Introduction
semar and his significance in jawanese philosophy
Semar is one of several Javanese mythical characters that found in the Javanese version of
Mahabarat. He is an incarnation of the highest god Batara Guru. Paradoxically, this
Sublime character incarnated in the form of a grotesque being instead of a picture perfect
one. That is not the only paradox embed in the character of Semar, he also hold the paradox
of spiritual teacher and clown-servant, sacred and profane, wisdom and foolishness,
masculine and feminine.
Siapakah yang bulat seperti nyiru itu, itulah Kyai Lurah Semar, ya Samar,
Betara Ismaya. Ia bernama Semar, juga Samar, sebab Kyai Semar berkuncung
seperti laki-laki, tetapi ia montok dengan buah dada besar seperti orang
perempuan. Ia tak gagah tak rupawan, memang tak berupalah ia, akan tetapi
sesungguhnya Kyai Lurah Semar itu Dewa yang menjelma, ia sebenarnya
Hyang Ismaya, juga Hyang Asmarasanta, Dewa berujud manusia, di dunia
merupakan pamong keturunanBrahma/Wisnu
(Suseno, Franz Magniz; 1984)i
Who is that person as round as the moon, that's Kyai Semar, yes Samar, the
lord Ismaya. He is named Semar, Samar (ambiguous). Hair style with a
topknot like men, plumped with big breasts like a woman. He
is neither handsome nor beautiful, he just doesnt have the looks, but
Kyai Semar is god incarnated, he actually is
Lord Ismaya, Lord Asmarasanta, the highest god in the form of man, in
the world he is a the servant of the descendants of Brahma/Vishnu.
These paradoxes often saw as the ambiguity or the oddity of Semar, the true spiritual realm
of the Javanese people, the realm that at its end would guide them to shape their physical
realm, including their architecture.
Jawanese architecture seen and built trough the point of view of other
Trough out the ages, the government who rule over the people of java has contributed to the
shaping of the environment, especially the architecture and the city, from the age of
Hinduism to the age of postmodernism. Yet, the resistance of the Javanese way in acting
towards their environment seen in how they transformed the carefully planned cities by the
government into a more organic places thats fit to their transcription of the Javanese
philosophy, a philosophy that personified in the mythological character of Semar.
The resistance of this philosophy is also seen in how the character of Semar and its
philosophy remains the center of the wayang performance from the age of Hinduism to this
age of postmodernism. Semar is considered to be the highest source of wisdom/ judgment
that is adaptable in any century.
Objectives
Based on the hypothesis of the ambiguity contained in the Philosophy of Semar, these are
the objects of the study that hoped to be read from it:
o The aesthetical judgment: the grotesque & the sublime
o The correlation of form and space: the tangible & the intangible
o The architecture realm/ the meaning of place:
- The sacred and the profane
- The masculine and the feminine
Literature review
The binnary of aesthetic in architecture
We often see our world of in binary system that tends to be unfair. This binary system is
rooted back from the world of Plato, where he see the world as ambiguous and to
understand that ambiguous world, instead of trying to comprehend with it he put the world
into a system of dualism that is more logical. Derrida's critique of Plato's world is
the emergence of a binary system which tends to destroy (in Derrida'sview) the true reality.
This Platonic world limits something on one position, if not this, it means that it is the other. It
closed the door to the things that are both this and that. This sometimes leads to the
domination of one to the other.
The destruction of things caused by platonic dualism is clearly seen in the history of
mankind where colonialism happens because of the colonialist saw the people apart from
their kind is the other. The world could only be at peace if it stands on one rule, a perfect
utopia. This was why the colonialist always shaped the place of the colony according to their
own view, their own needs. Cities are built for their political interest to control the other,
architectures are built according to their references.
Architecture is also faced with a similar binary system, as in Wilson's essay on the Ethics of
Architectureii that architecture is faced with a condition that requires a choosing between
being 'pure
art' or 'pure pragmatism'. He finally took another
way
out by
placing architecture as
a 'practical art' which includes both. Then he put
the task
of
architecture ethics to determine the position of a work of architecture at a point on a threedimensional space with cross axis x, y, z, which represents technology, functionand form.
This, at the first place, looks like Wilson had eliminate the binary position
of architecture because he can put any
architecture in any position within
the
threedimentional world of thinking of technique, form and function. (Fig. 1)
Fig.1. a schematic of the three dimentional axis of architecture according to Wilson
form
architecture
Pure art
pragmatism
technology
function
What was once only consisted of two distinctions: fine art and 'nave' functionalism,
transformed to various combinations of the coordinates of practical art. Apparently, it looked
like it had solved the conflict of aesthetics, but the actual architecture is still hovering in the
coordinate of opposition between purely aesthetic value of art and pragmatism, it was
just extending the shades of gray. What was once a black/ white oppositions, transformed to
black / dark gray / gray / light gray / white position. Practicaly, if it was not the Art of a
palace, it must be the art of others, such as a house or hut, or perhaps a warehouse. The
palace entitled to a more degree of freedom in expression because it is more of an art than a
warehouse which has a higher degree in function and technique. Monument has
a greater artistic freedom more than the palace. It still is not possible for an architecture
object to have a multi-realm world: both palace and hut, both simple and complex, both
sacred and profane.
This binnary position will always occurs as long as the worldview in use is the occidental
worldview that has an inclination to project the self to the world (emphaty), than making an
abstraction of the world. The first way of viewing the world always search for the absolute
truth, The Sublime.
Kant then argues that aesthetic judgement determines not only the beautiful
but also the sublime, which induces an emotion of awe before forms that
do violence to the imagination and whose nature is not just without
purpose but is positively opposed to any sense of purpose.
This closes the door to the co-existence of a multi-realm world, the presence of the sublime
and the mortal, the sacred and the profane, the beauty and the grotesque, a concept that is
not an unfamiliar to the eastern philosophy who always try to see the world trough
abstraction.
Aesthetics of ugliness (Grotesque Aesthetic)
Aesthetics do not have to be something beautiful. This opinion about aesthetic appear in the
western architecture in the age of Renaissance. The grotesque aesthetic of Rozenkrans
(1853), says that what is bad is part of the aesthetics, just as pain is a part of biology, the evil
part of ethics, the injustice of the law, and sin is part of the science of religion or
theology. Ugliness is always relational to what is beautiful because it is not perfect without
ugliness.
Ugliness most easily displayed in the poetry than the other arts. This inspires a question, if
the architecture is also a part of art, as stated by Wilson, it is not possible to present
architecture of these two things together without exclusivity or superiority.
This brings to a hypothesis of 'semar' as a theory of aesthetics in Javanese philosophy,
where Semar with his ambiguity of all realms is a personification that held the ultimate value
of judgment. It is a worthy aesthetic theory to scraped for architecture, realizing that the
traditional Javanese house has a special place where named peringgitan (puppetry) located
between pendapa (front hall) and dalem (inner house), which is reserved for Javanese
puppet show.
Semar: a multirealm being
The clown-servants that exist in Javanese version of Mahabarata appear as a playful
interlude in the middle of the play. They are so relaxed and full of jokes. They are loyal
servant pandawa. In fact this clown-servants has important roles in guiding the knights to
their goals.
Research methodology
The research will use phenomenological methodology by looking at the linguistic and
visualization of Semar and its philosophy both in architecture and the literature of Semar.
This would be possible by identifying the archic matrix of the Semar character.
The Archic Matrix as mentioned in Watsons Architectonic of meaning would identify the
Perpectives and the Realities of the philosophy.
Analytical approach
The approach to its analysis would be trough semiotic by analyzing the sign, signified,
signifier and the possible reference
References
Broadbent, G., Deconstruction: A Student Guide, St. Martin Press, NY, 1991.
Lorand, Ruth, Aesthetic Order: A Philosophy of Order, Beauty and Art, Routledge, London,
2000.
Parker, DeWitt H., The Principles of Aesthetics, Appleton-Century-Croft, NY, 1945.
Scruton, Roger, Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey, Penguin Groups, NY, 1994.
Sindhunata, Menulis Wayang dengan Estetika Semar, Majalah Kebudayaan Umum Basis,
Vol. XLIV, No. 3, Maret 1995.
Suseno, Franz Magnis, Etika Jawa: Sebuah Analisa Falsafi tntang Kebijaksanaan Hidup
Jawa, Gramedia, 1984.
Watson, Walter, The Architectonic of Meaning: Foundation of the New Pluralism, University
of Chicago Press, 1993.
Wilson, Colin St. John., Architectural Reflections: Studies in the philosophy and practice of
architecture, Butterworth Architecture, Oxford, 1992.
Zoetmulder, P.J., Manunggaling Kawula Gusti, Gramedia, 1990
i Suseno, Franz Magnis, Etika Jawa: Sebuah Analisa Falsafi tntang Kebijaksanaan Hidup Jawa,
Gramedia, 1984, h. 188.
ii Wilson, Colin St. John., Architectural Reflections: Studies in the philosophy and practice of
architecture, Butterworth Architecture, Oxford, 1992.