The year 1815 was marked by the eruption of Mt Tambora. The following year saw changes in the climate throughout a large swathe of Europe and became known as The Year Without Summer. Not long ago, when people were remembering the two hundred year anniversary of the Tambora eruption, one outcome that was discussed was the birth of the monstrous figure of Frankenstein. A year after the eruption, Mary Shelley and her friends had to take shelter in their castle, while the ashen clouds rumbled overhead. The story of Frankenstein and the figure created by the lonely scientist has come to represent many things: horror, uncertainty, the strangeness of relations between humans, life, machines and an idealised imagining of life itself. From the silent film of Edison Studios in 1910, to other films by major film studios which also use the name of Frankenstein, to poetry, short stories and comics from all corners of the globe. Is it the fear of loneliness of the scientist-creator which continues to make it relevant to the present day? Or, is it the need for friendship? What is the first version of Frankenstein that you are familiar with? Who introduced you to it?

On the 19th April 2012, Nathan Hatton uploaded his edited version of the documentary video of the performance art piece Exergie – Butter Dance (2000) by Melati Suryodarmo that was performed in Malmo, 2010. The performance itself was held in 2010. The percussion music of Daeng Basri Sila and Khaeruddin, which formed the soundtrack for the performance, was replaced with Adele’s song, Someone Like You. On the same day, a video aggregating blog, with 500,000 daily visitors, re-uploaded the video with the logo, World Star Hip-hop. On the same day, Clive Martin, a contributor to Vice, made some theoretical comments about this World Star Hip-hop upload. According to him, Melati’s video contained six dimensions: (1) A post-feminist statement about modern women in the culture of male patriarchy; (2) Reflections about how attractive appearance can also be belittling; (3) The expression of a woman’s fear of the role of being a mother; (4) An illustration of the internal conflict of bourgeois pretensions and animal instincts; (5) A symbol of voyeurism; (6) A criticism of the barbaric practices of the dairy industry. 

It is not important whether Clive Martin’s interpretation is in accordance with Melati’s statement or the background of the work. Afterall art can be interpreted by anyone with any way of thinking. Not long after, as can be read in the comments of Nathan Hatton’s YouTube account, a number of people watched the video after being triggered by the comedians Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart. Also during the month of April 2012, the BBC published an article to clarify the facts of making the video. Ten years after the performance itself, Melati’s work suddenly went viral!

The internet actually moves as fast as that. Strangely—or interestingly?—our art world seems disconnected from the internet or public in general. One year later, the September/October 2013 edition of Art Asia Pacific, published a profile and overview of her works without covering the flow of coverage about Exergie – Butter Dance which has been watched by millions of viewers.  

Melati explained how she made the work in simple words: “I entered a room, where there was a pile of butter and faced the audience. Then I stepped on the butter, started to dance and let myself slip over. After falling over, I would get up and try to start dancing again. I kept on doing this until I ran out of energy. Then I took off my shoes and left the room.” For those who had watched her performance live, they would have been caught up in the feelings of caution, fragility, resignation and in the end, fatigue, from watching Melati continually falling, getting up and dancing. 

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How have you been accessing information recently? Is the figure of the newsreader, storyteller, the sender of this message important? What is more important? The news, the stories or the tales and the messenger or its medium? 
The works in this part of the exhibition contain traces of the influence of distant cultures which have been foreign for the messenger. Starting from the influence of the maestro who was a teacher or teacher-like figure for the artists in this section until new cultures which artists encounter at certain times. The artists get to have surprising, new or strange meetings outside of their everyday lives which they get to know, appreciate and perform, even if for a short while—owing to education, timeframe of the residency, moving home for family reasons and so on. Something that was previously foreign slowly becomes a part of them and is embodied in their daily lives and takes form in their work.