Thrill
It is noted that the materialistic stand and the academic and philosophical dimension of pro ducing visual art in Sri Lanka have been bad- ly deteriorating. This has invariably caused a distressful chaos in the discipline. The normal practice of exploiting the professional skills did not show any success in the development of the spirit of the visual art in Sri Lanka, especially traceable after 1990s. Majority of the artists have alienated themselves from their subject matter to be expressed within highly person- alized contexts. Therefore it became difficult to express the message to be conveyed by the artwork in most of the works which was a con- strain on the taste of the art lover in the general audience. It is essential to initiate a discussion on this topic which is explicit in the field of current practice of visual arts in the country, by inviting individuals from various fields, profes- sionals, persons who hold high esteemed social responsibilities and university students. Most of the people who visit art galleries are unaware about the real meaning of the art objects dis- played. It is believed that this helplessness of the art lovers does not correspond to the social responsibility expected from the artists and the organizers of art exhibitions. It is difficult to even think about explaining all the details and meanings to each and every viewer with refer- ence to the works exhibited. It is a common practice for the organizers of art exhibitions to invite a large crowd in order to fill the exhibition halls. This may not be a very ethical practice. Under such circumstances, presentation of visual art exhibitions become a meaningless act devoid of any social relevance. The knowledge presented by artworks could be used to enlighten the people to a certain extent and this should be converted to an interactive process between the artwork and the viewer. It is necessary to consider if arranging art exhibi tions would be fair by the viewers if the identity of the artist and the source(s) of the artwork are not made available. The role of the catalogues are minimal in a ense of enlightening the viewers of the art ex- sense hibitions. Very often Exhibition catalogues do not provide all the important aspects of the content of the presentation. Gaining some in- sights from those limitations of producing a catalogue in a conventional perspective, we at- tempted to compile a descriptive text showing the elements of our work including the context, concepts and theoretical background, artistic usage, aesthetic stand and technicality and we hope that it somehow help the viewer to grasp the message that we intended to disseminate from this exhibition. Our faith is that the art- ist should not ideologically induce any political overtones. It is true that everything is polit- ical but it does not mean that the historically consigned social responsibilities to us could be betrayed for that reason. Everything moves at a rapid pace. Nothing is static and changes should be always appreciated. This is very much applicable to the knowledge produced by artworks. Because knowledge is relative to time, a single art work disseminates knowledge of its own time and space. This conceptual stand leads us to manifest our- selves not only with the artwork itself but our beliefs, ideas and sources which inspire us. We, as a team, trust that in the future, no one will be able to reinterpret our works based on vivid socio-political reasons. We intend to build up a stream of knowledge through art for the well being of the society at large. Our team visited the suburban areas of the Colombo city including the public spaces by the Diyavanna oya close to the circular road of the Parliament, Independent square and the recre ation areas around it and also the other urban constructions there together with the observa - tions of the human responses to this complex urban atmosphere. It was the source of inspi ration of the creative pieces of this exhibition which is titled "Thirll". One of the main reason that caused a social anxiety during at least a period of 3 decades was the social instability resulted by the prolonged civil war, marked decline of law and order etc. Especially, the war had become the most influ- ential source of inspiration of the majority of artists of the young generation during that pe riod. Now the war has ended. Society is experi encing post-war condition and the significance of the 'War' as a ideological source of art is now disappearing from the public minds. The artwork titled the 'temple of innocents' created by Jagath Weerasinghe has now being completely removed from its location to create the new recreational park. This monument was established to commemorate the students assas- sinated in Embilipitiya during the insurrection in 1989, Removal of the 'temple of innocence' with no serious protests against its obliteration, viz; the dichotomy between the 'new recreation- al park' vs. the 'temple of innocence' tells us the current expectations of the public. If art attempts to reiterate our negative so- cio-political experiences it means that we invit ed the people in our society to the battle fields again. Our endeavor is to experience the post- war conditions through art. This exhibition is organized by a team of art- ists known as the 'anonymous entry'. This is their first art exhibition.
In order for a society to develop, it is essential that the community living in that society be innovative. Creative talent is the main feature it reflects. This fact is equally true for science, art and all other cognitive subject contexts. It was thought that it is more justified to start this post with such a reminder because it seems that the art exhibition presented here under the title Thrill is based on such an innovative approach. I do not mean that the expression, style, form etc. of the visual works presented in this exhibition can be compared to it. Instead, what they have said about the theme of this exhibition shows that three young people have conceived the motivation to approach an innovative vision of the intellectual plane where their works are located. In relation to the most recent history of visual arts in this country, this is not only an admirable situation, but it is a special point that should be brought to the sharp attention of anyone who is professionally engaged in the field of visual arts. We all know that time is flexible. Therefore, knowledge is a phenomenon relative to time. The theory of taking a different path in the context of successive periods of a common social sensibility-aging theme at a certain stage, the thought approach of this art exhibition known as Thrill is directed in that direction, the innovativeness mentioned here is highlighted. It is mentioned here The other important point to be made is for designers to think beyond the expected aesthetics of visual art to demand an intellectual replacement. This is a situation which has only rarely been seen in practical visual art exercises in this country, but the visual art movement in this country is very much in need. The artist is, on the one hand, a philosophic being who is presented as tactile and swakarmavachi. That is why he and his vision are important to a society. It is a sick dream to think of socializing art in a traditional society like the one in Sri Lanka only by looking at a canvas with a palette of colors and being imprisoned in a designer-chain of aesthetic imagination. This exhibition has shown some signs that a group of young artists who have learned lessons about life from the pictures painted on the walls of the old temples located in the villages are interested in thinking like this. The only thing that can be happy is how this beginning will progress to its end. This beginning is sadly unfinished - I think the only kindest wish one can make for the courageous young artists who organized this exhibition is to wish them well. Raja Somadeva Senior Professor Post Graduate Institute of Archeology University of Kalaniya
TERAN INDIKA
Visual Artist
‘Thrill’ is the word we have taken as a metaphor, to observe and understand the politics of the contemporary urban ‘garden culture’ and the behavioral patterns of people who consume those spaces. The exhibition focus on aspects of this urban garden culture through visuals, complementing the metaphoric term ‘Thrill’ and, tries to read and understand the broader contemporary Sri Lankan socio political context.
