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Planet Cartoon And The Strategy Of Laughter
2005-06-21
[Theechomagazine.com]
One day, Nyoman Nyengir was astonished as he studied the solar system. How could he not be? He has discovered one additional planet in the system, Planet Cartoon.
After careful observation, Nyoman noticed the planet was actually located on another planet, one called earth.
Weather temperature on the new planet seemed to vary between 24,0 Celcius and 30,8 Celcius. The annual rainfall in the last five years ranged between the 893,4 mm and the highest 2.702,6 mm. Humidity was at around 90%, often reaching 100% during the rainy season. It didn't need an astronomer to guess that this new planet was in fact Bali.
The names of its inhabitants are strange. The senior cartoonists are called things like Lolec, Tony Tantra, Gus Martin, Jango Paramartha, Cece, Putu Ebo, Gungun, Suryadarma, Dedok, Sadha, and many more. The names of their juniors are just as strange.
Nyoman Nyengir, is nothing more than imaginary character by Cece Riberu. Nyoman was not born to a mother by from the artistic hand of one of Bali's most talented cartoonists. Ideas continually jump in and out of Cece Riberu's head at Planet Cartoon. Every idea is alive, even if it hasn't been transferred into visual being.
|  Cece says, Nyoman Nyengir reflects his thoughts on marginal community. Nyoman wants to criticize the injustice of politics, distribution of wealth and power. However, he wants to get involvd. "Especially, in economic well-being, that's how I will use Nyoman Nyengir for my T-shirt brand," says Cece.
Cece plans to continuously narrate the character of Nyoman Nyengir to criticize the ambiguity of reality. Rallies are needed to control authority, he said. "But I haven't seen any changes, so I want to spread consciousness with my T-shirts, and also entertain people with laughter. Being conscious with laughter, that's the combination of my target. I want to be an entertaining man," says this ex-student social activist.
In regards to marginality, there is one Wayan Sadha, a cartoonist whose formal education only reached the second year of elementary school, whose cartoons satirically explore life with the sour smile of his beloved dog character, Sompret. His lines and honesty reflect the proletarian smartness, which have been appreciated by some intellectuals of an international level. The natural and critical sense of cartoon from a local common dog called Sompret is beyond frameworks of global intellectuals.
Sompret and Nyoman Nyengir are two buffoons of different background and culture. Sompret is a real commoner, canine branded. Nyoman Nyengir or Cece Riberu comes from Flores, whose people are reputed as philosophers, priests, boxers and soccer players. Artists are unheard of. Nyoman Nyengir is so different from people of his cultural origin. He has transformed himself from boxing fighter to social activist to cartoon artist. Where does he get his sense of humor from? One thing is for sure, this Floresian guy loves to make friends on the planet of cartoon.
Sompret and Nyoman Nyengir are a pair of clowns, whose voices represent the heart, the burden, the sorrow of the common folk. They talk to the modern royal knights who often forget others.
Cartoonists are entertainers: this is similar to the spirit of Jango Paramartha, the chief of the Planet Cartoon tribe and Bogbog cartoon magazine - a professional cartoon design service. "If there is anyone who requires a cartoon design today, we will finish it yesterday," he says without laughter.
| Jango reminds us to the icon of pop art Andy Warhol. He is an important figure who has struggled to make cartoons count in Bali. And now many companies have began to commission designs from Bali's cartoon community. Four cellular network providers Telkomsel, Indosat, Pro-xl, and IM3 have commissioned over two thousands cartoons to support their multimedia message system (MMS).
Jango says he became convinced that cartoon images were effective pieces of communication when he exhibited his works at Murdoch University, Australia in 1994, promoted by scholar, Dr. Carroll Warren. "I saw that many people enjoyed my works, whether they had been to Bali or not. The more people I met, the more I began to believe in the potential of cartoons as a means to communicate with the audience," he said. 'I started by producing T-shirts with cartoons,' Jango added.
Popo Danes, who has played an important role in publishing the cartoon magazine reveals, "There will be an era of cartoon production in Bali and our cartoonists are dedicated and prepared to make it come true."
Cartoon and caricatures can not be separated from the world of mass media. It becomes an alternative communication instrument, other than words or photos. According to Nyoman Darma Putra, a media researcher, cartoons have accompanied printed media since the 1930s. "Firstly, they were limited only for advertising. But since the 1950s newspapers in Bali became more serious about giving space for cartoon works."
Senior journalist Gde Aryantha Soethama, who once managed 'Bali This Week' magazine published in 1987, always gave space cartoons. "In the magazine, cartoons were not merely accessories for articles, they complemented each other. I would say that the magazine was a tourism cartoon magazine."
| Aryantha adds that there were many reasons for featuring cartoons in 'Bali This Week'. "Firstly it was about photography costs. There were no digital photos in those days, the expenses were relatively high. Coincidentally, Lolec, our investor, was a cartoonist. He did our illustrations to make things easier," Aryantha explained.
Humor becomes hidden capital within the cartoonists' nerve system. The taste of laughter, the sense of humor, processed into funny ideas before delivered into pictures. Do cartoonists' understand how their works channel our daily burdens, stresses and inner tiredness, about how this society runs, about the norm and culture of the society? Daily burdens become the reason for laughter.
As a creative strategy to penetrate the corners of tourism, some cartoonists put their works onto T-shirt souvenirs. The pioneer of such a strategy was Tony Tantra. The success story of Tony Tantra's cartoon T-shirts was legendary in Bali. Unfortunately, he once had a problem with the authorities when he put Princess Diana and the US flag into his cartoons. This problem hampered his creativity. If the case were to happen these days, many people would support his cause, because it is basically a case against creativity.
This is a story of Planet Cartoon. Bali is rich with cartoonists. Too many to mention in this brief article, but every one of them with a unique style and taste of humor. Gun-gun, another popular cartoonist once said that Bali is the Island of Cartoons, Nyoman Nyengir said it is The Planet of Cartoon. This is, much bigger than a country, it is a place governed with jokes and laughter.........[by Hartanto]
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