There has been an explosion of information in Indonesia: through the TV stations, the various publications, the many printed media and the Internet, the virtual network. A market full of information can be visualized for it. Although the traditional pillars of culture still stand erect with their call for revitalization, the popular culture of the masses has spread its tentacles and evolved in both the urban and the rural areas, forming new traditions. Such is the risk of opening up the information channels. The vocabularies of music and films, together with the icons of modern lifestyles--wardrobes, international brands, and hairstyles--signify the contemporary popular culture. Such significations exist and are passively experienced and consumed, but at the same time, some creative consumption take place. Here we can talk about Arie Diyanto, an artist from the Apotik Komik.

Arie Diyanto studies graphic arts in the ISI Yogyakarta. He is a keen observer of the popular phenomena in the contemporary world and at the same time, he is actively involved in it. The artist is also known for his penchant for conducting dialogues with his own anxiety. In this biennale, he is talking about his own art world through The Death of Author and His-Story. The works reveal strong popular atmosphere. The Death of Author depicts the icons and figures of the art world, complete with their legendary works. Portrayed there are the icons and the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst, Joseph Beuys, Marcel Duchamp (with his urinal), Andy Warhol (with the soup cans), Jackson Pollock, and Keith Herring. "I'm re-questioning about 'the death of the author.' I'm asking whether this is right," Arie says. Names are included in the art history, "but who has the right to put those names on the list and make them an important part of the history? What does it take for Marcel Duchamp, for example, to make a difference in the world of art?"

Other work, His-Story, meanwhile, reveals Arie's reflections on his position as an artist in the midst of art history in the making. He thinks that he now stands at the point of history where the big names of the previous artists still matter much. He expresses his musings in a narration he builds using digital prints, packaging it in a light box.

Arie is willing to use any medium anywhere. The tendency to use various media has been especially strong among the Yogyakartan artists of the nineties. The contemporary art indeed has two faces: it has the spirit to question and criticize, inward and outward. Here Arie is criticizing his own art world, questioning the conventional art history. This has been one certain anxiety among artists in positioning themselves in the history.

Sudjud Dartanto

Born on January 25, 1974 in Klaten, Central Java.
Studies at Indonesia Institute of The Arts (ISI), Yogyakarta (1992).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2001 "Sorry No Art Work", Asien Haus, Essen Jerman; "Sorry (still) No Art Work", Der Verein fur Kunst und Kultur e.v. 88, Hamburg, Germany; "La Figuration Narrative (freestyler)", Indonesia - France Institute, Yogyakarta.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1998 "Four Fresh of Freezer", Vredeburg Fortress, Yogyakarta.
1999 Yogyakarta Biennale VI, Purna Budaya Art Centre, Yogyakarta "KNALPOT", Cemeti Gallery, Yogyakarta - Puri Lukisan Art Centre, Bali; "Bias Sahaja", Printmaking in 3 cities, Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta; "Sakit Berlanjut" (Apotik Komik), Public Art Exhibition, Yogyakarta.
2000 Four Member of Apotik Komik, Frank and Lee, Attelier, Singapore; Public Art : "Grafitti Action, Parkinsound", Sport Hall Universitas Negri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta.
2001 Public Art : "Too Much Mural Is Boring", Apotik Komik, Jakarta Arts Festival, Jakarta; Public Art : "Grafitti Action, Parkinsound", Kridosono Sport Hall, Yogyakarta.
2002 "Read! Art Project", British Council, Jakarta; City Mural Project Paintings, organized by Apotik Komik, Yogyakarta; "Age-hibition", Edwin Gallery, Jakarta; "36 Ideas from Asia (Apotik Komik)", Keztely Museum, Hungary; "Awas! Recent Art from Indonesia", Bentara Budaya Art Centre, Jakarta.

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