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ARTWORKS
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CHOOSE by Johnny Manahan
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DREAM WORLD by Vincent Leow
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HOW TO EXPLAIN ART TO A BANGKOK COCK by Apinan Poshyananda
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HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON by Heri Dono
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IN THE PRECIOUS GARDEN by Hasnul Saidon
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SEE ME, SEE YOU (REVENGE OF THE GIRAFFE) by Jean Marie Syjuco
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SIN OF APATHY by Chng Nai Wee
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THE LANGUAGE LESSON by Ray Langenbach
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THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE (AFTER MARSHALL MCLUHAN) by Baharudin Mohd Arus
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12 HOURS IN THE LIFE OF AGUNG RAI, THE DANCER by Krisna Murti
Ray Langenbach created The Language Lesson when he had just moved to Malaysia from the United States. Already a practicing artist who did performance art and video by the time he moved, he had accepted a position at University Sains Malaysia in Penang to teach sculpture.
Ray Langenbach. The Language Lesson. 1989. Installation view, Galeri Luar Pusat, Penang, Malaysia, 1989. Image courtesy of the artist Ⓒ Ray Langenbach.
About the Artwork
The Language Lesson
1989, remade 2023
Two cathode-ray tube televisions, two rattan mannequins, spray paint on LED bulbs, cotton fabric, light sequencer, video
72 videos: two channels, each 4:3 aspect ratio, colour and sound (stereo), varying durations totalling 18 min 43 sec with light sequencing
Performance and script: Ray Langenbach with Zainab Wahiddin
Collection of the artist
Langenbach started taking language lessons in Bahasa Melayu and began learning about Malaysian politics and culture from the local media and through social encounters. The Language Lesson was a product born of his experiences living abroad. The knowledge he acquired in Malaysia, which bore similarities and differences to American culture, surfaced within him a sense of cultural duality, which he sought to express in the artwork.
In The Language Lesson, two “heads” made of cathode-ray tube television monitors are mounted on rattan mannequins that face each other. The television on the female mannequin plays a video of a Malaysian woman asking a question in Malay. Across from her, on the male mannequin, a video of the artist responds with an English translation of the question. This repeats with different questions. At first, the questions are basic and benign, as expected from any language lesson: “Where do you live?”, “What is your favourite food?”, but they steadily become more personal and provocative: “Are you gay?”, “Do you support the Palestinians’ right to a homeland?” The questions are deliberately left unanswered, allowing visitors to consider them and formulate their own responses.
Ray Langenbach. The Language Lesson. 1989. Installation view, Galeri Luar Pusat, Penang, Malaysia, 1989. Image courtesy of the artist Ⓒ Ray Langenbach.
The questions are deliberately left unanswered, allowing visitors to consider them and formulate their own responses.
Black-and-white checkered fabric is used as the videos’ backdrop and laid on the floor like a runway between the mannequins. A recurring visual in Langenbach’s work, the fabric’s pattern is inspired by saput poleng, a black-and-white textile traditionally used by Balinese Hindus to wrap temples and as ceremonial dress. The cloth is one of Langenbach’s signature apparatuses, symbolising balance between two opposing forces and evoking the visual of a chessboard. To Langenbach, “Board games are about binaries.”
Pairs of bulbs arranged in a V-formation run along the edges of the fabric. They are coated in dark paint, with areas in the shape of symbols from Christian and Islamic religions—the crucifix and the crescent moon with a star—left empty. When the bulbs light up, the symbols glow. These symbols reflect Langenbach’s lifelong interest in religions and draw on his study of comparative religion in college. Langenbach presents these symbols in a balanced, equal manner, without prescribing their value or meaning, allowing viewers to make inferences on the religions’ relationship freely. In its first exhibition, the work used bulbs that were readily available in Penang but have since been phased out. For the 2023 version, the artist painted LED bulbs as a substitute and included a light sequencer, which was not part of the 1989 version. The lights run back and forth, towards the figure about to speak. All the components of the installation have been remade except the videos, which are part of the original. The work was first exhibited at the inaugural exhibition of Galeri Luar Pusat, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, where the artist was teaching.
Video documentation of Ray Langenbach’s The Language Lesson, Galeri Luar Pusat, Penang, Malaysia, 1989. From the artist’s vimeo.
About the Artist
Ray Langenbach (b. 1948, USA) creates conceptual artworks and performances, convenes gatherings, writes on cultural theory, performance and queer culture. He has presented his work throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States, and has curated exhibitions and performance art events in Malaysia, Singapore, Palestine, USA and Germany. Langenbach's writings on Southeast Asian performance, propaganda and visual culture have appeared in journals and books. His video archive of Southeast Asian demonstrations, socio-political events and performances resides at Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; the International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam; National Gallery Singapore; Singapore Art Museum and Fukuoka Museum of Art. His documentary videos were recently screened at documenta fifteen. Formerly Professor of Live Art and Performance Studies, University of the Arts Helsinki, Langenbach is currently the Star Foundation Professor of Artistic Research, Creative Industries, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia.
Image courtesy of Ray Langenbach
Installation View
Discover More Details
Langenbach’s artwork has many components with strong symbolism, including black-and-white checkered fabric and bulbs that are carefully painted to show the Christian cross and Islamic crescent and star.
