Professor of Indonesian Video Arts: Krisna Murti (1957-2023)

For Krisna, video art should not only be understood as a result of utilizing video technology for artistic medium, but also as an artist's choice to critically engage with contemporary cultural issues. Video allows for visual information to be constructed in unique ways. Furthermore, this technology also creates a new culture that is not only influenced by its content or information, but also formed by the ways in which society consumes it.

In his monograph, Public Video (1999), Krisna explains, the position of his video art works as an alternative, even a counter-expression, to the dominant television culture. He understands very well how television programs during the New Order era were the most effective means of propaganda in shaping people's perceptions, attitudes and behavior. Therefore, "video art", according to him, "...is not an art paradigm that emphasizes aesthetic factors, but serves the public interest".

Krisna is a thinker who continually seeks the relevance of art to the changing cultural context in Indonesia. Since the early 2000s, he has broadened his observations on media culture, as video technology has gradually integrated with digital media (cellphones, computers, internet, social media, etc.). Krisna is an artist and writer who has contributed to popularizing the term and developing the discourse on new media art (new media art). Krisna's book, Essays on Video and New Media Art(2009), outlines his perspective on the critical position that video artists and media must take, including in addressing critical issues such as democracy, participation and equality. .

Krisna's debut as a video artist began in 1993 when he worked on12 Hours in the Life of Dancer Agung Raifor his solo exhibition at R-66, Bandung. In the same year, he participated in the IX Jakarta Fine Arts Biennale with Objek dari Kampung Nagrak (1993). The main part of this installation is in the form of television tubes containing video shows embedded in wooden mortars filled with grain. Krisna uses Balinese ogoh-ogohto resemble lions arranged as if he were watching a documentary video of ant troops at work. This is Krisna's monumental work that conveys subtle political criticism about how rulers should learn from their people.

Poetry sensation and visual juxtaposition (between television and video as symbols of modernity and elements of tradition) became quite a distinctive artistic strategy in Krisna's works throughout the 1990s. At this time, almost all of his works were in the form of installations which also maximized the processing of finished goods, found objects and physical space (see, for example, Don't Make Stone Instead of Stone, 1996; or Food Never Knows Ras, 1999). He started to work more seriously on video projection with single or multiple channels in the 2000s, as seen in Wayang Machine (2002), Empty Time (2003), Video Spas (2004). This tendency continues until Krisna's latest works appear in several of his solo exhibitions such as Art After Drama (2013) and Chaotic Jump (2016).

Krisna's works are known through his participation in a number of international exhibitions, including Contemporary Art from Non-Aligned Countries (1995), Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (1999), Gwangju Biennale and Havana Biennale (2000). Several of Krisna's installations have been collected by several museums, including Learn to Queue for Ants (Indonesian National Gallery) and My Ancestors of Sangiran (1999, by Fukuoka Asian Art Museum). Apart from working on videos, Krisna also creates interactive installations (for example, Miscall Me Please, 2012) and digital photography (Forbidden Zone, 2008).

Throughout the 2000s, Krisna was actively initiating exhibitions with younger practitioners, such as BaVF-NAF (Bandung Video, Film and New Media Art Festival, Rumah Nusantara Bandung, 2002) and Transit - 8 Views from Indonesia (touring Australia, 2003). In the latter exhibition, Krisna played the role of a "talent scout" who successfully encouraged the emergence of young artists whose names are now shining: Tintin Wulia and Jompet Kuswidananto. This list can be extended by mentioning Krisna's closeness to groups of young artists who are also involved in the development of video and film art, such as ruangrupa and Forum Lenteng. Krisna enjoys his role as a "guest lecturer" to teach classes at various campuses.

Before delving into the world of video, Krisna was primarily known as a painter. The artist, born in Kupang in 1957, graduated from the Painting Studio of the Fine Arts Department at the Bandung Institute of Technology in 1981. As a student, Krisna was excellent, and his mentor, the senior painter Ahmad Sadali, recruited him as a teaching assistant. While in college, Krisna also wrote poetry and was active in the student literary appreciation group, GAS. After graduation, he worked as a toy designer while continuing to paint and write. His paintings, particularly those featuring Balinese dancers, were quite popular among certain collector circles. Krisna admitted that it was only by selling his paintings that he could realize his idealism as a video artist.

By presenting a glimpse of the long journey of Krisna Murti's artistic prowess, this essay is a tribute to the great teacher who passed away on June 28, 2023. These days, as we attend various events filled with video art and media works in Indonesia, we are truly witnessing the fruits of Krisna's tireless dedication and struggle.

Agung Hujatnikajennong

Lecturer of FSRD ITB, editor of Krisna Murti's book, Public Video (1999)