Aug 15, 2023 3 min read Paid Subscriber Content

GREED/RAKUS/GIERIG

Tisna Sinjay, Untitled, 2023. Image courtesy of the artist.

Tisna Sanjaya

Curated by Lisa Campbell-Smith

Filmaker: Deny Tri Ardianto

Contemporary Art Tasmania

9 June – 1 July

I didn’t quite get to interact with everything about Greed/Rakus/Gierig as much as I’d like, but I saw more than enough to get the idea this was a rich and complex exhibition that presented art in a very total way, as something that the collective of artists and musicians and dancers led (I use the word loosely) by Tisna Sanjaya really lived and breathed. There’s a lot to be gleaned from considering this, but I found myself really drawn to how outside of the system of art production and presentation that I live in and with this whole experience appeared to be. There was much audience interaction, lots of moments that were ephemeral, and questions as to where the art existed and if it even could be classified came to me. There were actual works generated, and these ended up on display in Contemporary Art Tasmania, and these works have a defined aesthetic and genuine beauty, but they’re also a ritual: Tisna made 99 images on batik to reflect a Muslim idea of the 99 names of God, so making them was a segment of a greater healing ritual, that also involved making a large statue on site then burning it – which became a problem, because of wind making such activity unsafe, but happened anyway as a private event. Greed Rakus Gierig was flexible and worked with what the eddies of the moment dictated, and this didn’t compromise the project at all.

What was this project?