SacredandProfaneBy:LianLadia

NorbertoRoldan’sexhibitionatArtStageSingapore,representedbySingaporeangallery,Taksuharnessedthepowerofmemory,rememberingandwitinthesocialconstructsofSoutheastAsiancultureandhistory.Withirony,innovationandsophistication,theworkprobestheshiftinggroundofoldsocietiesfacingnewrealities.Entitled,“Thebeautyofhistoryisthatitdoesnotresideinoneplace”itwasonviewattheMarinaBaySandsfromJanuary13to16.Framebyframe,pieceperpiece,youwillbeabletoextractinformationbasedonthematerialsofeachwork.Likeanunravelingofamysteriousculturefromadescendant‐long‐gone(Filipino),eachworksomehowtellsaprovocativestory,evokingafeelingofnostalgiaandasenseofdeathintheroom.

In Search For Lost Time 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 (2010)

assemblage with found objects, collages, medicine and perfume bottles 47 x 47 cm each

InspiredbyHitler’sapartmentinBerlin,Roldanshares,“I tend to begin each project/exhibition now with a lot of must-do-readings and came across with an article about Adolf Hitler's apartment in Berlin, the interior and furnishing of which wouldn't give you a clue who the resident is. So this really is a case-in-point for anthropology which tries to extract information based on material culture”.Trueenough,elementsofRoldan’sworkseemlikeanthropologicalstudiesofatheatricalset:driedrosepetalspinnedonaceremonialcloak,smallaltarsconcoctedoutofcheaptablecloth,plastictoys,medicinebottlesgroomingmirrors,anoldtransistorradio,glassperfumevessels,apothecarybottles,jewelryboxesandoldphotographs.Inthebeginningofthecenturyitwasstatedthat“Photographywillmakepaintingobsolete”1.WalterBenjamingavecredencetothenotion,claimingthatphotographywouldhaveatrulyprofoundeffectuponart,eventotheextentthattheartofpaintingmightdisappear.InRoldan’swork,thephotographsinturnaretheonesthatareantiquatedandplacedinthecontextofaltar‐makingaltar‐makingalaDiadelosMuertos(DayoftheDead).Inthiswork,deathand/ordyingseemedpartofthephotos,yettheyarearrangedinamonumentalway.Thephotographshavebecomerelics,whicharethenpartofahybridoffoundandcombinedelementsofthepostmoderntradition.

1GustaveFlaubert“DictionaryofReceivedIdeas”1911

My Brother and the Order of the Knights of the Moonshadows (2010) assemblage with old Roman chusable, fabric, old painting, wooden altar, assorted bottles

diptych 183 x 244 cm composite

ItisnotunknownthatSoutheastAsia’shistoryischaracterizedbyaninteractionofregionalhistoryandforeignpowerswhileeachcountrystartedtodevelopindependentlyafterEuropeancolonizationinthe19thcentury2.SoutheastAsiaasaunifiedbodyisarelativelymodernconcept3.Muchoftheartfromtheregionwherebeautifulandoriginal,andhassprungfromlocalsources,ontowhichwerejuxtaposedlocalizedreferencestotheworldreligionsofAsia.Thislayeringoftheindigenouswiththeextraneouscreatedsophisticatedandwhollyindividualculture4(Philippines,Malaysia,Singapore,Indonesiaetc.).Roldan’sworksarenonethelessrelevanttothepsycheofaregionresistingandembracingtraditionsrelevanttoones’existentialandculturalawareness.

2PeterChurch“AShortHistoryofSouthEastAsia,5thEdition”20093‐4IolaLenzi“MuseumsofSoutheastAsia”2004

Onepiecethatwasparticularlystrikingwashiscollectionofemptyjewelryboxesandcompactmirrors,inthediptych,“Thebeautyofhistory”,whoseshapesfragiletohold,andcovershighlyintricateandornamentalindesign.Eachpiecewasextremelyfeminineyetsterile–hanginghorizontallyonaframewhosepatternsofarrangementaremeredotstoawholenewassemblage.Besideit,areframeddecorativegroomingmirrorsthatareagedandstreakedfromitsformerglory,signalingthepassingoftime.Themirrorsalsocapturesomethingmythicalandbewitching:reminiscentofthosedarktaleswhereacharactersitsinfrontofaframedmirror,mouthingspellsofhis/herdeepdarkdesires.Priorthisshow,RoldanhadasuccessfulturnoutatSLABentitled“NorPastborFuture,NeitherdeadnorAlive”andheexplains,“The works in this show is a continuing distillation of the works in the show "Faith in Sorcery, Sorcery in Faith" (1998) at Hiraya Gallery (sample of the work is in the collection of the Singapore Art Museum). And then the works in the "Everything is Sacred" (2009) at Taksu, Kuala Lumpur and “Sacred is the New Profane" (2009) at Taksu-Singapore tried to emphasize "objects" dematerialized into simple patterns in grids as kitschy decor and as profane as they could get.”Thesignsofdeath,offering,rememberingaretestamentstoatransformingregionwithahistoryofamalgamationofextremeculturescollidinganddisintegrating.Deathisthebeginningofnewlife,andalthoughtheworksuggeststheinevitableend–thereliesexistentialhumorinthecelebrationofthepresentdayandmuchpromisetoideaconceptioninthissideoftheglobe.