FROM THE HEART & EYES OF A FRIEND:
MASNOOR RAMLI MAHMUD
BY HASNUL J SAIDON

Masnoor Ramli’s engagement as a visual artist has been multifarious and features multiple trajectories. I have outlined seven trajectories in my initial long-winded essay “Masnorr Ramli – From the ‘Eyes’ (Mata) and ‘Heart’ (Hati) of a friend”. The essay is based on my study of his artworks, produced since 1991 until 2007. The following is a dry and crude summary of the original essay (evidently minus my personal nuance, substantial contexts and further references).

AWAKENING THE ‘ALTER-NATIVE’
Masnoor’s earlier paintings are abstract, inspired by the symbiosis between humans and the natural environment. For a city dweller, they may appear ‘primitive’ or ‘alter-native’, but yet retain the crude expressionist and surrealist undertones that Masnoor and his MATAHATI buddies have been know for in the 90s. The mood and temperament in From Ngsebang Pelaik to KL (1991) is indeed suggestive of an ‘alter-native’ vision as coined by Zabbas.

The work behaves like a rudimentary or some primordial from of nature with its complimentary pairing of order and chaos. At may also appear like a kind of artifact, or an amulet that carries hidden codes obscured by incomprehensible tribal symbolism. Perhaps it was meant to capture Masnoor’s encounter with some forms of tribal art in Sarawak. The title hints at the idea of a distance or a degree of separation. Indirectly, Masnoor may have implied a kind of binary pairing of two opposite values.

ABSORBING FUTURE SHOCK
Rama in Cyberjaya (1996) is another example of Masnoor’s engagement with the notion of cultural identity, especially in relation to information revolution. As Malaysia braves the challenges of globalization and free market liberalism, the fate of her rich and diverse cultural traditions is uncertain, or perhaps bleak. Will such traditions be marginalized by the influx of global capitalism? In this work, the main visual text ‘Rama’, one of the main characters in the traditional Kelantan shadow puppet or wayang kulit, seems to be at odds with an array of assorted images of modern gadgetry. The mood is hectic, active and dynamic, as if intending to negate the presence and dominance of ‘Rama’. The painting appears like a collage in a pop expressionist rendition.

Cinta Dewa Dewi (2007), also features two wayang kulit characters, in this case taken from the Southeast Asia’s Jawa and Thailand traditions. Cinta Dewa Dewi is a textbook example of semiotic and appropriation at work, in which visual texts taken from diverse are placed together to unveil new readings. Other that the two wayang characters, Cinta Dewa Dewi also features two forms of landscapes rendered in Persian miniature and Chinese scroll painting styles. In appropriating distinctive Oriental styles, Masnoor may intend to remind his audience of Southeast Asian forms of pictorial recitation and story-telling. The title suggests an idea of heavenly love, perhaps towards one’s own land. Cinta Dewa Dewi may also imply the lurking crisis of urbanization that may negate the interest of preserving the rich cultural traditions and natural environment of Southeast Asia.

RESPONDING TO POST-MODERN RAVES
In Festival (1999), Masnoor used installation and video as a form of political satire. It also seems to be a parody of the banality in Malaysia’s local political fiasco (or spectacles). Independence (2004) is another video parody in which Masnoor deconstructs the celebration of Malaysia’s Independence to unveil the binary pairing of war and peace (or war within peace). Through this video, Masnoor makes a comment on the spectacle of independence (fireworks) that may ironically diminish or even deconstruct the very idea of independence or freedom itself. The work is mesmerizing and hypnotic but not without a pinch. It teases out notion of ‘real time’ and makes a point about how ‘reality’ itself can be highly relative.

VOYAGINGG INTO THE SHROUDED SELVES
This trajectory seems to be moving away from an external cultural conundrum to an inner voyage. It moves deeply inward, suggesting a more personal and idiosyncratic voyage into the subconscious. It also resonates with a sense of cathartic release. While still retaining the ubiquitous surrealist and expressionist undertones, this ‘inner’ trajectory has also lead towards a much darker rendition emanates angst and torment – a hunting feeling of despair, hopelessness, anguish, desolation, misery and sadness. It seems to be more existential.

The Truth Within (1995), Once Upon A Time (1996) and Sign of Live Voyager (1995) represent this trajectory.

ENCOUNTERING MEDIA HEGEMONY
Another significant trajectory of Masnoor’s works is simulation or fabricated reality , which seems to affirm the post-modernist’s proposition that we live within the sway of mythology conjured for us by the mass media, movies and advertisements.

One Dollar, One Dollar (2007), and I Dream Of Rome (2007) represent this trajectory. One Dollar, One Dollar is direct, bold, frontal and ‘in your face’. The mood and sentiment border on parody and sarcasm. The work is multi-textual, featuring a combination of signifiers. The images of two children, a Cambodian girl and boy denote innocence. They can be read as the subservient receiver (or victim) or global capitalism. War itself can be a profit-making affair meant to further extend hegemony and power, justified by the interest of ‘ bringing democracy’. The harm that children are subjected to can be delegated as “collateral damage”.

The binary pairing of the image of Buddha (from Angkor Wat) printed on the boy’s t-shirt with the image of the U.S dollar unveils new readings, perhaps implying that the local or indigenous belief can be substituted by ‘capitalism’ under ‘one’ (U.S.A) nation. The looming presence of the U.S dollar prominently placed as the backdrop can be read as the ominous dominance of American foreign policies (and interests) in global affairs. The juxtaposition also unveils a sinister proposition of rallying the world under one unilateral power.

I Dream Of Rome emulates certain presumed traits of the global media, featuring a scene that was digitally simulated, artificially reconstructed and totally and fabricated. The ‘simulacra’ scene itself can be taken as a field for cultural contestation (or confrontation), in which ‘Wak Dogol’ (a comedic character from the Kelantan shadow puppet) comes face to face with President Bush in a stormy desert. In between them stands the Coliseum, perhaps hinting at possible ‘battle of the gladiators or perhaps ‘fools’. The incoming desert storm acts as another signifier, suggesting an approaching war or another ‘desert storm’. Like a scene taken from a fictional film, the panoramic view further adds drama to the whole pictorial scheme.

As a visual text, the Coliseum can be read as an epitome of a mob hungry for the spectacles of violence and death. Perhaps it functions as an index for the global media and its consumers, always hungry for spectacles. To compliment the Coliseum, the binary pairing of ‘Wak Dogol’ and ‘President Bush’ may also perhaps suggest a clash between the ‘Apollonian’ and the ‘Dynosian’ idealism. Beyond the cliché U.S and Bush-bashing, it may imply the splitting paradoxes and chasm between the sacred and the secular.

KNOCKING ON THE SPIRITUAL DOOR
Faith (2004), features a spiritual undertone. The repetitive sound of our heartbeats invokes a sense of visual chant that lures and invites one to contemplate and meditate. As piously marked by our heartbeats, life is a virtuous invocation, blessed by the miracles of existence.

Masnoor’s personal version of spiritualism can also be traced in Alif (2000) Instead of repetition, Alif appears more like a proclamation. The style is very graphic with intersecting patterns that create gradual tonal values. The space is purposeful flat and shallow while the surface is geometrical and mathematical. The composition is centralized to allow us to focus mainly on the letter ‘alif’. ‘Alif’ as an Arabic letter carries many spiritual significances in the Malay-Islamic tradition.

RETURNING TO LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP
Sahabat Karib (Dunia Akhirat) (2007) is a very unassuming work that embodies the spirit of love and the path towards Oneness. It is not merely just about ‘friendship’ as implied by the title. The work is based on a Malay proverb “cubit peha kiri, paha kanan terasa” or “when you pinch your left thigh, the right thigh will also feel the pain”. More than just a proverb, it captures the spirit of inter-dependency and sustainable co-existence. It is about acknowledging and submitting to the fact that we are closer to each other (regardless of our differences) that what we normally presume; that we are actually inter-connected in a highly symbiotic way; that we are a small part of the larger whole. To feel connected with each other and with everything through love is to be a step closer to a higher state of unity.

Sahabat Karib (Dunia Akhirat) is the most appropriate work that summarizes Masnoor’s precious 19 years journey with his MATAHATI buddies.

In retrospect, how many times have Masnoor and his buddies returned to love and friendship as a point of return and a point of departure during the Group’s illustrious career?