AJIM JUXTA
We had actually interviewed Ajim twice within a short period of time.This was manly due to technical errors we had faced during our first take.To our dismay the mic that Mr Charles had lent it to us was out of batteries.We searched high and low for the CR2 batteries but we could’t find them anywhere. and so we gave up and decided to just interview him but that didn't work :/ so we ended up calling him again for a second interview and surprisingly he agreed.
To be honest I was a bit embarrassed the first round .Since this was our first time interviewing an artist ,I thought we ought to look as professional.I half expected Ajim to be a bit pissed off with the whole situation and how we we’re handling it.I wouldn't be so surprised if he blurted out something about “making things quick” but we eventually laughed about it and made small talk as we go.There and then I realised that I guess not all artist are cocky . Between the two takes that we took .Ajim was certainly a nice man,calmed and relaxed.He even asked if the interview was supposed to be formal,certainly not.He let out a sign of relief ,slumping back into his seat.
After a series of question,which he had smoothly answered with ease, he began taking about his background story.It was interesting to see how the past could hold up so much ,that in the end his experiences with frogs soon moulded into something greater.
Perhaps he is a visionary.
The way Ajim sees things,humans,the universe perhaps is very much in depth and this could be seen in our interview videos.He is so passionate about his work that the artworks he produces are truly remarkable.In a sense that its hard to identify what the whole picture is,then you analyse it ,break it down and there you will realise what you would have missed,in between cramped spaces ,a frog.Now what does that mean?
Take this art for instance,its is a simple drawing of a frog which appears to be on top of a coconut shell.As a Malaysian you would know the saying “ Katak di bawah tempurung ” which in simpler words refers to someone who has no basic knowledge of things or events that are happening around him/her.They remain ignorant constantly living in a safe shell.This is exactly where Ajim got his inspiration from but he flipped the message.Instead of the frog being sheltered from the world,he’s trying to send a message about how we humans need to be aware of our surroundings,to not hide and ignore what is going on in the world but to experience it.
I learnt alot from Ajim and even though he didn't stated this but I realised how important it was to be humble towards people.In our small talks Ajim told us that he took in some of other Artist and shared some of his gallery spaces with them.If I'm not mistaken either he didn't even charged them.I thought how kind he was to do so.
Till we meet again Ajim,thanks for having us :)
MANJE
We actually met up with Manje a few hours right after interviewing Ajim for the second time.She asks us to visit her at publica as she was one of the guest host at an art exhibition called “at the white zone”.There we shook hands and greeted her .Without waisting time we ask were she would liked to be filmed.First impression of her ,i would say that she look cute,dressed in her green shawl, a fitted blazer and a pair of flats.After much walking ,we finally decided to borrow Ajim Juxta’s studio as it was the only available . Again due to circumstances,such as the loud background noise,instead of having the interview outdoors we had to push it forward to the studio.Same location as where we sat with Ajim,Manje seems to now be in place.Right after we begin setting up the camera off,Wafaa,Shuling and Yanlin stat asking questions .
While’s moderating behind the camera’s something Manje said sparked my interest. Manje had mentioned how difficult it was to be a muslim artist.This is because ,as a muslim we are restricted to the stuff we draw,faces and animals.
So,when asked about how it was for her back then whether she had gotten any support from the very beginning.She shared with us the how it wasn't always easy to convince her parents about her career ,in fact they still aren’t.However, slowly but surely they understood Manje’s passion towards her drawing.
There were also touching tales of when she wanted to give up drawing completely.She had once stopped for a good 3 years and told us that she wouldn’t even hold the pencil for fear it might strike her interest again.
The great thing about Manje was how child like she could be.In a sense she still had fascinations with the olden days tales , where stories and myths existed,all wrapped around in a child's mind.She was smart enough to incorporate those stories into beautiful artworks.One of her recent famous artworks where the woman is submerge in sea was based on a myth from Maldives.
Overall it was a joy to interview her,even though I was placed behind cameras it was really interesting to hear her point of views.Till we meet again :)
HARIS RASHID
I don’t know why but I was feeling very nervous meeting Haris Rashid.
On the day we had our interview, we agreed to meet him at a shop called Frisk Goat in taman tun.When we arrived earlier,the venue was over crowded with people,it struck to us that it would be to loud and noisy for the interview and so we called him up and asked him to reconsider another venue.Long story short ,same thing happened again with the other venue and eventually,we ended up at Serra’s house.We’ve decided to film outdoors and so we walked past her dinner hall and out into her backyard.After Yanlin and Shuling set the cameras,each of us (Serra,Shuling and I ) took our positions and sat down.Awkwardly we begin our interview,I manage to crocked a small greeting and introduced ourselves,as did he.We begin diving into the questions right away.To my astonishment Haris Rashid had almost answered every question possible that I was about to ask right after in one go.I admittedly felt defeated,since it wasn't in my nature to just blank out.And so along the interview things got a bit awkward for me at least ,but for the most part Haris Rashid seemed to be a nice fella.
As a first impression thing,he look very laid back,dresses in a t-shirt from his latest collaboration with just in case,he wore it proudly with his matching phone case .Whiles asking questions I’ve noticed that he was a very optimistic person,he loved to take on new challenges and try to experiment with different things.Looking back at his artworks,he seemed to have done quit a lot of artworks involving watercolour pencils on wood,there were some mixed media artworks and so on forth.
Since we realised that most of his artworks have these geometrical designs in them we took the opportunity to ask him what they meant/represent.To my surprise he said nothing. Haris mentioned that it was there just for the beauty of it,” since it looked ecstatically pleasing why not put it in” that kind of thing .Thats when I realised in a way he reminded me of me.My artworks have never meant anything deeper then how it looks at a first glance.I liked him straight away,something different.
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