If only Avatar is really the descendent of Batara Wisnu

If only Avatar is really the descendent of Batara Wisnu

By Sulebar M Soekarman

(1) Between The Real Form and The Virtual Form

Art is a style of expression or expression of a human; to avoid the term "expression" which is often assumed to give problematic characters especially in the avant-garde movement, we should perceive the effort simply as a unique and specific manifestation of humans’ existence. Art as well as life itself could not be divided into parts. So as the result or the very serious artistic form that affects humans’ existence; the human form itself.

If we take the artistic form and also human form; this is the beginning of a clarification of what is understood as "form", a term often used freely and hazily. In general, form is often misrecognized with the shape. Explicitly, form is always associated with the outside appearance/look, which is (actually only “shape” and it is) full of limits. This restriction is actually a simple conception of form, the externals. However, we should be able to distinguish shape as something that fills the form itself, something that is formed. Shape endorsed the appearance of form from the outside. It is the structure (composed of inner parts in the organization) which coheres closely with the limitations of unity. Thus so, form can generally be described as a structure that manifests itself in shape.

Each organic body, every living creature has a form, a holistic form. It is humans that grew this far outside the its physical presence; namely in to psychological, intellectual and spiritual reflections Through memories and awareness of identity, human beings are able to enter the dimension of time, into history the structured being, humans, are by far the most advance in its natural form. In the discussion about the 'content' also in the natural form that then we will talk about is the human form, a form that has awareness on reflective inner strength, culture, and its temporary presence.

First, we’re supposed to face ‘artistic form’ with its implication for human being form. Artistic form is structure and physical created by action or behavior of human. One could accept such information as an explanation of what art is: ‘art is form created by human, as an act of intellectuality’. If we want to understand more about the explanation of art from tendencies which happened recently, maybe we could go deeper into realm of art form itself.

The relation between ‘contain’ and ‘form’ is no other than two aspects from the same and single thing—it leads to the question of ‘what’ affects to determine ‘how’, and vice versa, ‘how’ won’t ever exist without ‘what’ which means delivering something. The linkage between ‘contain’ and ‘form’ would become important, like the relation between both question mentioned above, in order to appreciate later abstract art works.

The real form which focused on physical body (real, physic or materialization of atom), and virtual body (digital, not a materialization of physical body), which also called avatar in some digital areas, is a symbolic manifestation although not a physical manifestation with its variety degree of diversity. An avatar, as a body used to represent one self in “physical” form, could be the objective which tries to get user involved in the game they play for their own good—modifying avatar could be an experience from and for one self. Nevertheless, an avatar could be perceived as body in virtual world, a virtual form which has at least two, or more, symbolic body. Such life in virtual world, let’s say like the one in Second Life where process of changing form could be done easily using certain learned and developed skill. The process itself is so simple; one could do it by private or online networking, in-world interview and offline or atomic-world interview.

The given questions during interview were focused on how the participant deals with their feeling and motive of their live in Second Life, how they invent and create their avatar (virtual form), and what kind of experience they get from their avatar.

(2) Between Avatar—Symptoms of Visual Culture, and Avatar—Global Culture Product

According to Wikipedia, an avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. It is an “object” representing the embodiment of the user.

In English, the word has come to mean "an embodiment, a bodily manifestation of the Divine." However, the Sanskrit word Avatara means "incarnation." The term is used primarily in Hindu texts. For example, Krishna is the eighth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu the Preserver, whom many Hindus worship as The Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Dasavatara are ten chosen incarnations of Lord Vishnu by the devotee, to glorify the Lord. As used for a computer representation of a user, the term dates at least as far back as 1985, when it was used as the name for the player character in the Ultima series of computer games. The Ultima games started out in 1981, but it was in Ultima IV (1985), that the term "Avatar" was introduced. To become the "Avatar" was the goal of Ultima IV.

Virtual Displacement on Replacement Who Privacy-space?(Electricity Series),

40x40cm (6 panel), digital print, 2009

Entertaining computer game like Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (see the picture beside) reveals animated universal avatar.

The fast development of computer technology in the last 10-20 years, especially in internet network, has caused visual culture explotion, mostly in fantasy of visualizing one self and it became the most dominant element in the reality of how cybernetic system works. The using of icon, as a form of simple self expression (smiley) up to the complex imaginative creation, is the dominant substance in cyberculture. Application of email, which its application free-provided by big providers like; Yahoo, MSN, Gmail etc, has been the simplest entrance door for everybody to explore practice of self visualization, especially when internet-forum with its ’chat-room’ facility starts to develop. Avatar, as a part of form of self visualization imagination was once ’aesthetic practice’ which its circulation limited only to they who have skills and access to practice of computation technology based on internet. Although nowadays, especially in young generation, the application of avatar, which has become a popular trend and its easy and instant application doesn’t require any special skill, was heavily campaigned through advertisement by provider of mobile-technology (cellular phone company) and it’s not only can be downloaded by computer, but also any other devices like PDA and/or mobile phone with ‘compatible’ system; internet application. Then, what and how is ‘avatar’, and why such culture of self visualizing could become a trend and also have a manipulative simulation effect?

The use of Avatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularized by Neal Stephenson in his cyberpunk novel Snow Crash (1992). In Snow Crash, the term Avatar was used to describe the virtual simulation of the human form in the Metaverse (symbolically taken from ancient Hindu mythology about the ten forms of spiritual manifestation of ‘God’. Social status within the Metaverse was often based on the quality of a user's avatar, as a highly detailed avatar showed that the user was a skilled hacker and programmer, and it enabled one to perform multiple incarnations until reached Metaverse level.

In the beginning of the history of self visualization in practice of technoculture, it said that it was not intended for recreational mass-consumption practice, but from a scientific module in the 20th century known by the term of ‘H-anim’ (human-animation). Here, the human visual applications used to test the production of mathematical objects such as advanced technology, the sky outside the plane, the architectural space, the application robotik try-before test manually, and even application technology 'surveillance' as used in the banking system, the circulation of information-telecommunication weapons testing and military (Howard Rheingold: 2006). In its development, the coverage of the practice of such self-visualization 'H-Anim' through expanded internet technology using the performance of the software VRLM (Virtual Reality Markup Language, an application in which 3D human model animated in a complex rooted software-based Object Oriented Programming Language such as' java '). The using of such application then encouraged the emergence of MUDs (Multi User Dungeons), an interactive computer-program which had social imagination setting, where its user could ‘create’ characters which stayed in certain social circumstance. In the beginning, almost a decade ago, one’s involvement in the practice of such technoculture MUDs was ‘elitist in nature’; but nowadays, since the ever growing number of internet and mobile phone technology, and also the extension of ‘multi-user virtual worlds’, also support from economic and financial capital with its ‘advertising power’; such application no longer requires certain skill or knowledge which based on language of computer program, but more in emphasizing on the subject’s quality in experience and interaction in cyber-world community. One could easily create ‘reality’, like the one they imagined, equipped with special hardware or even without any hardware which required ‘plug-in’ method since one could buy the program of software ‘builder’ anywhere or even can download it from internet. But one should note that such thing applied only to internet users who have different quality which depends on hardware condition and capacity of broadband access range. (December 09, 2008 by KuRniA WahYuNi Category: Current Issue).

Now we can even access such activity of ‘creating virtual reality’ based on creative imagination which socially characterized as ‘massive-popular aesthetic’ (and how it blurs out the term of art aesthetic norm as in the institutionalized tradition) easily, without requiring special skill, in cyber community ‘Second Life’. Second Life is a further development of MUDs which stabilized and de-stabilized the concept and objectification ‘myth of metaverse’ as described by Sthepenson. The most tempestuous interest in this community is a ‘fantasy space’ in which subject actively involves in the community, has the capacity to expand the coverage of self-identity by creating and multiplying the character while creating ‘virtual environment’ at the same time, and also having inter-personal communication with other users who do the same practice as them. Such context said by Rheingold through slogan: “Welcome to the wild side of cyberspace, where ‘magic is real and identity is fluid‘.

Understanding ‘reality’ presented by cybernetic system has a relationship with the transformation of new cultural forms by which the work of logic-iconic simulation involves the transmission of audio-visual, which its process is not only mechanically reproduction but absorbing information and reciprocity. Within this context, cybernetic system, especially one we find in mobile technology—at one side it plays the role of simulation work—although at the same time it also builds a social formation which has structure and agency—the active players who runs such structure. The power of simulation is an essence of the work of cybernetic system, since its ability to present imagination of the existence of the other. Ien Ang explained that the practice of simulation technology in the culture associated with the presence of fantasy—the real issue is not ‘the fantasy itself’—but the fact that shows activity of ‘fantasying’. It is an activity to produce and consume fantasy which enables us to ‘play’ with reality (Ien Ang, 2001). The pleasure, which has become ‘intoxicating’, in consuming such fantasy doesn’t lay in the efforts in ‘detecting truth’ but in ‘continuously exploring the never ending imagination’. This is the kind of things that make our relationships with mobile technology is not merely a mechanical needs that facilitate the activities of daily life, but technology itself is designed as well as a play arena that allows everyone to 'keep away' and enter the reality of 'virtual reality' where the energy is focused on not intended to reveal the factual truth, but have fun browsing through a series of activities that know no boundaries. (December 09, 2008 By: KuRniA_WahYuNi Category: Current Issue).

(3) virtual world—the future of internet—phenomenon of virtual displacement

On the one of the news from (Telkomsel Priority) Wednesday, April 30th 2008:

Did you know that the rate of of mobile phone subscribers in the world exceeds the world population growth? In every minute there are 253 babies born and in every minute there are 723 new mobile phone subscribers. Now, the estimation number of mobile phone subscribers is up to 3.5 billions. On July 2007, the research bureau Gertner estimated that until the end of 2007 the number would reach up to 3.6 billions. The numbers of population is not a criterion, left alone constraint substance, in mobile phone subscribers. England, Luxembourg and Hong Kong, for example, they have a larger numbers of mobile phone subscribers than the total sums of their citizens. There are eight active mobile phone numbers in every 5 people in Luxembourg and there are seven phone numbers per five people in Hong Kong. In developed countries, the growth of mobile phone subscribers has slowed down. In every minute, there are only 29 new customers in Western European and 46 American customers. Now, the exotic areas are Africa and Asia Pacific. In the last 10 years, mobile phone users in Africa has reached 300 million, it had grown millions percents compared to what happened in 1998. There are 94 new mobile phone subscribers in every minute. The total sum of the subscribers is 1.4 billions and the number would double in 2010. In addition to the market that is still very large, the ever developing communication technology creates new market. The sophisticated mobile phone technology makes accessing internet easier and easier.

This virtual world has its own population. There are, currently, about 1.2 billion of internet “citizen” and every year another 100 million would join them. Most of those new comers would go online for the first time from their mobile phone. It looks like the smart mobile phone (smartphone) would be the center of communication technology convergence. Not only having communication with others and sending text-message, the mobile phone subscriber could easily do browsing internet, accessing email, playing games, listening to the music, watching video and advertisement.

Internet penetration in any countries develops since mobile phone technology would overcome the dependency on computer and physical network. The addition of features and facility in mobile phone would improve its business market. According to several research groups, such as Rudicati, Juniper Research, IDC, in 2010 there will be a booming income from mobile phone service. The biggest growth would be advertising cake and navigation service or search engine. Recently the value of advertising in virtual world, which is only $ 1.4 billion, would grow ten times up to $ 14 billion in the year of 2010. While the value of navigation service or search engine which in the beginning would grow from $230 millions to $7 billions. The highest number still gained by the email service, from $25 billions increased four times more compared to what happened in the year of 2007.

Imagine it! If nowadays everybody has a mobile phone, laptop or notebook, PC and non-personal computer, turn them on at the same time, communicate, build network at the same time, we could imagine how this blue earth looks alike from outer space and how the cyber-optic cover our earth. And if only we could put colors on the cyber-optic, by the help of provider or satellite, would the earth be covered with a blanket of rainbows or just black or just dark grey?

In the reality, one could imagine the real virtual world as an emergence of the new virtual worlds as a formation of every computer user who has the ultimate freedom to speak their “expression”. Internet would develop continuously, not only caused by experts of computer technology themselves, but also from other thousands or even million computer users who spent more time in front of their computer than participating with their society directly.

A phenomenon of virtual displacement happened! Phenomenon is a visible reality, there’s no layer between us and reality, reality always shows itself to us. According to its fate, consciousness aims to reality. As a creative observer observes a rose, for example, he/she would see it in the certain perspective; he/she would see it from any directions. A rose is a synthesis of all the perspectives she/he gets. In perspective, object was being institutionalized. Such phenomenon called of institutionalizing self in consciousness. Since there is particular correlation between consciousness and reality, one could say institutionalization is a consciousness activity which enables the existence of reality.

A phenomenon has never been a static thing; it depends on its history. Basically we tend to behave naturally, natural in the sense of silently believe in the real or virtual world. Reduction reveals the nature of consciousness which aims to the world as intention. According to Husserl the more important thing in reduction is not putting the world itself in between the parentheses, but how to state every interpretation or theory about the world. He emphasized the positive aspect of reduction, reduction is not only how to turn away from the world as it’s understood by natural attitude, but the most important thing is turning away to something; consciousness or ‘transcendental ego”.

(4) Virtual Displacement—Real Form of Netok Sawiji_Rusnoto Susanto Painting

We can find the term of virtual displacement in mechanic (physic science), and its relation with the thing called virtual work.

According to the principle of virtual work, each shift in a virtual configuration space, consistent with the limitations, thus it does not require any effort. Each virtual shifting is a sudden/spontaneous change in a coordinate (a shift in real space would require limited time as long as the particle has any chance to move; and the power also may change).

A virtual displacement is a changing of imaginary differential distance which doesn’t really happen. A virtual displacement could either consistent or inconsistent with the limitations which support it. A virtual work is a work done by power or moment while a virtual displacement happens in the system. Such method of virtual work could be applied to solve the problems with machines involvement—structure with portable or frames—structure which doesn’t have movable pieces.

By letting free part of a system which experiences a suitable and chosen virtual displacement in virtual work method, we could solve the problem of unknown person in a certain time within its own complexity like solving simple problem in a machine without having to solve it simultaneously.

Whether in reality it stays in ‘rain’ or ‘drizzle’ area, Digital Rain has now become a most simple theme which enables us to get closer to such problem. Most of minimarket, supermarket up to hypermarket and all of those public spaces have turned into digital display window, whether it’s being sold or the blooming of public spaces with digital image. The trend of open spaces with hotspot until canteen with digital image offer branded hotspot canteen.

Within the context of postmodern society, urbanization doesn’t longer mean the migration of people to the city in the real space, but it developed into virtual urbanization which means the migration of people in a large number to the center of ‘cyberspace’ digital city. Then human tries to fight against the limitation of speed and its power by conquering the boundaries of virtual room, but one thing that we should understand is the boundaries itself are not in the room, or time, but they are in our brain. (Note of Netok Sawiji_Rusnoto S, email June 15th, 2009)

By processing and presenting the theme of virtual displacement in his solo exhibition, Netok Sawiji_Rusnoto Susanto (NS_RS) tries to tell his confusion in the emergence of cyberspaces, cybercities, with its digitalization processing in every aspect of life and how it’s been eroding the humanity in recent society and how it causes spiritual erosion. One could say NS_RS still uses narrative method by symbolically telling something through his formed objects on his canvas which enables him to represent some understandings from outside or inside himself, and hopefully observer could get it too.

This method has a potential to trigger discourse in the next times, and only has orientation at the substance of the narration itself and things around it, and keeps away the most basic in the whole creation of NS_RS. Although there is an interesting ideology which involves the pattern thinking and reflection of NS_RS that one could dig deeper conceptually.

His formed objects can be ‘avatar’ as in virtual form and in real form at the same time, and it could stimulate the subtle encouragement in the observer and ask them to go deeper, absorbing the meaning presented in his every painting. If there is a chronological ‘story’ line or the appearance of dimensional ‘space’, there must be a relevancy in time sequence. Here, time is a signifier of real room where NS_RS now stays, lives with everyday matters and his observations, and reflections, on the situation of real world and virtual world which ‘collide’.

His longing in the harmony of those both worlds, and also in the return of the essence of humanity which recently blurs out, apparently has become his source of ‘soul’ searching which being explored endlessly and presented on his ‘virtual displacement’ themed paintings this time.

The involvement of any substances on canvas has become an appearance in unison which emerges impression and spirit which may invite the observer to enter moment of absorption with creative understanding.

(5) The Avatar—memayu hayuning bawana

We still grasp the development of computer technology falteringly, while in creative industry we’re being attacked mercilessly by products from abroad like movie, animation, cartoon, game, music, e-book, facebook, friendster, youtube etc which most of them ‘spoil’ us; make things easier for us to communicate, gather information and at the same time choose which one we really need in order to enhance our dignity and which one we need to avoid since it would destroy our lives.

It’s been broadcasting for two years or so in one of the private TV, an animation serial called Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang) is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon and the Nicktoons Network. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz. Avatar is set in an Asian-influenced world of martial arts and elemental manipulation. The basic element of universe, water—earth—fire--wind: 4 kinds of nature power which each owns its superiority compared to the others. When such power is uncontrollable, and works on each own way, then the harmony of universe would be disrupted. It’s said and believed that only an Avatar can save the world. The show drew on elements from East Asian, South Asian, and Western culture, making it a mixture of what were previously traditionally separate categories of anime and US domestic cartoons.

The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation. The pilot episode first aired on February 21, 2005 and the series concluded with a widely-lauded two-hour television movie on July 19, 2008. The show is now available on DVD, the iTunes Store, and the Xbox Live Marketplace, as well as its home on Nickelodeon.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was popular with both audiences and critics, garnering 5.6 million viewers on its best-rated showing and receiving high ratings in the Nicktoons lineup, even outside its 6–11-year-old demographic. Avatar has been nominated for and won awards from the Annual Annie Awards, the Genesis Awards and the primetime Emmy awards, among others. The first series' success prompted Nickelodeon to order second and third seasons. The first part of a movie trilogy tentatively titled The Last Airbender is expected to be released on July 2, 2010.

One of the true artist’s duties (personally or through the works they create) is creating something to deliver the beauty of the world, memayu hayuning bawana, solemnly and respectfully presenting something to the transcendence one. A conscious thought in attitude regarding the value of honesty and truth and how it could contribute something to save the world. There was this wise man that used the parable of full moon to explain the meaning of memayu hayuning buwana.

As the full moon makes the earth shines, so is the man makes the earth shines by their presence.

Man won’t ever lose their distance with outer world, like the moon to the earth.

Since the man’s heart is forever divine, since their presence in the world reflects His light on them, and how it makes them beautiful and saves them.

If only the Avatar is really an embodiment of Lord Vishnu, the Savior and Preserver!

Yogyakarta, June 20th 2009

Sulebar M. Soekarman