Artist Statement

My name is Khairul Ehsani Sapari. I’m a multidisciplinary artist. I’m 32 years old. As a young artist (yes 32 is young), I am on a creative journey that knows no bounds. My passion for artistic expression knows no limits, and I explore diverse media and platforms to give life to my ideas. From painting and ceramics to performance art and beyond, I thrive on experimenting with concepts and embracing rarely used media. For that goal, I worked with probably the only experimental collective still (kind of) standing in Klang Valley, Bukan Seni-Man, a splinter group made of central members of Arto Movement.

My artworks serve as a visual diary of my daily life, capturing the moments, emotions, and struggles that shape my existence. They become a means to navigate the ever-changing art landscape, where creativity and challenges intertwine. Through art, I seek to bridge the gap between the traditional and the unconventional, challenging the boundaries of what art can be, even though I faces rough challenges from proponents who got too comfortable sitting on their high pedestals in this country’s small art scene.

Each piece is a reflection of my relentless pursuit of self-discovery and growth as an artist. I find inspiration in the world around me, seeking connections in the seemingly mundane and absurd, and celebrating the beauty in imperfections. My art becomes a testament to the shared human experience, a canvas where vulnerability and authenticity intertwine.

Embracing the unknown, I found new ways of storytelling, opening doors to dialogues that resonate with the viewer on a profound level, such as how I did in previous BMS. My creations are an invitation to explore and interpret, to engage in a dance of discovery and contemplation.

Introduction and Concept

“Sang Kancil, the beloved character from Malay folklore, is a clever, curious, and cunning young mousedeer. He is renowned for his wit and ability to outsmart animals larger and more powerful than himself. An astute observer with an insatiable curiosity and a sharp mind, Sang Kancil navigates through various situations with finesse, almost always emerging unscathed. While occasionally depicted as mischievous, his actions are never driven by malice. Instead, Sang Kancil represents the resilience of a seemingly small and vulnerable creature, persevering in a vast world where others may seek to exploit differences in size and stature.”

Some might find his tales as timeless, serving as a learning materials for the younger generations to learn from. But as I grew older, each and every tales of Sang Kancil seemingly feels weirder and more absurd the more I read them. Why would the crocodiles line up and let him trample them? Why would the elephant throw himself into a hole for something he isn’t sure of? How can the tiger let himself fallen for such a simple ruse? When I was young, I simply brushed these absurd plots as a testament to the ingenuity of Sang Kancil, a folkloric symbol of intelligence and resilience, wondrous tales to educate children and entertain the working class adults. Then I realized that Sang Kancil wasn’t really that smart; all other characters are simply too stupid for their own good. Eventually I come to terms that the plots and the stories are simply absurd by design, intentionally exaggerated to emphasis the heroic qualities of the main character, just like many other folklore stories such as Sang Kelembai, B’er Rabbit, and Ramayana.

Then I start to ponder, what would happen when Sang Kancil comes to Kuala Lumpur, a primate city where, many of its citizens, just like himself, regard themselves as heroes of their own stories and view others as weird, absurd, and bizarre whether they realized it or not? It started as a fun thought experiment. Then I decided to turn it into a performance art. A performance art where mundane activities and daily rituals are twisted into a series of absurd and bizarre strings of actions just by wearing a semi-anthromorphic head mask of Sang Kancil.

Artwork Proposal

I am proposing a performance art, played by myself. I will wear a mousedeer mask, with an attire befitting the situation I will be in. I will appear in public spaces around Kuala Lumpur wearing that mask, and observing how people live their daily life.

My artwork will not be like Shia LaBeouf’s “#IAMSORRY” performance art in 2014, where the artist actively sought attention by wearing a provocative paper bag with the word [I AM NO LONGER POPULAR] written on it on his head, nor Anis Che Mat’s BMS 2021 mix media entry (which in my opinion, not a ‘true’ performance art), where his masks were the central actors in the art piece, and not himself. Both pieces aimed to draw the audience’s attention towards the mask that they were wearing.

My artwork will be similar to Marina Abramovic performance pieces, where absurdness was the central concept. By execution, my artwork will be similar to Liz Sexton, an American performance artist who wears animal masks in public places but my theme and concept is different from hers. My performance would not seek those kind of interactions, at least actively seeking them, although I do realize that being a performance art, it will attract some attention whether I want it or not. Furthermore, what will set my performance apart from theirs, or from most BMS entries, my performance art won’t be bound by a single place or time. The whole of Klang Valley can be my stage, and I will appear as Sang Kancil randomly throughout the BMS 2023 timeframe.

Artwork Description

Name: Sang Kancil dan Hidupan Harian Manusia di Kuala Lumpur.

Artist: Khairul Ehsani Sapari.

Sang Kancil Dan Hidupan Harian Manusia di Kuala Lumpur

Year: 2023.

Media: Performance art.

Dimension: Time-based.

Location: Public spaces throughout Kuala Lumpur City, Terminal Coffee Ampang.

My artwork will be purely a performance art, without any physical or digital art representations, with a team ready to record my actions from a distance for documentations in case BMS judges and juries are unable to join and observe the performance. I was planning of seeking collaborations with several organizations such as ThinkCity, RAPIDKL, DBKL and KLCC Park management to allow me to perform in their properties, but eventually I decided against it as it will go towards the direction I don’t want to go. I did managed to secure an official location for one of my performance, in Terminal Coffee, a small café located in Taman Putra Sulaiman, Ampang. I will be in this café executing my performance piece every Saturday and Sunday throughout the final round of BMS session for 9 hours. The whole performance will be encountered starting the second week of November until the end of the final round of BMS.