Samsul Arifin

The painting is in good condition, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals no indication of retouching. The paint layers are intact.
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Lupa Cara Berfikir (Forget How To Think) is one of Samsul Arifin's best works to date. Rendered on a large format canvas, the artist's cloth and cotton avatar doll, Goni, is featured on the foreground of the left register wearing an armour of eraser cover and carrying his signature No. 2 pencils.  The emptiness of the right register is balanced by graffiti-like doodles.  The strokes are irregular, but strong and intense – as if it was scribbled in frustration. The little spurt of emotion provides an interesting contrast to the calm and controlled composition.

In a combination of straight and curvilinear lines, the graphite marks appear to dance on the picture plane. Its movements are complimented by the black thread on Goni's body. Upon close observation, not only the fibres of this thread are visible, but the minute stitching along the seams – complete with its irregularities – was also clearly painted.  This clarity is so definite because it is a process that the artist is very familiar with. During his days as a student, he stitched the tiny Goni dolls himself; it was a talent he learnt by helping his family's sewing business. 

By imbuing the painting with an understanding of the craft and the experience of making it, the work becomes a soulful expression instead of a mere realistic rendering. Samsul Arifin's work possesses a sense of earthiness, humility, innocence and honesty. Evident in every detail is his love for craft; not only as a finished product but also as a process.

Elements of childlike innocence pervade Samsul's paintings: the doodles, for one, and the undeveloped writing, for another. It is no mere aesthetic tool but a platform to discuss his concerns with the education system in Indonesia in which elementary students are unable to focus or learn from school. They "forget how to think" because they are burdened by concerns that should not be theirs, such as their parents' economic situation and how to afford their school fees.

The prevailing rat race of the present age makes education the most essential and basic benchmarks of a developed nation. Academic achievement is not only a pre-requisite but also a determinant for success. Yet for some of the simple common people in Indonesia, those who live outside the metropolis, even elementary education is still a privilege and a luxury. In the present work, Samsul's ubiquitous pencil is Staedler's No. 2B, which is used to fill in computerized forms in examinations. Ironically, this facility does not seem to be available in the scene and the pencil is used to circle the multiple choice answer instead.  Samsul observes the Catch-22 situation: without economic success, education is out of reach, but without education, the people will not have the same opportunities. Listening to positive reports on the stock market performance, it is very easy to forget that this problem exists, but Samsul's work serves a reminder that it is an important subject to discuss. After all, a nation is as progressive and prosperous as its people.