MOBILIZING IMAGERY: If we give critical consideration to the attitudes, ideas and behavior prevalent in Malaysian society from the 1990s until now, we can easily conclude that many obvious changes have occurred in the mindset and behaviour of a society that is inhibited by modern and post-modern changes. The clash in values between the holy or civilized and the pragmatic based on materialism has given rise to many attitudes, environments and conducts that are totally new. As a society that grew collectively in an environment of Eastern cultural values and beliefs, the existence of a ‘new’ mindset and behaviour has slowly changed the direction of the members of that society towards a new ‘philosophy of life’ with new values that are practised together with the old. We may have grown accustomed to statements regarding clashes between Western and Eastern values, or between tradition and modernity. But what happening now actually the expression of a new culture that is subconsciously being created. The absorption and practice of this new culture can be interpreted as representing contemporary culture within a context. It is obvious that this new culture is being adopted by our society. From our lifestyle dominated by accessories and materialism to our leisure activities, society is upholding new cultural values or rather the apparition of a mixed culture composed of disparate values. Consumerism and urbanization are the main factors behind the practical expression of that culture and its values. What is more interesting is that this version of contemporary culture appeared within the local framework which obviously makes it more complex to describe. The purpose of life now seems to have changed to an emphasis on efforts based on pragmatism and rationalism according to the capitalist mould. The new values place more importance on cravings or habits that must be satisfied through attacks of desire that are sometimes shallow and superficial. At the same time, we witness the emergence of a dilemma to maintain the cultural nuances and values passed down through tradition and religion. There is a large range of ironies, paradoxes and choices in the practice of a culture that is socially adapted to the reality of today’s life. The construction of the social landscape is happening very fast and it depicts a social situation related to tastes and social choices regarding life and lifestyle. This social landscape can also be described as the Malaysian version of contemporary popular culture, which offers a wide variety of plots, episodes, themes and characters to be observed, assessed or watched. In the context described above, Ahmad Shukri’s works capture glances of that culture. The artist stands in that culture playground and makes fragments of issues, events and questions appear with his creative strategy that possesses a complex, clever and sharp observer that reacts by using his creative power of commentary. The existence of a distance between him and the subject presented is the strength that brings out his talent. From that distance, the ‘freedom’ of Ahmad Shukri’s art to create significant and meaningful thoughts and images appears. His distance as an observer enables Ahmad Shukri to build and develop his understanding of all the events that occur within the cultural framework of his community. His installation work entitled ‘Urban Garden Series’ (1998) clearly shows the distance he keeps in giving his commentary on the issue of hydroponic cultivation by city and country dwellers during the 1998 economic crisis. The same phenomenon occurs when he gives his reaction about the issue of information technology in the Diskette Series that had a great impact on society. The identity of Ahmad Shukri’s artworks is built on the basis of that distance, in addition to the accuracy of his ideas in giving the best treatment to create a significant and meaningful visual impact. His main strength in building layers, mixtures, or visual supports is quite impressive. Two clear examples of this can be seen in the Cabinet Series that he produced during the early 1990s and the Target Series that he produced in the issues explored. His skills in mastering the techniques and media processes have taken him to a level of visual heroism that is precise and effective. His works derive their impact and unique quality from his mastery of the visual language and media. Ahmad Shukri’s strength lies in the way he cleverly presents his visual ideas as a result of his fluency in artistic approaches, media processes, and the contextual relationship between them. This can clearly be seen through three of his works, namely ‘Pearl Of The East’ (1999) ‘Insect Diskette’ (1996) and Target Series: ‘Camouflage 1’ (1994). The sharpness of Ahmad Shukri’s response is the factor that makes his works so highly significant. Events or situations happening in society form his main data, which would remain meaningless without a sound, sharp and strategic commentary. These data are not left blank by Ahmad Shukri who instead manipulates them in the mould of his mature train of thoughts and transforms them into tactical artistic forms. The impact of Ahmad Shukri’s ideas in building speculative images comes from his cognitive intelligence and ability to digest incidents, events or situations occurring within society. The essence of these ideas flows together with the images produced to give contextual and strength to his works. The cultural craze for dwarf chickens for example has been given refined perceptual value. Ahmad Shukri builds a critical discourse based on his commentary and analysis of dwarf chickens in a creative artistic dimension. The works in the series such as ‘Incubator’, ‘Progeny’ and ‘Serama’ show his ability to produce a creative analysis of the world of dwarf chickens. This perceptual basis is important to understand in order to give a reasonable appreciation of Ahmad Shukri’s works. In addition, several aspects can also be emphasized to give a picture of Ahmad Shukri’s creative effort. One of the main aspects of his creativity is his tendency to depict and highlight the mindsets and behaviour of Malaysian society in regard to contemporary cultural aspects that are frequently regarded as common and trivial. The cabinet shelves that appear in houses, for example, are too mundane for someone, yet Ahmad Shukri they hold a significant and meaningful context in the contemporary cultural flow of Malaysian society. In this context the emphasis on the attitude, behaviour, actions, issues, questions or traditions that he highlights is not merely a shallow pictorial arrangement but rather an important creative statement rendered in a visual manner in order to give a glimpse of the conduct and attitudes of society itself. The emphasis on the current social conditions that are considered contemporary in the local context is Ahmad Shukri’s main battleground. He seems quite at ease with the presentation of ideas in this area through the translation of icons, symbols and signs that indirectly allude to the main or secondary issues and questions to which he wishes to respond. The imagery of traditional batik motif, butterflies, targets, cabinet shelves, origami, food covers, Ninja Turtles, flowers, bar code, vegetables seedlings, dwarf chickens, sticks or more recently tapirs and astronauts are symbols that can usually be related to our social landscape that is absolutely local. These image, symbols or icons are too ordinary and petty to emphasize literally or directly, but in Ahmad Shukri’s hands this imagery is given a meaning, a context and a new relation that relates directly with the socio-cultural situation occurring in Malaysian society. Emphasis on the local social landscape by Ahmad Shukri in a post-pop style can make us wonder about the role of art in the twenty-first century. Does it wish to preach or does it merely display artistic vessels that are believed to be holding some sort of magic power? It is clear that through the current of global and local awareness Ahmad Shukri has moved strategically throughout his art practice by broaching local themes, issues and questions with a style that quite international. He emphasized symbols or icons in context that leads to the questions that he wishes to address. His art statement is a creative response that uses the creation of imagery to comment about issues or questions. As an extension of this emphasis, Ahmad Shukri repackages the issues raised by focusing on the relation between the idea and its representation in the artwork. Ahmad Shukri’s works do not regurgitate the highlighted issues in a raw and cheap manner. His artworks are not a news bulletin full of untreated undigested social data. On the contrary, his works have become a site for discourse and a rich clash of cultures as a result of his efforts to repackage it. A clear example of this situation can be seen in the work entitled ‘Ninja Turtle Visit Malaysia’ in the Cabinet Series (1991). In this work we can see how he plays with kitsch objects and uses the basis of local culture and universal icons to present a contemporary picture about tourism and the resulting cultural clash. It is clear that the richness of the imagery is an example of his efforts to repackage all the complexities of the issues and questions that he wishes to address. The intensity of the imagery, however, is not on a shallow level or in the form of one-dimensional visual compositions, but instead the images are arranged into a complex composition as a result of the historical background and contextual imagery used. In an explicit and strategic manner, Ahmad Shukri’s works are related to the repackaging of social issues that play in the communal space. Bar codes and diskettes for example are symbols that are repackaged to engage the theme of information technology that at one time was a very hot issue. He uses the signs of the bar code and diskette in a discourse field that gives sharp connotations about the issue of information technology that is reinforced with the element of fauna (insects). This clash is worrisome if our rationalization fails to provide the context to the relation between nature, mankind and technology. As was emphasized earlier, the strength of Ahmad Shukri’s works is his skill in creating an ‘art packaging’ that is significant and relevant in the contemporary social reading. In layers and heaps the imagery creates a new meaning and context from the clash arranged by Ahmad Shukri. This is what can be seen in his Cabinet Series and more recently in the works of the exhibition Warning! Tapir Crossing. His observation in order to produce the imagery is amazing, it reveals a school of Eastern art that refers particularly to calculation and observation in planning and creating the object of art. The clashes of images from different origins, causes and cultures make the contextual cycle or the reading of meaning heavier for the work. At this stage Ahmad Shukri displays a discourse through his works. His works are no longer about disposition of imagery and issues related to composition but have become a battlefield where rich and narrow ideologies show their arguments and ideas. His works are no longer just to be read for their meaning and to be placed in context. The visual richness or complexities are signs that must be followed towards a different relation that is supported by the imagery used. In conclusion, the contemporary spirit carried by Ahmad Shukri though his works is a creative image of the local social scene. With rapid development causing so many changes in nature, mankind and human values, Ahmad Shukri acts as a social seismograph that notes, reads and reacts in a strategic and creative manner. The cultural change in society from the meaningful and significant to materialism points to the shallowness of meaning and has given birth to a large number of issues that ought to be refined, debated, reviewed and analysed. Ahmad Shukri has played his artistic role through the creation of works that refer clearly to the cultural pulse of Malaysian society that is based on material culture. From this perspective, his works are invaluable creative document in the context of documenting the development of Malaysia’s transition in the socio-cultural field. Through his works we can witness a network of complex ideas and cultural practices. The clash and unification of cultural elements and object that come from a variety of sources, causes, rationales and beliefs in the field of art can really be categorized as crucial from an intellectual perspective. It is clear that Ahmad Shukri’s art is not just an enchanting lecture but it rises from the collective space and pushes art to its new function in the space of contemporary society itself.
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