Tisna Sanjaya's works can generally be called as the true representation of the specific condition of the Indonesian people. This is evident in his material usage, his style and idioms, and his ideas. The works not only use specific local materials - bamboo weaving, water, soil, vegetables, T-shirts, plastic bags, pandanus mats, excerpts from the Koran, trees, chili sauce - but also employ characteristic methods. Tisna often appropriates the activities he does daily, or the daily activities of the people close to him: karaoke singing, conducting traditional rituals, playing football, making chili sauce, giving oration like demonstrating students, praying, or planting vegetables. Tisna Sanjaya often presents his idea using parodies and in eclectic ways. His criticism is satiric, sarcastic, and uses local jokes that are popular and banal.

Tisna's works usually defy boundaries: Between art and daily activities; high art and low art; modern art and traditional art; and even between art and political statement - and this last merging stands out the most. However, behind all his ambiguous artistic statements and attitude, Tisna's ideas always have within them some sharp criticisms. Tisna's art always sides with the people he considers as marginalized, especially by the greedy and unjust government. Such criticism is obvious for example in his installation "32 Tahun Berpikir dengan Dengkul" ("32 Years of Thinking Using Knees," 1999), or in his seminal graphic series, "32 Etsa yang Membosankan" ("32 Boring Etches," 1997), which revealed his reflections and thoughts about the 32 year-reign of the New Order government.Tisna's work that is being displayed in this open biennale, "Special Prayer for the Death," still shows several tendencies that have been most remarkable and characteristic of him. The installation consists of several major elements. First of them is a seven-and-a-half meter long bamboo boat carrying a painting of the mooi Indie (or 'beautiful Indies') theme, flowers used to adorn graves, the national emblem of Garuda Pancasila wrapped in plastic, a mirror, and an upsided-down figure whose penis sprays red-blood liquid. The second major element is a head of a clown made of two meter long bamboo, and in this head Tisna places some pounded jengkol, a typical Indonesian fruit that gives out distinctive, bad smell and is consumed as vegetable. The third major element, meanwhile, is composed of pieces of paper with Moslem prayers for the dead written on them. The pieces of paper are stuck on bamboo weavings that are generally used for house walls in villages. The fourth major element of the work is a fish net, with pictures of Tisna's family members and close relatives hanging on its ends. In the opening of his solo exhibition in the Lontar Gallery last February, Tisna conducted a performance art by taking a shower under the 'red-blood pee' of his sculpture and singing a prayer all the while.

The installation work 'Special Prayer for the Dead'is a composition of prayers that Tisna brings into being as tragedies took place in the world, resulting from the major shifts and transformations in the global civilization for the last few decades. The tragedy of Sarajevo, the September 11 tragedy, the war in Iraq, the bomb in Bali, the civil wars in Timor and Aceh - what other tragedies lie ahead?

Agung Hujatnikajennong

Born on January 28, 1958 in Bandung.
Studied at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Bandung (BFA; 1986), Frei Kunst - Hochshule fur Bildende Kunste Braunschweig, Germany (1991-1994), Meister Schuler, DAAD Stipendum (1997-1998).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1998 Etsa & Litografi, Lontar Gallery, Jakarta.
1999 "Deconstruction of Thinking", YPK Gallery & Alliance Francaise, Bandung.
2000 "Art & Football for Peace", Art Fair, ITB Bandung & Cemeti Gallery, Yogyakarta.
2003 Lontar Gallery, Jakarta.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1998 "Dialogue", Art 2 Gallery, Singapore.
1999 rd Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; "Indonesia Reformations", Nusantara Museum, Delft, Holland.
1999-2002 "AWAS! Recent Art from Indonesia" Touring Exhibition: Australia, Japan, Holland, Germany and Indonesia.
2001 "Reading Frida Kahlo", Nadi Gallery, Jakarta.
2002 "Wild Imaginations", Langgeng Gallery, Magelang, Central Java; "Offside", World Cup 2002, Foot Ball Print, Contemporary Art Museum, Japan.

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