SEKUTOO: STRENGTH IN NUMBERS (Part 2) by Amir Amin

Conversation with SEKUTOO

What’s the story behind your collective name?

Yi.Da: It can be translated as oneness and representing 10 in a team. Yi.Da is a self-sustained art group that was formed in 2020.

Studio 333: We (Suki, Syahbandi and Latif Maulan) started in 2019. The name was inspired by the amount of our monthly rental each of us need to pay.

Temu: The name TEMU derived from the Malay word TEMU. Originally, we wanted to name our collective BERTEMU but ended up with TEMU.

Studio Atas: Originally, we are known as PEDU which stands for “Daripada Perak sampai ke Lendu” as we have 12 members from UiTM Sri Iskandar, Lendu and Machang. That’s how it all started, but for SEKUTOO, we go with 5 members and use the name Studio Atas.

Markaz Art Space: Since our student’s year, we have always been exposed by collective like Ruang Rupa. I (Kechik) remember especially when we try to search for Neo-Dadaism references.

Studio Kongsi: We derived our studio name from two words which are ‘studio’, which means a room/space/place while ‘kongsi’ is a Malay word, meaning to share a space with a group of people in one place/ occupied together. Thus, Kongsi Studio represents how us (Hidayat and Amy) share the materials, ideas and our experiences in the artworks making process.

Studio Kotak Lampu: Our studio name was chosen randomly, and the name Kotak Lampu was the one that we chose in the end.

TuahxKachang: For us, we have two different collective that got together, Tuah and Kachang. As for Kachang (Syahmi), our studio consists of alumni from UiTM Melaka and Machang. So, the name derived from Ka (in Melaka) and Chang (in Machang), hence the name KaChang. While for Tuah (Fakhriq), we started as a group of degree students from Sri Iskandar. We want to have a name that can bring us good fortune and what better word than Tuah (luck in English). And few years later, both Kachang and Tuah decided to merge to become TuahXKachang.

Empati Studio: Empati Studio has been in Batu Belah, Klang since 2018. We started our studio during our studies year. As for the name, Empati is a Malay word for empathy. The essence of our studio is to have the ability to understand others in emotions, perspectives, and compassion. We practice and emphasize the essence of empathy in our artworks through a manifestation of reflections in expressing a visual or an abstract painting or sculpture

Nafasyahdu Art Group: Nafasyahdu originally called Nafas, which means ‘breath’. We were inspired by Marcel Duchamp, ‘Every second, each breath is a work which is inscribed nowhere, which is neither visual nor cerebral. It’s a sort of euphoria’. But eventually we add on Syahdu to the name. The name Syahdu was inspired by our meeting with Yogyakarta artists. During our ‘lepak’ session, many of the Yogyakarta artists kept on saying ‘Syahdu’. When we asked, what is ‘syahdu’, to them it means best, something inspirational.

What is a collective for you?

Temu: In my opinion (Rais), collective is a group of people that share the same mission, vision, and goals.

Studio Atas: Collective is not just working together between different ideologies and thoughts but to stay together and compromise in creating a healthy environment.

Markaz Art Space: Markaz is a collective of 8 persons where it introduces 8 different ideas combined. The idea will not be individually but collectively.

Studio Kongsi: A collective for us is a group that existed during the studies years. What I (Hidayat) can see is, collectives can be seen as an act that is geared towards survival – in the financial sense. What seems clear to me is that many people, including artists, are increasingly concerned about basic needs such as paying rent and living costs, wherever they may live. Apart from that, we can see that location plays important role. For example, here in Shah Alam, we have U12, Shah Alam; Batu Belah, Klang and Sri Rampai, KL. Each location has its own art community where each of the community members support each other.

Empati Studio: Collective for us is a group of people that have the same ideologies and ideas. We see ourselves as a family more than a studio mate or a collective.

What do you guys think of this exhibition?

Yi Da: It is a good exhibition as we can gather and get together in creating a body of artwork.

Temu: For me, this exhibition is a unique exhibition as it is rarely, we can see a collaborative work by a collective. Usually one artwork for each artist.

Studio Atas: SEKUTOO is a good experience for us as a collective. By joining this exhibition, we get to know and measure our level as a collective and individual.

Studio Kongsi: This project is different. When we first approached for SEKUTOO, it is a steppingstone for us the collective to create collaborative artworks. It is not only in term of visual, but ideation as well.

Studio Kotak Lampu: SEKUTOO is very different compared to many of the exhibition we have seen before. It is a challenge for us as we never did any collaborative work before.

Empati Studio: This exhibition helps us to set our footing in the art scene. SEKUTOO is a platform for us to venture into the Malaysian art scene. Although we set as a collective, but we leave our distinct mark in the artwork.

How does pandemic affect your work? Especially when talking about SEKUTOO, each member needs to talk and discuss about the body of work? As we know not all members are living here together.

Yi Da: We managed by going on Google Meet from time to time. We talked and discussed once a week. Especially on the execution of the artworks. We need to finalize on the materials and ideas.

Temu: This pandemic does affect us as many of us are full-time artists. Like myself (Epyowe) a muralist, the pandemic does affect me as many jobs had to be cancelled due to lockdown. As for the exhibition, it was quite a struggle as we were separated. I (Raja) was at Kelantan, Rais was at KL, Aimman at Banting and Awe (Epyowe) at Perak. So, we had to do online meetings to discuss further on the artworks. In the end of the day, we decided to do individual artwork separately and only combine them once we got together again.

Studio Atas: In term of artmaking, we still do artworks, but slower compare to pre-pandemic. For SEKUTOO, we kept on doing the artworks. Fortunately, most of us were here (Aiman, Amierul Iskandar, Amirul Roslan and Putra Nazri), so we just kept on doing the artworks. Once the MCO lifted, Syukur came almost everyday to finish his part.

In the process of making the collaboration work with multiple styles and practices, how do you guys unite to stay relevant and inline with the curatorial intention?

Studio 333: We naturally respect each other style and practice. So, each of us, will do our respective style and practice first and then in the end, combine everything together.

Temu: Amid pandemic, we had to discuss online on the theme. We discussed on our strength and from there we try to find something that unite us all.

Studio Atas: We started doing digital arts and discussed among each other on the best approach we should take. But in the end of the day, we focus on the diversity. We came up with the theme unity in diversity. Each of us started to create sketches and then we combine the best among ourselves. In this artwork, we are using random and spontaneous images. The process called push and pull technique, where we will place the images at random, and try to see and discuss on how to improve the work.

Empati Studio: During the pandemic, some of us were at Pahang and Terengganu, while the rest here at Klang. So, we had to use online platform – Google Meet to discuss about our projection and how we want to go about for this exhibition. Another note is that we not only comprise of painter, but we have sculptor and printmaker as well. So, we discuss and had to compromise on the best approach for us to tackle the curatorial intention.

What are the struggles and challenges as a collective?

Studio 333: As a collective, what we can say the challenge is to work with people with other background, as a collective, we need to be able to understand each member and not forcing anything to any members.

Temu: One of the challenges as a collective is each of the members has their own distinctive style and characteristic. So, we need to find balance and trying to mitigate between one another.

Studio Atas: For us, collaboration work really is challenging. Eventhough we have been together for a long time, but doing a proper collaborative work and as a collective, it is quite challenging as we need to be in the game together, albeit different style or approaches.

Markaz Art Space: Not really a challenge but more of an interesting process. We have 8 members with very distinct set of mind, approach, and style. When we combine all 8 ideas, usually we don’t have a specific product. Most of our works usually ended up as a documentation.

TuahxKachang: Some challenges as a collective that we can see are different style and approach. So, we must discuss, came up with different sketches and we try to compose. But that is the beauty of a collective.

Nafasyahdu Art Group: Our main struggle is time as each member has their own commitment. It is quite hard for us to get together to create a particular artwork. But we do have to compromise.

Is it necessary for an artist to be in a collective?

Studio Atas: For us, it is a necessity as we are interdependent. Especially collective, it will help especially young artists to find footing in the industry.

Markaz Art Space: To be in a collective, it is important especially for young artists. Even when we work individually, we still need others to discuss about our idea. By being in a collective, each member can remind one another to be better.

Studio Kotak Lampu: For us it is necessary as we can get together with someone that is like-minded. Like us, we started the collective since our studies years. We try to help and push each other to do our very best.

TuahXKachang: For us collective is important. For example, in U12, we have a bigger collective that unite all the studios in U12 called U12 Art Community. Few years back, we decided to organize an exhibition and all the studios in U12 get together and help each other. So collective helps us, the artists to move and expand.

Empati Studio: Personally, for us, it is beneficial to be in an art collective. Each member can be on a look out for each other. We take care of each other and be more of a sparring partner to one another. In a way we will always try our best to improve ourselves as an artist and collective.

Nafasyahdu Art Group: For us, it is essential for us to be in a collective. Especially for young artists, when we started, we might not have the strength and confidence to start, but when we are in a collective, we have more confidence and we have the support and backing from our collective.

Do you guys have a set of goals or mission for the collective?

Yi Da: Our mission is to develop a self-sustain art collective that contains fresh and emerging artists to support each other’s as well as collaborative projects.

Studio 333: For us, Studio 333 is just a name of our space. We don’t have any specific goals, but we always help each other out. This studio is a space for work and experiment.

Temu: When speaking about goals, we would like for each of us to be a great fine artist. We view TEMU as an art hub where we organize art programmes like pre-pandemic like still life drawing session and more.

Studio Atas: We don’t have a specific goal or mission, but we would like to enjoy every work that we do. Cause if we the artists don’t enjoy the works, how come others want to enjoy the works?

Markaz Art Space: We are trying to fill up the genre that is missing in Malaysia, for example the Neo-Dadaism. We are searching for something that we can give an impact to and that is the new media works. We at Markaz trying to challenge the fundamental of art either collectively or individually.

TuahXKachang: One of our goals is to venture oversea. But now, we focus more on the Malaysian art scene. We try to help our juniors first to start their journey in the art scene. We do collaboration with other studios as well.

Empati Studio: Individually, each members have our own set of goals. It is a fact that one day, each of us will branch out eventually, but our goal is for us to always be together.

Nafasyahdu Art Group: Our goal is quite simple; we want to stay relevant in the art scene not only focusing on art exhibition but to also contribute to the society.