upcoming show

Mapping Caylus. Visualizations of place and mind. This exhibition shows typographic and topographic maps and videos of both place and mind, of location and history, of emotions and reactions. These works reflect location, history and the affairs of artist's heart. from a summer residency in Caylus France at Draw International

astrid kensinger almkhlaafy

Masangin

When i was in Yogyakarta, at the cellsbutton festival, venzha took me out one midnight on his scooter to the banyan tree square, south of Kraton. He said, close your eyes, tie this blindfold, now walk between the trees. i think i tried 5 times before almost making it. the idea is to make a wish, get through the two trees at midnight, and the wish comes true. I liked this space. there laods of wandering blindfolded wishers wandering off in random directions.

so the next night i went back and walked around the space with my gps. i circled the whole square, but not completely, had to leave a space for the wishes to escape. but in that one midnight night i caught the thoughts and held them and let them out again.

the two circles were partially in respect to the cellbutton team. it's their logo too. cellsbutton captures masangin. astrid embraces masangin.

The word “Masangin” originated from the Indonesian word : “Masuk diantara dua beringin” which means “passing through 2 banyan trees” in English. This is a myth in Java about the power of 2 banyan tree at the south square of the Kraton. According to the myth, one day the Kraton was attacked by enemies from the south side. To reach the Kraton, enemy soldiers would have to pass the two big banyan trees on their way to the Kraton. The soldiers would then lose their power after passing through the trees and therefor keeping the Sultan’s Palace safe. Today, Masangin is considered to be a game where people would come to the South Square and witness the two banyan trees trees while trying to pass through them blindfolded. If they succeed, then it is said that whatever they wished for will be granted.



one of the magic elements of Jojya is the cartography of the city. it's lined up on a sacred axis between Merapri and the sea, a mystical line that connects actual locations, including this banyan wish square.

re-emerging

Sometimes life gets in the way. Interferes and imposes a new schedule or a new set of priorities. Over the last two years I've been focused on a different form of creativity. Making my life humm, making sure balance, gracefulness and mindfulness were ever present. This took me away from this blog. But the time has come to re-emerge. So here. I'm back.

Although not posting, I have been living and making. Small steps into defining this new chapter. Yes vague. But yes, new chapter.

Perhaps the project that is the first of this new phase was the merapi red circle. A ritual for delineating my own space. The year before I married, in 1995, I climbed an erupting volcano, Mt Rinjani in Lombok. It is perhaps one of those experiences that ranks up in the top five of extraordinary. The volcano killed two people the night I spent up on the rim. They were on the other side, where the ash and rocks were being spewed. I remember the sound, the lightening, the intensity so clearly. It was transformative in that I felt awed and alive.

After the end of my marriage, I decided to climb another volcano. Although not fully erupting, it was steaming and spewing and erupted only a few months later. This one was Merapi, in Java. I went with meridel, she photo-ed, I climbed and gps-ed and made a little statement for myself at the top. A red circle of closure. A wish circle. A prayer circle. The action was meant for me alone. But it was performance and it meant finality.