Statement 3 – A Comparison 1975-1979 (1979)

Figure 4.5: Nirmala, Statement 3 – A Comparison 1975-1979 (1979), Mixed Media, 128 x 53 cm. National Visual Arts Collection. Source: The Condition of Being 1981 Exhibition Catalogue.

This depiction of the merger of various times into a single spatial location is more evidently seen in Nirmala’s Statement 3 – A Comparison 1975 – 1979 (1979), a similar photo documentation piece charting the condition and well being of children living along a Damansara road over a four-year period. In this instance, Nirmala compressed the happenings of both before and after states of the underprivileged on a planar surface as a story telling attempt to mark the progression of journey from the beginning to the end.

Statement 3 is also a photomontage of black and white photographs done in the same style as Statement 1. However, instead of the latter’s square and proportionately balanced layout, the former depicts photographs of various sizes stacked on top of each other. Despite this asymmetrical order, one can easily make out the largely three major parts of the work, flowing from a left to right motion.

The first caption on the left section reads KANAK-KANAK DARI KAMPUNG BATU 4 JLN DAMANSARA (Children from Mile 4 Village, Damansara Road), the second caption on the top right section reads BAGI KANAK-KANAK INI PERUBAHAN TIDAK BANYAK…BATU 4 JALAN DAMANSARA (To this children, there are not many changes…Mile 4, Damansara Road). The third caption at the bottom right section reads BERBANDING DENGAN PEMBANGUNAN DI BUKIT DAMANSARA/BANGSAR (In comparison with the development at Damansara Heights/Bangsar). Each of these sections depicts the children and their surrounding environment during the year 1975 and 1979 comparing their existence with the development of a nearby urban housing project.⁸⁸

As one reads the work from left to right, one notes the spartan, neglected and poor living conditions of these children’s homes along Damansara road even after four years of development at a neighbouring township. Some of the photographs of the children appeared posed while others showed them in candid postures and expressions. They appeared very much at ease with the presence of the photographer. The children were all very simply dressed with a few naked figures seen. Adult figures were apparently absent from the photographs and the photographer may have consciously chosen to focus on the children. Some children appeared to be smiling innocently while others just stared blankly at the photographer. The basic constructs of their homes made with wooden materials contrasted against the modern brick and mortar homes being constructed nearby. The rapid physical development at Damansara Heights and Bangsar apparently made no positive impact on the children living along Damansara road, the main road that leads to the areas being developed. On the contrary, the bottom right

88 Due to its disparaging undertones, this artwork was rejected by the National Art Gallery for being too socialist; this happening at a time of ISA arrests.

section depicted the total transformation of an area from a barren land to one seen with newly built terrace houses.

Just as with Statement 1, Statement 3 is a composite of black and white photographs in a photomontage and photo documentary style. The photographs lined up in a straightforward, geometric and sequential manner resembling that of a “presentation board” with a grid format, thus suggesting Nirmala’s approach in drawing from her graphic design background in attempting to convey a specific message across to the viewer.⁸⁹ However, I maintain that such ordered compositional strategy in the form of a grid offers Nirmala the means to methodically guide the viewer’s attention through the motion of a logical course of story development; thus, hereby resembling a wayang kulit performance.

For example, the concept of motion through time and space and duality of the forces of “good” and “evil” first explained earlier as part of the grid analysis for Statement 1 can be shifted towards understanding Statement 3 through a wayang kulit lens. If the three major divisions of a wayang kulit performance are seen as separate manifestations in Statement 1, Statement 3 embodies the three divisions in a single execution, though not necessarily in the logical left-to-right order as presented.

The portrayal of children in the left section represented by the first caption serves to establish the characters at stake in this artwork. Close examination of the photos reveals children of different age, race and gender with a myriad of expressions. The caption above these photos aptly describes the subject matter as simply children. This could be associated with the Patet Nem stage where key characters are introduced.

89 Abdullah, "Postmodernity in Malaysian Art: Tracing Works by Nirmala Shanmughalingam," 37.

The next section to the top right reveals living quarters as what appears to be homes of these children. Nirmala describes this section as being of little changes happening to these children. By “little changes” she was alluding to the insignificant transformative process by which the children experienced in the period of four years, as evidenced by the roughly similar living conditions seen as dilapidated wooden shacks. In this section, focus is given to the condition of homes with a hint of the presence of children at the doorway or porch of the houses.

Figure 4.6: Nirmala, Your Beautiful Home (1975), Collage and acrylic on board, 76.5 x 61 cm. Collection of OurArt Projects. Source: OurArt Projects Catalogue.

It is also worth noting at this juncture Nirmala’s focus on the homes of these children as though rendering importance to the conducive role a good home or proper shelter plays in a child’s development and growing years. Your Beautiful Home (1975), a loosely gridded representation of newspaper clippings collaged on a board and painted with broad and loose Abstract Expressionist brushwork in acrylic is a piece by Nirmala

in circa 1975 (the very same year Statement 3 was made) possibly bearing testament to her notion of the desired “home”.

Nirmala seems to point to the fact that the very living spaces of these children comes into question as the very element that would put these children’s social welfare in jeopardy. The allusion to the living condition of the children suggests a somewhat critical developmental stage or important journey every child goes through: that of having a decent space to nurture.

This process⁹⁰ in their early years can be understood in light of the Patet Sanga stage during which the gara-gara⁹¹ scene unfolds leading to the search for a solution to the main crux of contention. The point of contention refers to the quality of life afforded by the current living condition of their homes. The “solution” could very well lie in the innocence of the children whose vulnerability could potentially lead to improvement in their living condition.

In other words, their innocence could be used to elicit sympathy towards the restoration of a more balanced development. It is also worth noting that both the first and second sections discussed corresponding to the Patet Nem and Patet Sanga stages respectively are not mutually exclusive. I maintain that these two closely knitted sections are fluid and the analysis of the second stage draws upon the first; i.e. quality of life connoted by the children’s homes in the second stage can only be improved by recognizing the quality of “innocence” of children in the first stage.

90 The process concerns that of the life’s journey and nurturing a child experiences at home, which is at stake given the unequal development occurring, thus calling for the need to search for an answer to this problem.

91 The gara-gara scene introduces the four Punakawan clowns, one of which is Semar, whose wisdom and guidance helps the protagonist in his search for answers to his problems. These clown servants inject a dose of light heartedness in an otherwise intense conundrum. This balance between comedy and tragedy is akin to the children’s innocence surrounded by their dire homes.

The lack of colour in Statement 3 has enabled the viewer to focus and dwell on the gravity of the subject matter. The induced left-to-right motion in viewing constitutes a journey that culminates in a poignant message toward the bottom right section. For Statement 3 to make logical sense, the viewer has to progress through this lateral flow to get a grasp of varying conditions.

The visual narrative of Statement 3 culminates with the bottom right section depicting a scene at the nearby Damansara Heights and Bangsar contrasting a barren hilly land with one that is filled with newly built houses. Nirmala observed that this wave of development occurring over a period of four years did not seem to benefit the children living nearby. This climactic representation of unequal development baffles Nirmala into questioning the difference between these two neighbouring areas, a scene that is aptly linked with the third and final division of the wayang kulit performance:

Patet Manyura. This finale communicates the reality and maturity of the entire turn of events that seem to render “victory” to certain quarters of society over others. Some children seem to be on the losing end when it comes to the wave of modernization and development sweeping Malaysia in the 1970s.

What made Statement 3 works so well was Nirmala’s clever use of the “elements of site and time specificity,”⁹² owing to the specific declaration of the site: “Mile 4, Damansara Road” and the time: "A period between 1975 – 1979”. The provision of this textual information helps create the context that assists the viewer in vicariously living out this condition as though they were there with the children. The dimension of the message is thus tangible and made more personal.

92 Abdullah, "Postmodernity in Malaysian Art: Tracing Works by Nirmala Shanmughalingam," 38.

While Statement 3 is clearly still a photo documentation offering no movement and sound as opposed to a wayang kulit performance, the basic clues of location and moments of relativity offer a semblance of motion akin to a wayang kulit performance.

The viewer upon reading the captions may automatically “fill in the blanks” and draw upon their own connections during the four years period of events experienced by the children in their wooden homes. I maintain that these drawn conclusions and closure of the story sit well with the Patet Manyura stage.

Statement 3 was literal, pragmatic and simplistic, perhaps even avant-garde as the use of photography in this documentary genre of Malaysian art as a postmodern approach was still relatively new in the late 1960s and early 1970s.⁹³ At its very core, Statement 3 asks: What is the cost of pursuing excellence in the name of national development and globalization? Statement 3 stands as a provocative piece inviting viewers to question the cause and effect of development that impacts society.

The lack of a focal point in Statement 3 suggests that the work should be viewed in its entirety and perhaps even engaged in a non-stop continuous loop of living in the

“before” and “after” state of mind between 1975 and 1979, as though asking oneself, “If this is happening here, is it happening elsewhere?” This ordered thought process is made possible as the eyes roam freely from grid to grid as though viewing through a window of possibilities.