Pius Sigit Kuncoro

  • Artist Biographies

    Pius Sigit Kuncoro (born in Jember, 1974) completed his studies in Visual Communication Design at Indonesia Institute of the Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta. At the beginning of his career, Pius used video and performance art to convey his ideas and thoughts about social reality. In 1999, together with Bintang Hanggono and Wildan Antares, he founded Geber Modus Operandi, an interdisciplinary performance arts group that combines the complexities of fine arts, multimedia, theater and sound, focusing on themes of identity and the body. However, in its development, Pius also used the medium of drawing and painting which is known to have a realist style with a message in the form of satirical criticism.

    Pius has participated in several workshops and residencies, including Artist in residence, CAP House Kobe, Japan (2007), Artist in residence, Fukuoka Asian Contemporary Art Museum, Japan (2005), KHOJ artist Workshop, Bangalore, India (2004), and Artist in residence, Ibaraki, Japan (2001-2002).

    Pius first did performance art in 1999 in Yogyakarta, Makassar and The Hague (Netherlands) and his first solo exhibition was entitled I Feel Fine at Kedai Kebun, Yogyakarta in 2000. Pius' other solo exhibitions include Nyandhi Wara, Sangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta (2011), Jowo Adoh Papan, Via Via Café Traveller, Yogyakarta (2011), Mission Sacre, SIGIart Gallery, Jakarta (2009), and Pertempuran Terakhir, IVAA Hobby Studio, Yogyakarta (2008)

  • Concept of Artwork

    Prophecy is always fascinating in its subtlety, and how it creeps among the obscurities. Oftentimes it is considered as the Nonsense, not a breed from the Science family which has the bloodline of scientific methodology, nor a breed from the Natural Instinct family which has the bloodline of creatures that eat everything that grows from the ground. With a starting point of limitations that wants to reach infinity, in its vulnerability it emerges as an explosion of the human soul in the face of the mysterious darkness of a foggy future through thrilling ambiguity. It's a game in the midst of the smart machine revolution.

    Sigit Pius together with In Nugroho and Erson Padapiran used the metaphor and figures of children as a metaphor for the meaning of predictions like children's games, especially hide and seek. In hide and seek, the child who becomes the 'cat' will look for his playmates who hide. He also demonstrated this search effort by presenting a video of the children's song 'Cublak-cublak Suweng', where a child who becomes the 'cat' has to look for the whereabouts of suweng (earrings, a type of Javanese women's jewelry earring). This process of searching for meaning is like how we interpret predictions. This works conveys that:

    LIES MIXED WITH THE TRUTH MAKES THE STATEMENT AS IF IT ITSELF WAS A REALITY.

    PROPHECY THAT MINGLES WITH EMPIRICAL DATA MAKES THE FUTURE LOOK AS IF IT WILL HAPPEN BY ITSELF.

    PROPHECY APPEARS TOGETHER THE MIXING OF TRUTH AND LIES, THE INTERVENTION OF THE THREE PRESENTS A DRAMATIC HYPERREALITY OF THE FUTURE.