I Nyoman Wenten can be anybody! Born in a small Balinese village, Wenten studied traditional Indonesian music, dance and acting with his master-puppeteer grandfather. He now holds an MFA from Cal Arts, a doctorate from UCLA and is chair of the World Music Program at Cal Arts. where he and his wife Nanik promote the gamelan every day to students who enter curious and exit entranced. He and his ensemble Gamelan Burat Wangi will perform the Indian epic Ramayana tonight and tomorrow at REDCAT. This interview by Drew Denny.

What’s the function of gamelan in Balinese society? What kinds of events and ceremonies require a gamelan?
I Nyoman Wenten (director): I like that question! Of course, so many ceremony in Bali! You know like baby born, three-months-old baby is very big ceremony—sometime parents hire gamelan player to celebrate the ceremony of three-months-old baby. Then of course tooth file ceremony! All the rites associated to humans as social beings—called Manusa Yadnya. Related to faith, Hindu religion. Temple ceremony, cremation… so gamelan play, dance and perform! And many different type of gamelan, not only the one you see it here. We have thirty different ensemble. Each ensemble has its own instrumentation, repertoire, function and so forth. Quite a variety of gamelan in Bali especially.
How old is gamelan?
I Nyoman Wenten: Of course they have a type of gamelan—you categorize it as ancient, middle age, or modern gamelan. Ancient—what we call gambuh or gambang marching gamelan. Gambuh is a big flute—huge three big flute, small drum for accompany dance. Said it was in existence in 14th century, maybe even before. Also suling, made out of iron is considered very ancient gamelan. Then we have modern Balinese gamelan called gong kebyar—we have it here. Gong kebyar, yeah!
How do you describe the sound of gamelan to someone who’s never heard it? I don’t know what words to use to talk about those rhythms!
I Nyoman Wenten: I will tell them gamelan is very nice melody, a variety of rhythm, tempo-wise some time very slow sometime quick fast, a lot of dynamic changes, have to have very good technique to play, and fun!
What’s the relationship between gamelan music and dance?
I Nyoman Wenten: Fantastic question! You haven’t studied dance here yet? You have to next time! Music and dance has very close interwoven relationship because without music just movement is not complete. Dance has to be within a space and accompanied by music. Each style of dance has its own musical accompaniment. Of all thirty types of gamelan, some accompany dance, some just instrumental pieces but a quite a few ensembles be able to accompany many different types of dance.
What are your favorite dances?
I Nyoman Wenten: Of course I start to learn Baris—they call warrior dance—then mask dance then the new modern Balinese dance. Mask dance is my favorite dance! I can perform by myself all different characters by change the mask—they call Topeng Pajegang.
What do the masks look like?
I Nyoman Wenten: Masks very close to human. Of course many different color. Strong male characters have a red mask, white big eyes, maybe open mouth. Refined character has small eyes, smile, close mouth. Many different type of villager, buffoonery… I can make a mask about you! I take a picture and tell the mask makers, ‘Would you make a mask like this lady here?’ And then I practice your walk, your laugh, and then I perform the next day—Drew, you come to my performance and say, ‘Hey Wenten! Sound like me! Laugh like me!’
So you can be anyone?
I Nyoman Wenten: Anyone!
That’s a good feeling, eh? What character will you be in Ramayana?
I Nyoman Wenten: I will be the evil king Ravana! Oh, he’s very strong character, very proud and nobody stronger than him or more powerful than him—he can fly actually!
You’re gonna fly?
I Nyoman Wenten: Yes! The feeling to fly. I kidnap the princess—I admire I really love the Sita. Ramayana is the old very ancient Indian epic supposed to be from 4,000 BC.
That’s an old story—Who’s the princess?
I Nyoman Wenten: The princess is my daughter! So I kidnap her! But of course it’s a play. We change personalities. We become the characters.
How did you meet your wife?
I Nyoman Wenten: When I graduated in Bali from music conservatory, I love to study in Java. One reason I be able to watch the Javanese music—before I decide to go to Java, I was a member of presidential group of artists chosen to go culture exchange to many different country. So Javanese group from Sumatra join with Bali group, about 85 of us. So many of us from many different parts of Indonesia touring to China to Japan to perform for Mao Tse-Tung and Kim Jong-Il… I was a member starting 1964-67 and when the president pass, they say no more. So I was lucky. I was still very young. 17 years old. Opened my mind. Beautiful dance, that Javanese dance. I thought, ‘I have to go to Java!’ So I go to Java, and that why I met my wife. She’s from Yokyakarta, central Java.
She’s an amazing dancer!
I Nyoman Wenten: She’s a court dancer. She studied in the palace! Her father is from royal family.
You’re royal?
I Nyoman Wenten: I’m trying to climb but I am falling down… aaaaahhh! OK! It’s OK I’m down here.
What were the mid-’60s like in Indonesia? That was such a tumultuous time here…
I Nyoman Wenten: Believe it or not, maybe global! Indonesia as well. I didn’t feel it until the so-called communist coup but who knows who’s behind it? Real communist coup or just a plot to destroy one another. It was a bad situation in 1965. They call it September 30th accident—no, massacre. One million people all over Indonesia killed.
What’s the political climate in Indonesia now?
I Nyoman Wenten: Now, oh the last ten years the government a little bit more open—so called democracy is considered very strong in Indonesia. People can vote openly for president or criticize the president. Through the parliament, you can voice your idea. So it’s a little bit more open, just in the last fifteen years or so.
Did you see or experience any oppression as an artist during the years following the coup?
I Nyoman Wenten: In certain part of Indonesia, yes. In Bali because the art of music and dance is always close knit into our culture and the religion—they believe in Hindu religion—we don’t feel that much pressure but of course, the rest of Indonesia is always dealing with some government restriction. Now we have what they call ‘pornography rules’—people not allowed by the law, but who know when they really do this? But you cannot wear sleeveless shirt. Or short skirt and so forth, and for dance you should cover more… so they try to make it difficult for artists to express their inner selves, to create. Woman and man. Who knows if this will work?
Where do you go when you take the Cal Arts ensemble to Bali?
I Nyoman Wenten: We got a grant from the NEA to perform Ramayana so luckily enough we have those people who are very serious about studying Balinese music who wanna go to Bali. We went twenty total—about fifteen Cal Arts students. I put them in the village called Ubud, not too far from my house so we bus them every day to my house to practice. We have a gamelan in my house. Almost every day from 11 to 5 o’clock we practice but we break for lunch. Next year you come!
I’m there! What comes next after Ramayana?
I Nyoman Wenten: Spring concert here at Cal Arts. Maybe we do different program but part of the Ramayana so Cal Arts community can see us perform. Always Nanik and I think about new programs, not only same dance. Different Balinese dance or maybe we create a new dance, based on traditional dance from Bali of course. I perform Javanese dance also so always we create new dance drama for Java. I want you to dance—why not study some!
It was your idea to combine tap and gamelan, yes?
I Nyoman Wenten: Tap! The tap dancer with the gamelan—the name of the group is Rhapsody in Tap, very famous group in LA so they get a grant for me and gamelan for two years for touring. We went to Bali, New York, Canada, many different L.A. venues like Japan American National Museum.
How does the Balinese community react when you bring your ensemble from LA?
I Nyoman Wenten: They always very supportive. To see Americans play or westerners play gamelan, they say ‘Wow! They on TV! We have to study hard because they play well. We don’t wanna study gamelan in America!’ They worry—quite a few people say ‘Pak’—they call me ‘Pak’ like a ‘guru,’ they say, ‘Pak Wenten, in the next ten years the children here don’t wanna play gamelan so… I’m afraid to come to America to study gamelan!’ I say, ‘It’s OK, don’t worry! As long as we have the same faith—the Hindu faith—we have an art and we have music and dance so don’t worry.’
You have a doctorate in ethnomusicology—what other forms did you study?
I Nyoman Wenten: When I was a student here—I got my masters here in ’75—I studied modern ballet, composition, and world music like African music and dance and Indian music. Then they hired me to open the Indonesian program here. I still dance modern, off and on I perform modern dance up until now. Yes, still! I’m older person now! Still dance! Then I get opportunity to study at UCLA. I get my degree 1996. Ethnomusicology degree. So there also I study Persian music, Brazilian yeah. I enjoy that so much because there’s so much to learn! Then I have opportunity to learn something beyond gamelan so I took this opportunity. I came to Cal Arts back in the ‘70s. I was invited to teach a summer workshop here—1972 just after Sylmar earthquake—big earthquake. 7.2. I came for eight weeks and taught the all-star gamelan with performers from many different universities. Then I went back, brought the students to Indonesia for three months—we have a big huge grant to bring the people to have a tour to Bali!
When you first came here, did many Americans know about gamelan?
I Nyoman Wenten: Not that much. There were existing gamelan programs at UCLA—started ’61, department called Institute of Ethnomusicology. They offer gamelan—both Balinese and Javanese. There was Wesleyan, Michigan, then us here in ‘72.
You’ve been here since the beginning!
I Nyoman Wenten: Since the beginning—I went back to Bali. Then they offered me a job. They said ‘Wenten, you wanna come back to Cal Arts? Maybe also you can study, get a degree?’ and I very excited about that. I came back to get my MFA, my second degree. I finished spring of ‘75.
When did you start playing gamelan?
I Nyoman Wenten: I start dance first when I was maybe six years old—so cute! The Baris Warrior Dance—you play it in class! Because I have a gamelan in my house—my grandfather and father own gamelan—so naturally, I try gamelan when I was young. I was probably seven years old. At first I play just round the house. My grandfather and my father taught me. Of course, I go to grade school and then I go to conservatory. I study at school from many different teacher who came from many parts of Bali to teach. I was lucky to meet many different great teachers! This was 1962-65.
Where are you from on Bali?
I Nyoman Wenten: I am from small village called Sading. Very close to capital of Bali, about five miles north of Denpasar. Probably about 2,000 people.
Do those other forms of music influence the way you work?
I Nyoman Wenten: Oh definitely! To see so many different art form here—only in America you be able to see the best Korean court dance and Argentine tango… Who ever imagine you see Ravi Shankar, sitar performer, the best Indian musician, the best African group—global! You never be able to see this back home in Indonesia because here they can afford it to bring them. Of course, visually I see and I listening. So many different music influence my feeling inside me, it come out! Maybe I’m a little bit unique than my friend in Bali when I dance. Like our visiting artists who come here from Bali, they say, ‘Wow, it’s so different!’ I also dance with the best dancer in Java and show them a video. They say ‘Pak Wenten, I never imagine you can dance like that!’ So I can contribute something for Bali because I experience thirty years—not away from Bali but you know… I observe so many different cultures, then I go back to Bali every summer for three or four months. I do collaborations there. People see me and say ‘Where you get this?’
So gamelan evolves?
I Nyoman Wenten: Like a snowball! You cannot just stay still. Roll the snowball! Get bigger!

I NYOMAN WENTEN AND GAMELAN BURAT WANGI IN RAMAYANA: AN INDIAN EPIC ON SAT., NOV. 7, AND SUN., NOV. 8, AT REDCAT, 631 W. 2ND ST., DOWNTOWN. 8:30 PM / $18-$30 / ALL AGES. REDCAT.ORG. VISIT I NYOMAN WENTEN AND GAMELAN BURAT WANGI AT MYSPACE.COM/GAMELANBURATWANGI.

Download: American Gil and the Major Dudes f. John Thill and Golden Boots “Lunchtime Riverside (Tucson Version)”

(from What Is Happening… available now from Big Whup Industries)

If you just rolled out of a bus and wanted to immerse yourself in the newest funnest music playing at artsy dives like Pehrspace and the Vermont House, you’d do well to start by dipping your toes into these tunes, curated by the kids at Cal Arts (way cheerier than those dicks at Otis) and full of mirth and humor and wonderment and lo-fi gung-ho do-it-yourselfitude. Not all of these songs seem to be world premieres, and only a few of these groups actually attend Cal Arts, but with small-band dynamite like Pizza! and Voice on Tape, you just can’t go wrong. My favorite songs on here were the new ones, and some of the most interesting are the ones labeled as actual CalArts bands. The warped barbershop quartet of Adrian the Mighty’s “How Long” is mesmerizing, in a Manson-girls sort of way. And Big Whup themselves turn in perhaps the best tune on the album, a slightly orchestrated celebration with fantastic ethereal gal vocals that by turn evoke Les Calamites and the Centimeters, with “heartbreak makes my heart grow old” seemingly the only English phrase amongst what could just be Esperanto lyrics. It’s as if Dexy’s Midnight Runners met Amazulu on the set of The Young Ones and formed a super group. This album gives me hope for the future, even as it makes me curse my youthful choice to attend USC.

—Dan Collins

Somewhere down in Chinatown, the ‘70s are coming back. The East L.A. Art scene of late has mined these years—with varying degrees of success and, perhaps, to the brink of exhaustion—but Elana Mann’s Performing Economies demonstrates just how dynamic and even necessary participatory art can be. For almost three months now, Mann and artists and collectives from across the city have presented panels, performative works and visual artwork exploring the ideas of alternative economies. This interview by Drew Denny.

Tell me the story of Performing Economies—when did you get the idea for the show? How did you choose a space and participants?
Elana Mann (organizer/curator): This past February I was invited to submit a proposal for a curatorial project at the Fellows of Contemporary Art. I had just finished a year-long project called ‘Exchange Rate: 2008,’ which was an international performance exchange created in response to the 2008 US presidential election. With Performing Economies I was interested in deepening certain ideas and questions that emerged during the Exchange Rate project around politics and participation. I also wanted to highlight a community of Los Angeles artists who are interested in exploring alternative economies of activism and intimacy in this time of global political and economic crises. The Fellows of Contemporary Art was an ideal space to hold this type of exhibit, as it is a model of alternative giving and patronage. The organization, founded in 1975, is made up of 140 art patrons who pay dues and use this money for multiple philanthropic programs, all of which relate to the development of art in California.
I didn’t expect to see the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest sharing a bill with artSpa—what’s the uniting factor among the participants?
Performing Economies crystallizes a growing movement of Los Angeles based artists who are addressing current political calamities through methodologies of participation, collaboration and community involvement. The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, for example, has an editorial collective that ‘facilitate[s] the meeting of artists, political activists, theorists, and media makers’ who contribute to their publications and events. artSpa, organized by Adam Overton, works with artists and healers, creating such events as ‘open-mic meditations,’ ‘free aura readings’ and ‘experimental music and massage.’ Both of these projects are deeply invested in social change, whether through political writing and activism or healing workshops.
Could you describe the Free Free Market? What kind of goods and services were gifted at that event?
The Free Free Market (FFM) had nine participants, who are all part of the Artists for Social Justice collective, which was founded by the artist Evelyn Serrano. The gifting at the FFM was really varied—from a woman typing love letters for people passing by, to folks with a table of homemade ‘seed bombs,’ to a singer offering free voice lessons. One of the artists had a table of goods she was giving away, from cans of soup to jig saws that were all ‘acquired’—or stolen. All of the artists were spread out in the courtyard and surrounding the building where the gallery is located. The artists interacted with people coming especially to see them, but also folks passing by who were heading to dinner or to a shop elsewhere in the building. One of the artists gave the janitor of the building a bunch of vegetable plants left over from the day and he planted them in spots all around the outside courtyard. All the participants in the day were really pleased with how it went and are planning to expand the Free Free Market to farmer’s markets, the beach, and other social spaces in and around Los Angeles.
I know the Johns pretty well—from CalArts—but I must ask, what’s this ‘we’ business all about?
John Burtle and John Barlog are two artists who often work collaboratively. They both have rectangle tattoos on their forearms, which they use as gallery spaces. The Johns invite people to do projects on/with this particular demarcated spot on their arms. Since working together they have noticed that their language has changed, from ‘my project’ to ‘our project,’ from ‘I am doing this’ to ‘We are doing this.’ This change in the Johns’ language has been a powerful one, shifting their ideas of individual versus collective identity and they wanted to further explore this shift for the Performing Economies exhibit. For their piece, the Johns proposed that a new form of the English language be used in the gallery space. This new form would eliminate all pronouns except ‘we’ and ‘us,’ abolish command forms, and eradicate possessives. Instead of ‘Get me a beer,’ one would say, ‘Would we like a beer?’ And so on. Tom McKenzie, the executive director of the Fellows of Contemporary Art, is a writer himself and was excited to help facilitate the use of the language in the space. Tom said that this new form has actually helped him think of the Fellows of Contemporary Art as a ‘we’ instead of individual members. The Johns also placed a wall didactic on the wall of the gallery explaining to viewers the ‘rules’ of the new language and inviting people to participate.
This show runs from May through July and involves so many people—did you experience any hiccups in the curatorial process? What have you learned?
The curatorial process was remarkably smooth and maybe this has to do with the fact that the participants in the show are all used to working with others through collaboration or collective art making. Many of the artists have even curated their own projects within the show. In all, over sixty-two artists/collaborations have created artwork through the Performing Economies project, which is pretty remarkable given the size of the gallery space and budget. Of course I have learned so much through this process of working with all the incredible artists participating in the show and with the Fellows of Contemporary Art. One of my curatorial lessons has to do with assuming a type of artistic output for each participant. When I started the exhibit I had the participants divided in my head as to who would make an object for the gallery space and who would produce an event or performance. This was a particularly bad idea, as some of the artists who I thought would want to create a performance expressed a desire to make an object and vice versa. As an artist myself I should have known not to make any conjectures about what an artist would want to create for a specific project. Luckily, this did not create any major problems, but only enriched the exhibition.
So no catastrophes? What about miracles? Surprises?
The show has been a really inspiring experience all around and I can’t wait for the rest of the events that are coming up. Last weekend the gallery was visited by various garment district workers who participated in an artwork by Ashley Hunt and Taisha Paggett called ‘On Movement, Thought and Politics: Garment Worker’s Center, Los Angeles/En el movimiento, el pensamiento y la política: El Centro de Trabajadores de Costura, Los Angeles’ (2009). It was wonderful to share the exhibit with them and talk about how some of the ideas of the artworks could be incorporated into their everyday lives. We hope to host more outside groups to the space through the run of the exhibit.
How did the garment workers participate in the piece?
Ashley Hunt and Taisha Paggett began working with the Los Angeles Garment Worker’s Center this spring. They conducted various movement workshops, which focused on the way the garment workers’ political situation was affecting how they used their bodies at their jobs. Many of them have injuries related to unhealthy ways that they work. Hunt and Paggett also investigated how the garment workers carried or expressed themselves through their bodies in different interactions with each other or with their bosses. For their piece in the exhibit Hunt and Paggett had the workers direct each other to physically recreate some educational posters. These posters indicate—through endearing hand drawings—different ways to position oneself in negotiations, confrontations with bosses, and discussions with each other. Hunt and Paggett filmed the workers as they were acting out the positions of the characters displayed in three posters and added subtitles in English and Spanish.
How do you critically evaluate the role of activism and/or education in your own work and the work of your participants? Could you give me some examples of works you believe to be inspirational or successful in activism and education? What about works that you believe to be unsuccessful?
Yes, this is a good, but difficult question… Over the past few years there has been a renewed interest in ‘participatory’ artwork that involves artists and art audiences in new and recycled ways. This type of artwork is often positioned as activating a political space. From the recent historical surveys such as Allan Kaprow: Art as Life at L.A.’s MOCA and The Art of Participation 1950-today at SFMOMA to exhibitions highlighting new artwork, such as Perific 8: Art As Gift Biennial for Contemporary Art in Iasi, Romania, artists worldwide are creating salons, swap meets, gardens, walking tours, and schools. Art institutions are focusing on interaction, collectivity and collaboration like never before. These projects are created for different reasons—to activate the viewer, so that she or he will be more active in the world, to counteract the disappearance of social bonds in our communities, to be more inclusive rather than exclusive and question authorship of the singular ‘I,’ etc. However, many of these projects are utilizing participatory methodologies as a style rather than a pointed political stance. Some of these projects ask people to do things and participate, but have no critical substance behind their actions, or else create an experience that ultimately a community doesn’t really want or need. The artwork that I chose to highlight in Performing Economies emphasizes artists who are investigating the ways in which participatory and collaborative approaches can challenge the socio-political context in which they are produced. These projects function as social critique rather than style and have direct political content rather than empty symbolic gestures.
How can we—the Los Angeles community—access these people and these types of events outside of Performing Economies?
There are some great alternative art spaces in Los Angeles where people can find the types of events that are part of Performing Economies. There is Machine Project in Echo Park, Outpost for Contemporary Art and Sea and Space Explorations in Highland Park, Beta Level and the Public School in Chinatown and g727 and Farmlab in downtown Los Angeles. These are just a few examples of a growing movement in the Los Angeles art community. LACMA recently hosted a day of ephemeral projects with Machine Project and MOCA has started a series of events called ‘Engagement Parties.’ I think museums are currently trying out different methods of hosting this sort of project.
What advice would you give to people looking for ways to create and interact with alternative economies in their own communities?
What I have learned through researching and creating artwork for this exhibit is that there are currently thousands of alternative economic structures in the world and these movements are currently gaining momentum. I merely had to scratch the surface and was amazed at the plethora of complementary economies that are in existence all over the globe. Here in the city of Los Angeles you have the Echo Park Time Bank and a Co-Op starting in Highland Park. Some great examples of alternative economic structures can be found on the websites of the E.F. Schumacher Society and the Local Exchange Trading Systems—LETS. However, in many ways these alternative economic structures are only making up for the enormous problems of our national and international economic systems. Along with creating our own local systems, people need to pressure our government to initiate necessary reforms and changes to our current economic system.

PERFORMING ECONOMIES THROUGH SAT., JULY 25, AT FELLOWS OF CONTEMPORARY ART, 970 N. BROADWAY, STE. 208, CHINATOWN. CLOSING RECEPTION 2 PM / FREE / ALL AGES. MORE INFORMATION AND GALLERY HOURS AT FOCALA.ORG. VISIT ELANA MANN AT ELANAMANN.COM.