Vincentius Christiawan, who is better known by the name, Venzha, is one of the many young Indonesian artists who wanders back and forth across the borders of artistic disciplines. After finishing his studies in the field of interior design, became very involved in a umber of exhibitions, residences, workshops, and media art collaborations in Japan, Singapore and Australia. Along with Jompet, another artist from Yogyakarta, Venzha established the group 'Garden of the Blind' which is very involved with working with combinations of music, performance art, video and installations. What is most interesting about this group is that their artworks are not only frequently presented in galleries or other spaces for the showing of art, but also in clubs and other 'non-art' public venues.

Venzha's involvement in some of these scenes and the presentation of underground music performances in Yogyakarta and Bandung at the very influence his concepts and the forms his works take. He often also performs on stage as a musician playing experimental musical compositions. Along with the other multimedia artists in this creative circle, Venzha always emphasizes the event and performance elements as important aspects within his artistic creations. The presence of the element of sound in Venzha's works speak much not only of the illustrative that supports a mood, but also as a concept that becomes the basis for the formation of other elements. Music or other sound often becomes the motivation for the movement achieved by objects, gesture performers and video. Also, the opposite may be true as well, with the other elements in Venzha's creations possessing a simultaneous and interactive relationship without any clear motivating point.

Venzha's sophistication in the processing, organizing, construction and utilization of mechanical components, such as electronics equipment and computers, gives a specific and unique character to both his performance art and installations. Venzha is not only good at using digital sound elements through computer programming, he also cleverly utilizes secondhand components and mechanical objects that he picks up at the junk market. To Venzha, technology is not only limited to the practical applications of new knowledge about the 'latest' or 'most advanced' equipment. He enjoys technology, but does not worship or bow down to it. Through the deliberate recycling of things, he works to achieve something 'new' that cannot be found among the many mass produced technological items. The interesting thing is that Venzha does all of this with a focus on 'aesthetics' resulting from skills like those used in the creation of handicraft works. These presentations frequently involve the use of objects that demand direct interaction with the artwork on the part of the public.

Venzha's piece, "Malover", is an electronic construction connected to a guitar modified with a number of sources of sound that he added in himself. The sound created by this instrument is a combination of the sound of someone playing with volume resulting in audio distortion and the rotating of mechanical gears that creates a rhythm. Concerning the element of sound in his creations, Venzha once made this statement, " ...actually sound is already there in the space around us. Only we do not acknowledge it consciously. What this means is that between the harmonious sounds that originate in general from the various kinds of musical instruments and the sounds that are created through all kinds of processes of rubbing, bumping or playing around there really is no boundary, no difference."

Agung Hujatnikajennong

Born on July 21, 1973 in Banyuwangi.
Studied at Indonesia Institute of The Arts (ISI), Yogyakarta (BFA; 1996).

PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
1998 "elin manufacture", project of pentawira, Jakarta.
1999 "Light! is A Life", Nogotirto Basket Ball Area, Yogyakarta.
2001 "The Power", Public Wall, Gamelan Street, organized by Apotik Komik Group, Yogyakarta; "we are an ENERGY!", Parking Wall, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta; "It's actual, visual poetic", Galeria Shopping Centre, Yogyakarta.

MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE
2000 "you like it", KMDGI 4, 2000, digital music performance, Vredeburg Fortress, Yogyakarta.
2001 "Glorified II", Worms Festival 3, Plastique Kinetic Worms, Singapore.
2002 ULTRA OUTPUT project, garden of the blind, sounds installation 2002 roadshow: Yogyakarta, Bandung, Jakarta and Singapore; home made taste, @port, N-mark, ISEA related program, Nagoyako, Nagoya, Japan; manabenza club, with minako kitayama, ARCUS studio, Moriya, Ibaraki, Japan; heteregoneneuz - our obsession, exhibition, Contemporary Art Factory, Tokyo, Japan; babepoet, with minako kitayama, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo, Japan.
2003 TASKE night (tribute to taske), with dj taske, cannolfan café, Nagoya, Japan.

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