Tisna Sanjaya

"The situation in the society-where the killing tragedy occurred among Indonesians, through unsettled circumstances and bloody harshness-has probably been the answer why artists' inner space of creativity became wounded seriously, their ways of expressing ideas were stuck"

"The Monument of 33 years of Thinking with the Knee" (bamboo sculptures, billboard, woven bamboo plates, koran stand, rice, banner) is a comment on the New Order era in Indonesia, when people were forced to think without a brain by their government. During the Suharto regime, the government built monuments to celebrate their "successful national development"--Tisna's bamboo monuments mock this confidence in the nation's development and implies that it is "cruel and sinful". He is also representing the destruction of the country's natural resources.

This installation was also part of a performance, as Tisna and other young artists would parade the bamboo figures through the streets of his home town of Bandung in protest for change in the government and in public life.

After the resignation of Suharto, there was more freedom of expression--therefore works like this one are not as controversial as they were during the opression of the regime. In fact, Tisna claims that one of his own students burned down a bamboo figure because he thought Tisna had "sold out".

Tisna Sanjaya studied graphic art at the Bandung Institute of Technology and also in Germany. Now he teaches at the Institute, and uses the irony of this position as a government employee in his installation pieces and performances.

For more information about Tisna Sanjaya and this particular piece:

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"The Monument of 33 Years of Thinking with the Knee"