Looking from the Perspective of an Animal

My work that was showcased at Kedai Kebun Forum (KKF) gallery

This is my work after participating in the workshop "Through the Eye of Beholder" in the gallery Kedai Kebun Forum (KKF) hosted by Kusuma Yudha Son 'Fehung' and Akiq AW. My work was displayed in the form of videos, using three digital frames and each video lasts approximately 3 minutes.

Cage

Bedroom

Garden

The topic here is the point of view of a Civet. Civets (Paradoxurus Hermaphroditus) are generally wild animals that live in the forest, but also often found nearby plantations and human settlements. Since civets often prey on residents’ chickens and fruits, they are hunted to be killed. Civets also play a very important part in the production of Kopi Luwak (Civet coffee), which is the most expensive coffee in the world which costs about Rp. 1 million - Rp. 6 million per pound.

Besides cultivated for the production of Civet coffee, civets are also maintained to be kept as pets. Recently raising civets as pets is becoming popular among animal lovers, and there are several civet lover communities, such as Civet Lover Indonesia in various cities in Indonesia. These communities were formed based on the concerns of the civet hunting, with the aim of cultivating the civets in order not to be killed and to be kept as pets. Cultivated civets have been sold in some pet shops and also can be tamed like a cat or dog.

What I want to describe from this topic is the point of view of civets, in this case a domestic or pet civet that grew up in the cage. How are the point of view and the behavior of this civet when it was in a cage and removed out of the cage?

The execution technique that I did was record the activity of the civet when it was in the cage, and also when it was outside the cage, such as in a room or garden. I hung a small video camera (spy cam) in the neck of the civet. That way, we can see its activity both inside the cage and outside the cage from the point of view of the civet.

“Through the Eye of Beholder”

Agung Kuniawan, KKF owner (left), Yudha Kusuma Putera "Fehung" (center), and Akiq AW (right). Photo by Bisma Hakim

This exhibition was the result of the “Through the Eye of Beholder” workshop that was guided by Yudha Kusuma Putera “Fehung”, who previously just hosted his solo exhibition titled “Meminjam Mata, Melihat Ruang” (Borrowing Eyes, Looking at Space), and Akiq AW as the curator. Yudha Kusuma Putra "Fehung" and Akiq AW shared their knowledge with art photography participants for 3 days (5 to 7 January 2013) at Kedai Kebun Forum. All participants,  including myself, also got an additional workshop for a week in MES 56. In the workshop, they invited the workshop participants to better understand the ideas, methods used, and how to present photographic works to reveal the hidden themes. Here, photography can be enjoyed not only as a display of an event, but also as a medium to convey the message behind it.

In this photography workshop, Fehung shared his interest in positioning himself with reverse perspective, which is to shoot an event from the inside out. Meanwhile, Akiq AW presented several photographic works that are based on the awareness when choosing point of view. Through the workshop material, the participants were free to choose their own themes and create works based on their point of view. The perspectives include textual standpoint, literal perspective and personal point of view. “Through The Eye of Beholder” is a photography that seeks to develop the participants’ perspectives in seeing an event and put it in the picture.

Workshop participants, including myself. Photo by KKF

The workshop “Through the Eye of the Beholder” was an incredible experience for me. In addition to better explore and understand Fehung's “Borrowing Eyes, Looking at Space” contemporary photography project, I could also use the perspective technique in my own work that was previously done by Fehung. I tried to put the idea in my own way after receiving guidance from Fehung and Akiq AW. Also, in addition to understanding this new technique, I got a lot of new friends from the workshop and exhibition. Not just fellow workshop participants, but also other friends such as visitors that consist of photography enthusiasts.