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Adding a New Twist to Recycling

When it comes to art, Teguh Ostenrik draws from nature. The most recent of his masterpieces, themed “defacement”, includes facial expressions formed from discarded factory machines.
By Ruth Ninajanty

For Teguh Ostenrik, recycling has long been part of conceptual artwork. “ I’m basically looking for materials that I can recycle. In bali, I created a plastic waste pyramid, “Tgeuh said, recalling a project that involved collecting domestic plastic waste, compressed into blocks and formed into a giant pyramid. “ I wasn’t alone, “he added. “I had many Balinese villagers and youth organization help me the collecting.”
What matters is raising awarness, which is also his aim with this “defacement” exhibition. “Many factory machines break down over time. I cut up these machines and put them together into artistic forms. I manipulate the different shapes of the machines by welding them into sculptures. I don’t use any new material.”
Some people still them as trash. “We can never forget that trash is also a product of works. It’s like with our every move we’re doing something that ruins this earth. So what can we give back to mother earth ? that is one question I often ask myself.” Not wishing to create propaganda, Teguh starts with himself and his actions.
Never envisioning the end result, Teguh works with what he ‘sees’ in different steel pieces. He cuts out a triangle from a steel cyclinder and declares it a nose. He fuses damaged welding electrodes with steel disks for hair. “ I never sketch anything. Even with the hair, I never twist it. The damaged welding electrodes come in those shapes. In the process, these parts can develop into something that I never think about in the beginning. I let them play with my imagination, “he said. “ That’s why If you ask what the name of this sculpture is, I have no idea because it’s not done yet.”
Teguh’s imagination works like a welding torch. “Have you ever looked up to the clouds and thought ‘well, that one looks like a nose?’ That’s what I feel when I look at those machines, even before they were cut into pieces,” Teguh explained. He purposefully rusts all the steel he works with to match the natural color.
The most recent additions to “defacement” were finished in the past year. During the first six months of that process, he worked in Penang, Malaysia, under the “Artist in Residence” program. Then he moved to Serang, West Java, and worked with Nikko Steel,PT. Alam Lestari Unggul, a welding electrode factory that was delighted to see their junk pile put to use.

HIGHEND. GREENER LIVING.MAY 2009