LOVE TANK (THE TEMPLE) By S. Teddy Darmawan (Indonesia)

Love Tank (The Temple) expresses the interaction between the East and West cultures – an interaction which often ends in clashes. Tanks, synonymous with the landscape of war, are instrumental war machines in the propagation of western supremacy; Pagodas are believed to be the seats of gods and goddesses who rule this world and a symbol of the levels of pure love in Eastern cultures. The adaptation of these cultural symbols is symbolised through the visual language of seven tanks stacked on top of one another forming a tall structure resembling a pagoda. The tanks are decorated with red lotus ‘camouflage’ and the juxtaposition transforms the killing machine into one that conveys love and peace to humankind.

Artist S. Teddy Darmawan was born in Padang in 1970 and graduated from Indonesia Institute of Arts, Fine Arts Department, Yogyakarta. He was Artist in Residence in Aachen, Germany and was selected for best five of Phillip Morris Awards 2001 (Indonesia).

The National Museum’s Art-On-Site public art programme invites artists to exploit the site-specific qualities of the National Museum’s public spaces, to create provocative and original work that alters the visitor’s perceptions of the museum environment. Working in close collaboration with the Museum’s programmers over a sustained period of time, it is hoped that each commissioned artwork can mark a new stage or open up new possibilities in the creative development of the selected artist.

For more information, please visit www.nationalmuseum.sg

Love Tank - Image courtesy of Adi Muchdillah for S.Teddy D and National Museum of Singapore-Ming SURROUND. All Rights Reserved.