Bahasa ibu saya adalah Bahasa Indonesia, tetapi semenjak usia belia saya diperkenalkan pada Bahasa Inggris. Kini selain secara lisan, saya juga menggunakan Bahasa Inggris secara aktif dalam tulisan. Saat kuliah adalah pertama kalinya saya menggunakan kemampuan dwi-bahasa saya untuk menerjemahkan teks.
Sementara itu, saya mulai mengenal dunia seni rupa (dengan tidak terlalu mendalam ataupun sempurna) ketika usia saya 22 tahun, setelah sebelumnya hanya bermain dengan teks sastra. Tahun itu saya mulai bergaul dengan orang-orang yang paham seni rupa, baik mereka yang berseni karena sebelumnya sudah mendapatkan pendidikan akademis, maupun mereka yang menerapkannya secara langsung sebagai bagian hidup yang tak terpisahkan.
Tak lama kemudian, kemampuan dwi-bahasa saya juga dipergunakan untuk menerjemahkan teks-teks yang menemani atau mengantarkan karya seni rupa: baik yang berupa teks dinding, pengantar kuratorial dalam katalog pameran maupun artikel yang membahas tentang seni rupa di media cetak
Seni rupa sangat menarik karena ia tidak bicara dengan bahasa teks, melainkan bentukan visual yang terkadang sangat kompleks. Sama seperti halnya teks bagi seorang penulis, karya seni adalah medium sang seniman untuk menyampaikan pesan. Namun karena kompleksitas bentukan karya seni tersebut, ada kalanya pemirsa tidak dapat memahami pesan yang berusaha disampaikan sang seniman. Karenanya, teks pendamping atau pengantar kuratorial seni rupa menurut saya adalah terjemahan atas karya seni rupa agar pesannya sampai kepada pemirsanya. Sehingga, saat saya menerjemahkan sebuah teks pendamping atau pengantar seni rupa, rasanya saya melakukan sebuah pekerjaan tersier: menerjemahkan terjemahan.
Sama seperti pada sastra, ketertarikan saya atas dunia seni rupa sampai saat ini masih cukup naïf: keinginan untuk menyampaikan pembacaan yang segamblang-gamblangnya, pemaknaan sederhana atas seni rupa, agar ia bisa menjangkau pemirsa yang lebih luas.
Friday, September 5, 2008
About Arts and Beyond
My mother tongue is Bahasa Indonesia but since a tender age I had been introduced to English. Now beside speaking it, I also use English actively in written texts. At my early college years, my bi-lingual ability was started to be used in translating texts.
My current acquaintance with the visual arts world (which is still neither deep nor perfect) started when I was 22 yrs old. That year, I started hanging out with people who understand visual arts, whether those who merely acquired their arts academically, or those who also practiced it as an integral part of their lives.
Not long afterwards, my bi-lingual ability was used to translate texts accompanying or presenting artworks: whether it’s a mere wall-text, curatorial writings in the exhibition catalogue, or articles discussing visual arts in printed Medias.
Visual arts are very interesting because it does not speak in text, but in complex visual forms. Like texts are for a writer, visual art works are medium for the artists to deliver messages. Due to the complexity of the visual forms, sometimes the audience does not acquire the information intended for them. Thus, for me, accompanying texts or curatorial writings is an effort to translate these messages to the audience. Therefore, when I translate an accompanying text or curatorial writings, I often feel like doing a tertiary work: translating a translation.
As is to the literary world, my interest to the visual arts world up to today is still a naive one: the desire to deliver a message as simple as possible, an easier reading on visual arts, so the messages could reach more audiences.
My current acquaintance with the visual arts world (which is still neither deep nor perfect) started when I was 22 yrs old. That year, I started hanging out with people who understand visual arts, whether those who merely acquired their arts academically, or those who also practiced it as an integral part of their lives.
Not long afterwards, my bi-lingual ability was used to translate texts accompanying or presenting artworks: whether it’s a mere wall-text, curatorial writings in the exhibition catalogue, or articles discussing visual arts in printed Medias.
Visual arts are very interesting because it does not speak in text, but in complex visual forms. Like texts are for a writer, visual art works are medium for the artists to deliver messages. Due to the complexity of the visual forms, sometimes the audience does not acquire the information intended for them. Thus, for me, accompanying texts or curatorial writings is an effort to translate these messages to the audience. Therefore, when I translate an accompanying text or curatorial writings, I often feel like doing a tertiary work: translating a translation.
As is to the literary world, my interest to the visual arts world up to today is still a naive one: the desire to deliver a message as simple as possible, an easier reading on visual arts, so the messages could reach more audiences.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)