For some people the word art is a multi-interpreted noun. Art cannot be separated from the context of the times and the social, economics, culture, and environment. Thus, it can be said directly or indirectly, the subject and material essentially represent the soul of the era. According to Guntur Sanggalangit “Good art is art that is able to provide life force”. In the book forging quantum unraveling art, these words affirm that art is psychologically able to provide a sense of tranquility, peace, or otherwise a sense of restlessness, which eventually gives rise to new expressions to translate with various mediums.
The long journey taken by an artist will not be separated from his socio-cultural background. For some cities in Indonesia such as Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta, the development of fine art has become a liquid climate in society. Unfortunately, the situation is not necessarily present in other areas, and this also makes the distance among the artist, his visual work, and his audience. For some of fellow artists such as Angga Wahyu Santoso a.k.a Lowpop, art is a steep road that is full of puzzles and also a goal that is not grandiose on which he keeps working. Lowpop is one of the young men who was born in the eastern part of Lampung. His interest in the art world does not necessarily appear without any relevance to his life, but the reality that the art world, especially fine art, has not become something to be studied. This condition is not new. The availability of art space and art references are also still very minimal. This is a problem that must be solved together by all circles. The first meeting with Lowpop around 2007 was an important momentum for me. How it is possible in a small town like metro city, there are a handful of people who have great intentions to learn art, especially fine art. Riding an old motorcycle with 2 friends in “cenglu”, which stands for boceng telu in Javanese, he came to me for borrowing a book on the basics of fine art. Here I feel that there is still a desire in this city through lowpop friends to get to know the world of fine art, and ultimately to form a community of lampung sketches.
REALITY
Lampung sketch became one of the lunar craters for Angga Lowpop. Why is it so? Armed with knowledge through several borrowed books, he tried to build his communal space and influence his friends to express and work in this community space. Although experiencing up and down, in fact this space keeps him loyal in the world of fine art. His interest in color awareness was built on his ability to process watercolors with transparent techniques that made him well-known among his community.
The growth of the community movement in this city introduced him to a new medium of art on street or street art. In fact, public space can be an area for expressing ideas which tells the anxiety and phenomena that occur in this city. From the walls, Lowpop became acquainted with many mediums and became increasingly famous in the city of Metro. According to him, street art is more quickly delivered to the public and the message conveyed in his work is more easily comprehended. Dissatisfaction with the paper medium might have made Lowpop look for new mediums that were relevant to him in those days. It does not mean to leave the paper but rather the motion and exploration space has become a much needed thing. Furthermore, the field of paper, according to him, had difficulty to gain appreciation. With the rush, the public space became a battleground of ideas by a group of communities, one of which was conceived by Lowpop.