to explain the science behind the disasters on radio and television.” -Tom McCawley, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 July 2006.
PUNKASILA’s exhibition and CD, both titled Crash Nation*, explore the popular superstition and mysticism surrounding the phenomenon of calamity and disaster in Indonesia. The exhibition comprises 13 disaster scenarios painted collaboratively by 25 artists (members the PUNKASILA art-music collective and their colleagues). The paintings are a collision of styles, genres and techniques including ‘Indo-realism’, abstraction, stencil art, comic art, batik, screen and digital printing, embroidery and collage. Each painting is sonically accompanied by cataclysmic rock from the 13 track Crash Nation CD, recorded by PUNKASILA in Yogyakarta last month, that addresses the same subject.
The disasters depicted are: Merapi (Volcanic Eruption), Busung Lapar (Famine), Korupsi (Corruption), Gempa Bumi(Earthquake), Sumber Kencono (Road Carnage), Lapindo (Mudslide), Tanah Longsor (Landslide), Banjir Bandang (Great Flood),Sukhoi (Plane Crash), Molimo (Five Social Diseases: Theft, Prostitution/Adultery, Drinking, Drugs, Gambling), Suramadu(Bridge Collapse), Tsunami, and Asli/Palsu (Visual Plagiarism).
The exhibition also includes 35 water-coloured prints of Erwan ‘Iwank’ Hersisusanto’s comic illustrations, his fourth instalment of a series of comic books about the adventures of PUNKASILA.
The Crash Nation paintings were developed collaboratively by Uji ‘Hahan’ Handoko Eko Saputro, Hendra ‘Blangkon’ Priyadhani, Rudy ‘Atjeh’ Dharmawan, Janu Satmoko, Krisna Widiathama, Gintani Nur Apresia Swastika, Prihatmoko ‘Moki’ Catur, Rudy ‘Lampung’ Hermawan, Irvin ‘King’ Domi, Woto ‘Wok the Rock’ Wibowo, Sulung Widya Prasastya, Fida Irawanto, Abram Gobram Babardi, Fathurohman Alwathoni Indonesia, Wimo Ambala Bayang, Muhajirin S.pd, Riono Tanggul Nusantara, Decki ‘L'yos’ Firmansyah, Iyok Prayogo, Adi Uma, Eki Firmansyah, Erwan ‘Iwank’ Hersisusanto, Ignasius Ade, Abdul Sykur, and Danius Kesminas.
PUNKASILA Crash Nation CD credits:
Vocals and Disaster Voices: Uji 'Hahan' Handoko Eko Saputro, Danius Kesminas, Woto ‘Wok the Rock’ Wibowo, Terra Bajraghosa, Hendra 'Blankon' Priyadhani; Guitars: Rudy 'Atjeh' Dharmawan, Erwan 'Iwank' Hersisusanto, Antariksa; Bass: Janu Satmoko; Drums: Prihatmoko 'Moki' Catur. Recorded by Dave Nelson at Pengerat Studio, Yogyakarta, May 2012. Mixed and mastered by Dave Nelson in Melbourne.
Limited edition ‘Pocongan’ CD packaging by Rudy 'Atjeh' Dharmawan, Uji 'Hahan' Handoko Eko Saputro and Badari Mustaq.
Crash Nation is released through Yes No Wave Music, Indonesia and distributed by Demajors in Indonesia and Darren Knight Gallery in Australia.
PUNKASILA was formed in Yogyakarta in 2006. Growing out of the optimistic moment of post-reformist Indonesia, PUNKASILA – which literally means ‘punk principles’ – perform as a ‘post-disaster’ rock band and art collective. Exhibitions and concerts have been presented in Australia, Cuba, Indonesia and USA including Embedded with PUNKASILA, Darren Knight Gallery, 2007; the 5th Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane, 2007; The Havana Affair, One Galeri, Jakarta, 2009; PUNKASILA - PUNKASALSA, 10th Havana Biennial, 2009; Yes/No Club, National Museum, Yogyakarta, 2011; Ding Dong Lounge and The Espy, Melbourne, 2011. PUNKASILA’s work formed part of the major 2011 survey exhibition Slave Pianos / PUNKASILA / Pipeline to Oblivion, 3 projects by Danius Kesminas and Collaborators, at Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne. Their debut album, Acronym Wars was released in 2007.
Danius Kesminas has been a major force behind the collaborative art-music projects PUNKASILA, Slave Pianos and The Histrionics. Since 1991 he has exhibited or performed in Austria, Brazil, Canada, Cambodia, China, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Russia, the UK, the USA, Vietnam, and throughout Australia. In 2011 his work was the subject of a major survey exhibition at the Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne. Kesminas’ work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; and the Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
*The title was suggested to Kesminas by Geoff Thompson, the ABC’s former Indonesian Correspondent, after a Garuda Boeing 737-497 carrying several Australian journalists covering the visit of Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer andAttorney-General Philip Ruddock crashed and burst into flames at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta on 7th March 2007, killing 21 passengers and 1 crew member.