Private Project

WARNING! Restricted Area

This video was shot in the village Pesarean, just outside Tegal, a town in Central Java, Indonesia. The main line of work in the village is small scale lead and aluminium smelting, which is also known as backyard smelting or informal lead-smelting. Most workshops are located in the smelters’ homes. The smelting process is primitive and carried out with no safety measures of any kind. The smelting and casting processes are extremely toxic. Lead poisoning and other severe health conditions are widely spread among workers, their families and fellow villagers as they are unrelentingly exposed to toxic airborne gases, contaminated dust and waste products together with contaminated ground and groundwater.

  • Gustav Hellberg
    Director
  • Gustav Hellberg
    Writer
  • Sojung Yoon
    Research
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    PERINGATAN! Area Terbatas
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Other
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 22, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    Sweden
  • Country of Filming:
    Indonesia
  • Language:
    Indonesian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Gustav Hellberg

Gustav Hellberg is a Swedish new media artist who's artistic practice lies in the public sphere, where he looks for an interaction between people, artwork and the public space. His current practice is focusing on video and still image photography.

Education

1998-99 Aesthetics, Philosophy, Stockholm University 1995 Universitet der Künste, Berlin (Klasse Prof. Lothar Baumgarten) 1993-98 Kungl. Konsthögskolan, Stockholm (MFA)

Solo exhibitions and projects

2017 Future Scanner–HBC, Seoul (KR), Things That Get in Our Way, Hopetoun (AUS) 2016 Torrance Art Museum, LA (USA) Framtidsscanner [Future Scanner], Varberg (S) 2015 Kunst und Kultur am Rosa- Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin (D), Kunst Kraft Werk, Leipzig (D) 2013 Stadsmuseet, Stockholm (S) 2011 Stadtgalerie Kiel, Kiel (D) 2010 Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin (D), Obstruction, Malmö (S) 2009 Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg (S), Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö (S) 2008 The Lighthouse at the End of the World, Stockholm (S), Galleri Andersson Sandström, Stockholm (S), Arnstedt & Kullgren, Båstad (S) 2005 Arnstedt & Kullgren, Båstad (S) 2003 Hood Gallery, Los Angeles (USA) 2002 Blinka Malmö stadsbibliotek, Malmö (S)

Selected group exhibitions

2024 Mediated Process, Cullity Gallery, Perth (AUS), 2023 An Other Land, Orbital Gallery, Bandung (ID) 2022 In the Process of.., Gallery Lux, Östersund (S) Bandung Photography Triennale (ID) 2021 Society of Modern Photography and Video, Seoul (KR), 2021 KSCS International Exhibition of Color Works, Seoul (KR) Dalseong Daegu Contemporary Art Festival (KR), Daejeon Sculpture Association (KR) 2020 Hobson’s Choise, Torrance Art Museum (US), 2020 KSCS International Exhibition of Color Works, Seoul (KR) 2019 Make, Platform-L, Seoul (KR), Make Select, Seoul (KR) 2018 Diaoyu Fortress, International New Media Festival, (CN), Spaced 3: North by Southeast, Perth (AUS), Peace Over Window, Pyeongchang, (KR) 2017 Sculpture Festa, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul (KR), Wider Than The Sky, Artspace Boan, Seoul (KR) 2016 Testing Grounds, Art and Digital Cultures in South Asia and Europe, Colombo (LK) Art Inside Out, Varberg (S) 2015 Erratiker, Baitz (D) 2014 Dresden Public Art, Dresden (D), Burlaks: Between Asia and Europe, Samara (RUS) ThingWorld: International Triennial of New Media Art 2014, National Art Museum of China (CN), They Are Here Now, Kunsthaus Interlaken (CH) 2013 VIII Shiryaevo Biennale of Contemporary Art (RUS), Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin (D), Unsere Kunst- Eure Kunst 2013, Stadtgalerie Kiel (D), Falling from Grace, KCCC, Klaipeda (LT), First Garage Show, Garage, Sydney (AUS) 2012 Interim Days: Tbilisi, Tbilisi (GE), EMAF, Osnabrück (D), Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock (D), Platform #2, Röda Sten, Göteborg (S) 2011 The Return of the Losers, Kalmar konstmuseum (S) 2010 News in Emptiness, Artnews Outdoor, Samara (RUS), Street View, MAP, Gothenburg (S) 2009 SIK, Kalmar Konstmuseum (S) 2008 Energy Laboratory, Ringkøbing Museum (DK) 2007 Flaneur, Raid Projects, Los Angeles (USA), Aquamediale, Schloß Lübben (D), Pastiche, Jyderup (DK), Urban Interface, Berlin (D) 2006 Article Biennale, Stavanger (N), Umedalens skulptur, Umeå (S), Madrid Abierto, Madrid (E) 2005 Project 0047, Berlin (D), Fused Space, Strom, den Hague (NL), Evolutionäre Zellen Archive, NGBK, Berlin (D) 2004 Arnstedt & Kullgren, Båstad (SE), Momentum 4, Moss (N), Zwischen Wasser, Bad Aibling (D), Armory Show, New York (USA) 2003 Contemporary Art Cultural Heritage, Antalya(TU), Evolutionäre Zellen, Historisches Museum, Frankfurt (D), Evolutionäre Zellen, Freiraum / Transeuropa MQ, Wien (A), LA-International Biennale, Raid Projects, Los Angeles (USA), Arnstedt & Kullgren, Båstad (S), Southbound, Leipzigerstrasse 54, Berlin (D) 2002 Evolutionäre Zellen, NGBK, Berlin (D), Urban Drift, Berlin (D), Reactions, The Williamson Gallery, Pasadena, Reactions, The Library of Congress, Washington DC. (USA), Reactions, Exit Art, New York (USA)

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Director Statement

Interference

Many of my projects stem from an interest in a direct confrontation with public space, and with objects and phenomena constituting that space. Artworks I place in public spaces could be seen as attempts to establish communication. Projects are formed around an ambiguous statement rather than formulating questions angled in a specific direction. In other words, these are comments on something that already exists, such as the structure of a city and the habits of its citizens. The projects are kinds of critique – in the form of expressions following analysis – using an existing structure, building, construction or grounds i.e. institutions that are parts of society. The artist and his work are trespassing on the social community.

Alienation – contextual response

The fear of the unknown is strong amongst most people. Whether it is fear of what lies hidden in darkness, or a fear of something beyond one’s knowledge, to ignore this fear could have devastating consequences. Fear is an emotion that can be explored in unexpected ways through art. A street, square or other public space allows a meeting with a non-specialised audience, which brings to the work a vast array of possible readings. Because these spectators don’t necessarily come from similar social or educational backgrounds, the work is therefore placed in an inevitably difficult social context. An artwork in public space may be overlooked or ignored by some, while to others it may appear as interesting, stimulating, provocative, or irritating. As human beings we can only interpret what we encounter with the help of our individual experiences and knowledge, therefore ending up with differing views. As an artwork in a public space might differ from objects normally expected to be there (thus appearing as an abnormal or alien object) it is almost inevitable that the work will arouse fear in some people, and be rejected by others. It is not necessarily my main concern to provoke fear in viewers, but as an artist it seems important to deal with – rather than avoiding – such fear, and other preconceived notions, wherever they may appear. Above all I see my public-space works as obstacles for the mind, able to trigger differing viewpoints and responses. Any person who states uncomfortable opinions in public is ultimately responsible for both voicing those opinions and dealing with the attendant risks. Working with art in public space is like walking a tightrope, whereby the artist has the opportunity to reach out to an audience outside the usual art institutions, but does so largely without any institutional safety nets. Placing art in public space requires certain strategies, including a kind of humility on the part of the artist. For art in public space encounters the same problems as architecture and societal or political planning: that is, it materialises directly as a part of society as well as playing a more indirect part as an aesthetic entity.

Creating an unusual situation – contradicting “normality”

Several of the artworks I have realised operate by changing an everyday situation, with a focus on vision. They are plays on reality, as we are accustomed to seeing it. Vision can be defined simply as what we take in with our eyes: the physical phenomenon that occurs when light is transformed, through seeing, into comprehensible mental images. But vision can also be what is ‘seen’ with our imagination: that is, an immaterial and completely abstract occurrence. And this can lead to new ways of thinking and planning for the future; in this way vision becomes a lingual element.