TERRA NOVA ft. Mufti Widi

Bandung (ID) / 2024

Terra Nova is a collaborative project between German-based artist Iman Skyone and Bandung resident Mufti Widi. It is an artistic rendering of a 3-month process of filtering and canalizing Skyone’s experience in the terra nova, the new land, that is Indonesia. By combining painting and new media, Skyone articulates his continued fascination with the land’s colours of nature and the way local inhabitants maintain their belongings; a peculiar habit in a place he refers to as a “culture-regulated society”. He highlights the locals’ tendency to leave things in clutter and disarray,suggesting non-use and the garbage, which to his German eyes is highly anomalous; if not foreign; but significantly inspiring at the same time. Skyone’s practice is deeply informed by his background in graphic design and graffiti culture. One may sense these inclinations through the recurring motifs of angular abstract shapes, laden in neon gradations or block colours, commerged with geometric delineations and quasi-organic formations. Recent years have seen him researching into the possibilities of moiré by combining an eclectic range of materials into multilayered works, as a poetic survey around interstitial areas concerning the analogue and the digital.

Terra Nova – Exhibition Catalog 2024

The works featured in this exhibition extends these vocabularies with the addition of a freshly acquired experiential lens. One he chose to adapt from his sojourn in the new land. Current developments see the intermingling of values in the inclusion of fragmented batik patterns and residual wayang figures as visual elements, alongside juxtapositions of fibreboard and glass. All serve to indicate Skyone’s attempt at solidifying or structuring his mental sensations. At this point is where collaborator Mufti Widi enters. Having met Skyone at a local street art exhibition in December last year, the two found themselves sharing a great deal in common, and decided to pursue these creative urges into new territories. Widi’s background as a drummer in hardcore band Extinct is also in charge of video, photography, and production duties for Sembilan Matahari, the renowned collective specializing in digital projection mappings and multimedia experiences. It is a fitting alliance of a pair of individuals rooted in street culture who are similarly intrigued and immersed with exposures to; and advancements in; new media, digitization, and how these affect modern human and contemporary living.