Muhammad Taufiq, aka Emte, who has just launched his book Life As I Know It. This is the sequel to his first book, titled Life As We Know It.
Congratulations to Muhammad Taufiq, aka Emte, who has just launched his book Life As I Know It. This is the sequel to his first book, titled Life As We Know It.
“Actually, all of this started from something trivial. It comes from the questions that arise when you go places alone. Like going to the movies, restaurants, working out, and especially going to a kondangan,” Emte said at Dia.lo.gue Artspace on the day of his book launch.
Lebih dari 250 ilustrasi Emte yang masuk dalam buku Life As I Know It
The yellow-covered book shows its readers that being alone is perfectly okay. “Going for a run alone, going to a kondangan alone, it’s totally gapapa (it’s completely fine),” he added. Emte turns all of this idea of being perfectly okay with doing things alone, into illustrations throughout the book. Those seemingly trivial questions actually carry deeper meaning for many people, especially those living in big cities. Without realizing it, they become a point of reflection on how doing things alone is often seen as something unusual, even something that invites sympathy.
The Artspace in Kemang is not only where Emte and Gramedia Pustaka Utama (GPU) launched the book. Dia.lo.gue also serves as a space where Emte is exhibiting more than 250 illustrations, along with a mini retrospective of his career.
The intention is not to encourage everyone to do everything alone. Rather, Emte wants to show that there is joy in doing these activities by yourself. One example that many people are already familiar with is solo travel. Others include working out, watching a movie at the cinema, going to music concerts, getting a haircut, doing the monthly grocery shopping, eating at a restaurant, and eventually going to a kondangan alone. For Emte, attending a kondangan alone is the one that tends to come up most often in his everyday life.
Kumpulan “poster” plesetan karya Emte
Going out and doing all kinds of things alone is not something Emte does out of necessity, but rather a celebration of the freedom he has, as well as a form of self-reconciliation. As an artist with a humorous side, Emte also showcased his knack for painting movie posters with contemporary wordplay at his first solo exhibition.
In the glass display case that serves as a timeline of his career, you can see Emte’s work creating comics, taking on commercial work for lifestyle magazines, designing cassette covers, illustrating political magazines, and even creating voucher cards for mobile phone credit. (Yes, back then, you still had to buy a voucher to top up your phone credit.) From lanyard, nametag, to posters from exhibitions he was invited to participate in overseas.
Kolaborasi komersi yang pernah Emte kerjakan
The exhibition will run for the next month at Dia.lo.gue Arspace. There, you can also purchase the books Life As We Know It and Life As I Know It, as well as join the workshop sessions on offer. If you would like to explore more of Emte’s portfolio, visit madebyemte.com. Meanwhile, for the schedule of Emte’s workshop sessions at Dia.lo.gue Artspace, check out the social media pages of Dia.lo.gue and Emte.
Remember, it’s perfectly okay to go alone.
