Pointing to the Synchronous Windows: Body, Space, and Perception
Museum MACAN's latest collection exhibition explores the relationship between the body and space, and how they shape human identity, perception, and experience. More than 50 works by leading Indonesian and international artists reveal this narrative.
In May, Museum MACAN proudly presented "Pointing to the Synchronous Windows," a new exhibition drawn from the museum's collection, featuring several works that were exhibited for the first time to the public. Rather than seeing the body and living space as static or neutral entities, the collection sees them as actively intertwined with social, cultural, psychological, linguistic, cosmological, and spatial environments.
The exhibition features works by prominent Indonesian and international artists, including A. D Pirous, Aditya Novali, Affandi, Ahmad Sadali, Alexander Calder, Antonia Kuo, Arin Dwihartanto Sunaryo, Ashley Bickerton, Atsuko Tanaka, Cai Guo-Qiang, Chiyū Uemae, Christine Ay Tjoe, Cy Twombly, Dan Flavin, Ed Ruscha, Entang Wiharso, Gregorius Sidharta Soegijo, Handrio, Hiroshige Utagawa, I GAK Murniasih, Jim Dine, John Chamberlain, Josef Albers, Ju Ming, Julian Opie, Kazuo Shiraga, Keith Haring, Lee Bul, Lee Ufan, Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita, Lucio Fontana, Mangu Putra, Maria Farrar, Mark Bradford, Mark Grotjahn, Miguel Covarrubias, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Nam June Paik, Pinaree Sanpitak, Rudolf Stingel, S. Sudjojono, Sadamasa Motonaga, Sigmar Polke, Sudjana Kerton, Tetsuya Ishida, Titis Jabaruddin, Wang Guangyi, Wolfgang Tillmans, Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitomo Nara, Yu Youhan, Yutaka Sone, and Zeng Fanzhi.
The title merges two conceptual references that frame its dual focus. Pointing draws from Gabriel García Márquez’s (1927-2014) novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), evoking how the body's ability to express meaning through gesture. Synchronous Windows refers to artist Robert Delaunay’s (1885-1941) window series where light and color weave through overlapping planes and spatial orders to suggest that space is not passively perceived, but actively constructed.
This exhibition is organized into two interrelated sections. “Pointing to...” focuses on the body as a site of transformation, where gestures express identity shaped by internal and external forces. This section will be open on 10 May 2025, and is divided into four themes: 1. “Gesturing the Social” examines how bodily gestures reflect class structures and collective behavior influenced by mass media, 2. “Flipping the Rains and Clouds” explores the shifting relationship between the body and tools, showing how they can both empower and constrain, 3. “The Spectre’s Pantomime” delves into the spirit, subconscious, and evolving self-awareness within the body, revealing tensions between personal identity and societal norms, 4. “Mediated Corpus” examines how media and surveillance transform bodily presence into public imagery.
The other section, “Synchronous windows,” examines how the idea of space is perceived and constantly evolves, highlighting areas of refuge or alienation. This section opened on 24 May 2025.
Venus Lau, Director, Museum MACAN, said, “Since we opened in 2017, the collection show has consistently been a favorite among our audiences. Refreshing its presentation by introducing different narratives is part of our long-term curatorial effort to research the collection and reinterpret it through the lens of art history and the social histories it reflects, especially with current global contexts. Pointing to the Synchronous Windows explores the complex dialogues between art, society, and our environments. Many of the works in this exhibition are being presented to the public for the first time, offering fresh perspectives on the relationships between the body, space, and the layered realities we inhabit.”
Pointing to the Synchronous Windows will run until 5 October 2025. Alongside this exhibition, Yayoi Kusama’s installation, Infinity Mirrored Room – Brilliance of the Souls (2014), is on view again starting 24 May 2025 in the Sculpture Garden area with a significant work from the museum’s collection, Baroque Egg with Bow (pink/gold) (1994–2006) by Jeff Koons.
