ARTIST INTERVIEW
KYAW HTOO BALA Enigmatic Breakfast Photo print
Artist Talk: How shall I put it! I am not such an ambitious one. I started to notice this. I saw how others created. I visited to the exhibitions and read some related books. Internet was not so easily accessible in that era. So I decided to study abroad at LaSalle Art College. It’s only for one reason, to know more. It’s not like I planned to become an artist after school, nor would I go through some training towards becoming an artist. I am very keen to know many things. I expected I would have sufficient knowledge if I went to somewhere resourceful. I came to know many things that I wanted learn. I got the aesthetic experience. Doing whatever you like without any discipline is not art. I came to know that firmly since first semester. After any creation, I asked my instructors or fellow students to act as critics for it. I think criticism plays very important for an artist. It can go off the route if there is no criticism. This exhibition was named “Enigmatic Breakfast.” With dilemma or uncertain decisions, things that inspired me include different things. Stories, films, music, sometimes lyrics rather than melody, and especially poems. I was quite a selfish person by then. So, I look back to myself my creations were mostly about me. Perhaps it also accounted to the experiences that I went through. When I wanted to oppose something, I tried to know well about that thing first and reach some point. That’s why I paid attention to education and wanted to learn. The reason was to oppose. It’s a bit dictatorial. There was ego within it. Therefore, you might think “what’s he demonstrating and narrating? Why are there so many boundaries?” If possible, I want to destruct preoccupation and strong beliefs. I would like to deconstruct. For example, we always knew in life that a kettle was just for the sake to put hot water to drink. But what if I created the kettle to be able to use as a phone? It’s like changing the function of a readymade object. It’s something based on the ideology of Dadaism. (Translated by Amon)
