Ubah Rumah Residency Artist

Made Bayak is a Balinese contemporary artist with a strong social conscience, dedicating his creative energies to activities that directly engage with the community. He pursued his studies at the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) in Denpasar from 1999 to 2006, where he met his future wife, Komang Kartika Dewi, a graduate from ISI who teaches art at Sukawati Junior High School. The couple has one son, Damar Langit Timur, who also shows great artistic potential, beginning to create figurative representations as early as two years old.

Bayak attributes his talent to his mother's family lineage. His grandfather and great-grandfather were readers and writers of lontar (Balinese ancient manuscripts). Observing them create Rajah (mystical drawings in Balinese culture) as a child has profoundly influenced his artistic practice today.

Since 2010, he has been a member of Sanggar Anak Tanguh (Building Strong Children) in Banjar Wangbung, where he lives with his family. This organization was established by local parents to address the shortcomings in Bali's public education system, focusing on the holistic development of children through weekly workshops. Every Sunday morning, they facilitate art classes aimed at nurturing and enhancing the children's innate creative abilities.

In 2010, Bayak began developing a long-term project called "PLASTICOLOGY," through which he experiments with paintings created from the pervasive plastic waste found throughout Bali. He has cultivated a large social network that provides opportunities for community outreach events. These events combine various forms of creative expression and aim to raise awareness among youths from both Indonesia and Bali’s international community about pressing social and environmental issues. To this day, he continues to lead self-funded presentations and workshops for his PLASTICOLOGY art project with schools and community groups. In addition to his art, Made Bayak is also a guitarist in the local hardcore/heavy metal band named AMPLITHERAPY. The band's mission is to communicate with the younger generation and be a voice for them through the lyrical content of their music, which is written in Balinese, as well as through their social activism.

Bayak regularly exhibits his work in Bali and has recently showcased his pieces in countries such as Italy, the USA, Switzerland, Germany, and Poland. In 2013, he was also nominated as a finalist for the prestigious Sovereign Art Prize in Singapore.

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Residency Proposal: Plasticology and the Island Cosmology

Lahir dan besar dalam ruang hidup kepulauan, merupakan sebuah anugerah yang sangat luar biasa bagi saya, berada dalam sebuah cosmology pulau kecil yang menjadi bagian tata semesta yang jauh lebih besar, menumbuhkan kesadaran akan pentingnya menjaga tata kelola cosmology tersebut, baik itu sekala kecil yang nantinya akan bisa mempengaruhi sekala yang lebih besar.

Didalam tubuh manusia memiliki cosmology yang merupakan semesta kecil, ada pembagian ruang sesuai dengan tugas dan fungsinya untuk menjaga kelangsungan hidup, bagian-bagian tersebut saling berkait satu sama lain, bagian Hulu dan Hilir/atas-bawah, kepala dan kaki, Gunung dan lautan, maka jangan pernah menyepelekan jika bagian kaki sakit, karena nanti pasti akan berpengaruh terhadap kepala, begitu juga jika lautan rusak, di area penggunungan juga akan terpengaruhi, begitu juga sebaliknya.

Semua alur alamiah itu di Bali sebut Segara Gunung, sebuah siklus alami didalam semesta dan terjadi juga disemesta kecil dalam tubuh kita. Diberbagai tempat siklus itu sedang terganggu sekarang oleh polusi, oleh material plastik dan sintetik yang mencemari lingkungan udara, tanah, air, demikian didalam tubuh kita sekarang tercemar oleh zat-zat yang berbahan kimia melalui makanan dan obat-obatan yang mengganggu proses alami dalam tubuh dan bahkan banyak bergantung oleh zat-zat baru tersebut.

Budaya konsuptif hari ini sangat mempengaruhi apa yang kita hasilkan setelah mengkonsumsi, ketidak siapan kita dalam mengolah hasil pasca konsumsi tersebut akan membuat masalah baru bagi lingkungan dan mengancam keberlangsungan keseimbangan alam.

Saya tertarik melihat dan ingin meneliti bagaimana system penanganan limbah plastic dan sintetik yang ada di pulau Bintan dengan masyarakat, budaya dan keperyaannya disana, juga melakukan presentasi project dan workshop dengan anak-sekolah menengah dan khususnya pada pulau Nikoi yang sudah bisa dengan maksimal mengelola limbah yang dihasilkan oleh komunitas kecil yang ada disana, semua itu untuk menjadi bahan studi saya dan bisa lebih faham melihat kasus yang terjadi di pulau saya sendiri yaitu pulau Bali dan siapa tahu bisa menjadi bahan studi yang menghasilkan solusi bagi persoalan yang terjadi di tempat atau pulau lainya.

Juga saya tertarik ingin melihat tentang bentang alam dan hutan yang menjadi bagian integral dari pulau Nikoi dengan specifikasi tumbuhan yang terpelihara disana.

Tentunya saya juga akan melakukan kegiatan workshop dan berkarya bersama yang melibatkan komunitas yang ada di pulau Bintan dan para pengunjung dan staff yang ada di pulau Nikoi juga saya harapkan bisa menjadi bagian dari dalam kegiatan residensi seni ini.

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Being born and raised in an island living space is an extraordinary gift for me, being in a small island cosmology that is part of a much larger universe, fostering awareness of the importance of maintaining the governance of the cosmology, both on a small scale that will later be able to influence a larger scale.

In the human body there is a cosmology which is a small universe, there is a division of space according to its duties and functions to maintain survival, these parts are interrelated with each other, the Upstream and Downstream/top-bottom, head and feet, Mountains and oceans, so never underestimate if the feet hurt, because later it will definitely affect the head, likewise if the ocean is damaged, the mountainous area will also be affected, and vice versa.

All of these natural flows in Bali are called Segara Gunung, a natural cycle in the universe and also occurs in the small universe in our bodies. In many places, this cycle is being disrupted now by pollution, by plastic and synthetic materials that pollute the air, land and water environment, and in the same way, our bodies are now polluted by chemical substances through food and medicines that disrupt the natural processes in the body and many are even dependent on these new substances.

Today's consumer culture greatly influences what we produce. Our unpreparedness in processing post-consumption results will create new environmental problems that threaten the sustainability of the balance of nature.

I am interested in seeing and want to research how the plastic and synthetic waste handling system on Bintan Island with the community, culture and beliefs there, also conducting project presentations and workshops with high school children and especially on Nikoi Island who have been able to manage waste produced by the small community there optimally, all of that to be my study material and to be able to understand better the cases that occur on my island, namely Bali, and who knows it can be a study material that produces solutions to problems that arise in other places or islands.

I am also interested in seeing the landscape and forests that are an integral part of Nikoi Island with the specifications of plants maintained there. I will also conduct workshop activities and work together involving the community on Bintan Island, and I also hope that visitors and staff on Nikoi Island can be part of this Ubah Rumah art residency activity.