Susi Johnston | The Sleeping Tiger on the Island of Bali
Dazzling Patola Textile at SF Tribal’s October Show
Joe Loux, one of the few tribal art and textile dealers whose tastes coincide almost unerringly with my own, is showing this dazzling patola in the annual exhibition of the San Francisco Tribal group at the Presidio. The exhibition opens with a benefit bash on 10 October, with proceeds going to the De Young Museum’s oceanic, tribal and textile arts departments. It runs through the weekend.
Among the dealers exhibiting are my friends Tom Murray, Andres Moraga, Wenhua Liu, and Frank Whiggers. Moraga has a keen eye for textile art, and never fails to put things up on the wall that make eyes pop, jaws drop, and cause contemporary art collectors to go into paroxysms of glee.
Coming back to the textile above. Loux’s patola will be of particular interest to collectors and scholars of Indonesian textiles. The double-ikat silk patola textiles of Gujarat have been influential prototypes for prestige textiles woven in Indonesia over the past five hundred years or more. They were highly prized and easily transported trade goods exchanged to get access to the natural and human resources of the Indonesian archipelago. The patola influence is so pervasive in Indonesian textiles as to be almost ubiquitous. Whenever a distinctive patola turns up, it is avidly inspected by collectors and scholars to ascertain whether the pattern may have been a precursor or inspiration for specific patterns of Indonesian textiles.
Balinese geringsing double ikat textiles, and cepuk weft-ikat textiles both directly quote patola motifs and have done so for centuries. Some of the more unusual types of geringsing and cepuk show variations on the patola theme with origins that remain elusive. So every patola that we have a chance to study and appreciate, may represent a meaningful piece of the jigsaw puzzle which helps us to better understand geringsing, cepuk, and many other textile traditions in Indonesia.
Both geringsing and cepuk, by the way, are regarded by the Balinese as objects with “magical” powers, and are used in a variety of rituals, to this day.
Gebhart Blazek: The Textile Dealer’s Textile Dealer
I have been a textile art dealer for about fifteen years. The longer I look at textiles, the more I see and appreciate them as works of art, and the more I look for pieces that speak first and foremost as aesthetic objects, and not just as ethnographic curiousities.
It is a standard interview technique to ask an actor who their favourite actor is, or an author who is their favourite author. The answer can be interesting, and instructive.
If you were to ask this textile dealer who is her favourite textile dealer, I would have to answer, Gebhart Blazek, based in Vienna and Graz, who specialises in Berber textiles and carpets.
Blazek has a superb eye, superb sources, and a superb talent for exhibition design.
He see his textiles as art. They are art. They are presented as such. I appreciate it enormously.
Al Fresco Elegance by Basco
We’ve discovered a Spanish design firm that makes elegantly understated structures and furniture for living outdoors. The simplicity of their aluminum pergolas, furniture and accessories makes such a beautiful backdrop for beautiful people.
Gandia Blasco’s outdoor collection is a blank canvas on which I long to compose perfect al fresco experiences. An afternoon nap, a big glamorous bash, and everything in between. And the website is a treasure, too.
Can we get some Blascos in Bali? They have a Singapore distributor. I want to sprawl on their sunbeds, and slink around their party pergolas. Can we make something here with a similar concept, perhaps, using local materials and techniques? Or take the concept a step or ten further? White prada cloth pergolas perhaps? Any ideas?
Test Your Colour IQ
Fine sensitivity to colour is essential for designers, art dealers, and fashionistas. How good is your eye for colour? You can test it online here, fast and free, at xrite, the world’s leading colour measurement and management company.
I did well on the test, with only a few tiny mistakes, all of them in the blue range. Blue is my least favourite part of the colour spectrum. And I have blue eyes. I wonder if there is any significant correlation between favourite colours and colour sensitivity? Between eye colour and colour sensitivity? I know that men almost uniformly have less sensitive colour discrimination than women. I wonder what other genetic factors correlate with colour sensitivity? Do gay men have finer colour sense than straight ones, for example?
The Bali Post Makes Me Afraid of Breakfast
I promised to give occasional digests of the local newspaper, the Bali Post. Not to renege on a promise, here is a digest of Tuesday’s paper, by no means a more distressing one than usual. The headlines that drew my attention most were:
- Struggle for Ramadan Gifts Leaves 21 Dead
- Chaos Surrounding Bali’s Assets Created Deliberately
- Regulation Against Communications Towers May Be Revised
- Rights Organisation Demonstrates Against Anti Pornography Bill
- Balinese Crystal Meth Dealer Busted
- Balinese Housekeeper Caught Snatching Boss’ Jewellery
- Bali’s Environmental Breathing Room Shrinking Fast
Indonesian Weapons and Tribal Artefacts at Auction in Köln
On 27 September a large collection of Indonesian weapons will go on the block at the Kunsthandel Klefish auction house in Köln. Such a large and diverse collection of Indonesian kris, swords, daggers and other blades has never before appeared in a single auction. A number of interesting ethnographic objects are also included in the sale, including small sculpture, Javanese masks and an extraordinary wood saddle.
Images, © 2008 Kunsthandel Klefisch GmbH
Q: Why Do Tropical Modern Houses Have to Be So White? A: They Don’t.
Architectural Digest (which normally makes me wince), has done it again - - not made me wince hard, two months in a row. The October issue features in its “Open Auditions” section on upcoming designers, a modern house in Arizona by Tennen Studio.
OMG! It’s not white! It’s a hot climate modern house, but it’s not all white! What a bloody relief.
Too many Bali houses of recent design are going totally albino, and it just doesn’t make sense in a bright-sun environment, nor in a tropical-wet one like Bali. The sun is so intense that no one can approach white houses here without wearing welder’s goggles or risking cataracts. And white houses are a maintenance nightmare here where green slime grows faster than beards in Ramadan.
Quantum Leap: New Directions in Bali Architecture and Design
After yesterday’s post, here’s another glimpse into the future of residential and hospitality design in Bali. (Lots more pictures after the jump.) The first proposed project (below) is a series of villas on a slope facing the sea, with the challenge being how to give every house views without sacrificing privacy. The second is a cluster of fifty villas on a 10 hectare property in Bali’s interior (after the jump). The design brief required placement of villa structures with minimum impact on the landscape, and minimum felling of trees. The resulting design sits light on the land, and invites nature in through transparent walls and takes advantage of the protective forest canopy to reduce energy inputs for cooling. Contact me for links and more information about these proposed projects.
Beam Me Aboard Starship Bali
Several interesting and unusual developments are sprouting in the greater Ubud area. Is this really the dawning of the age of Aquarius, or am I dreaming? Yet I kid you not, these developments are under way in a river valley near you. More images after the jump.
Have a look . . .
. . . there will be eco-eden dining in the “Silent Running Restaurant and Lounge” . . .
. . . close encounters of the earth kind for friends of the space tribe . . .
. . . and earth-faerie bathrooms shall abound.