TO KNOW YOU: Thinking Slow, Working Fast, with Sin Sin

by Anusapati

I first met Sin Sin only around the end of last year, when she visited me at my house. I was driving home from Solo when Komang, Sin Sin’s assistant, phoned me for an appointment. Sin Sin was already in front of my gate when I got home around 10 pm. Tired, after practically driving all day; I met the lady for the first time. She impressed me by her positive energy that was transferred to the person she talks to. I remember, she also brought me a present, a huge mango from her villa’s garden in Bali, which I thought was a really nice gesture.

She tells me, she likes my last show at Sangkring Art Space, Jogja, and she starts to explain her idea to have the show in Hong Kong. It will be much smaller in scale than my previous Sangkring show, but with the same theme and similar works. It takes me sometime to think about Sin Sin’s proposal. It is definitely an interesting offer, to have a solo show at a gallery in Hong Kong, a place where I have never visited before. Besides, there is no way to resist her enthusiasm. The only problem is that I was given only about two months to prepare everything for the show.

Sin Sin feels my hesitation as she says: “Please, say something..”. There is so much in my thoughts, though nothing comes out of my mouth, except “I’ll think about it”. I know there is not much time left, but I still need some time to consider a lot of things. To answer her doubt about my seriousness and considering that time is running short, I tell her “Maybe I think slow, but don’t worry, I work fast”. So, it ends up with my solo exhibition titled “Shadow” at Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong in March 2013, which I think was a good show.

It always takes lots of thoughts, before I make a decision. It happens also in my process of making art works, even when an idea is already there, in my head. An idea is just an idea. It would have to go through a long process, before it becomes a “fixed design”, and then another technical process to make it comes to reality, to become a real, physical “art work”. So, as you see, the actual “making” of a work is just a step at the end of the entire creating process. The longest, hardest and the most crucial phase is; the thinking. This is my attempt to explain my statement: “thinking slow, working fast”.

Another thing is that I am not the type of “multi tasking” person, who has the ability to work on many different things at the same time. I always do one thing at a time. First thing first, then move on to another one. But I work fast, simply because I don’t have much patience. I don’t like to let my mood and energy vanishes before the work is done. I also do not care too much about perfection. Perfection always makes me nervous; it sometimes feels to me like a dead end, where there is no way to go further.

Meeting Sin Sin is like meeting your neighbour living next door. She is no stranger at all. She knows everything about me, and I am surprised how she knows, personally, all Indonesian artists, their works and even their personal life, more than I do. Not until I opened my computer and tried to find Sin Sin Fine Art’s website did I know that Sin Sin had been mingling in Indonesian art community for more than a decade.

I just realised how much I had missed what have been going on in the art world, when I found out that every Indonesian artist already knew Sin Sin, except my self. I felt like an idiot when I discovered the fact that all these years Sin Sin Fine Art has already brought so many Indonesian contemporary arts to Hong Kong’s public. The gallery has presented works by young as well as prominent contemporary artists, including those hot shots, even long before they become shooting stars in the global art scene. I have been hibernating for too long.

So, after my solo exhibition “MaterReality” at Sangkring Art Space in November last year, my solo “Shadow” at Sin Sin Fine Art Hong Kong was another important step for me in my way to be “back to the field”. Not only the show, my connection with the gallery and specially my relationship with Sin Sin gives me some kind of positive energy significantly. It has somehow given me a new perception about galleries, since even a ‘commercial gallery’ like Sin Sin Fine Art can run exhibitions based more on passion and appreciation upon artists and their works, rather than on commercial purpose and market consideration. This is how I was able to do my last show with ease and with less burden. At least I am sure that we share one thing in common; art is all about passion.

Yogyakarta, August 2013