The next exhibition I visited was the one at Salihara, entitled "Perikebinatangan" or Beastly. From the word itself, you can already guess what the underlying theme is. Human's animalistic side are continuously explored in many different ways. Mainly highlighting the similarities in how we look like, how we act and behave, as well as the relation between man and animal.
Out of all the artworks, my top 3 includes: 1. colorful ceramic birds 2. illustrations on wood 3. the black and red deer illustration. But that's just from a visual aspect. In terms of the conceptual side, I was amazed by the donkey from shrek painting.
Right next to every artwork on display, there is a information card regarding title, artist, and an accompanying explanation for the work. For this particular painting the artist wrote about a paragraph that speaks about donkeys.
The artist believed that donkeys are actually smart. They tricked us to believe that they are dumb and lazy. But the truth is that they did so on purpose, thus humans would use horses to do the hard work instead. Then, donkeys can just relax and never had to do any hard work.
Have you ever thought that this might be true, or even some other animals may actually have successfully tricked us as well? I guess maybe we're not exactly the smart one after all
Just kidding. But it is a very interesting thought behind such satirical and humorous painting. That is why I was most fascinated by this work. What about you? Do you like it as well? or do you have your own crazy idea?
