Sleek, fast , deadly – main battle tanks moving in formation seeking out the enemy. This is the epitome of today’s modern digital battlefield.  Camouflaged to blend in, their hues range from the dusty browns of the desert to the speckled greens of the jungle.

But over at the National Museum, they come in shades of girlie Barbie Doll pink that would make General George S. Patton turn in his grave!

Love Tanks is the creation of Indonesian artist S. Teddy and it takes centrestage at the entrance of the museum.

Despite vain attempts from some quarters to “educate me”, I honestly don’t profess to be a lover of art, especially the abstract variety. What little I know can be written on a single 4×3 Post It note with lots of room to spare for some creative doodling.

I sat there and stared wondering what would possess a man , to try and sync steel weapons of war with the fickleness and fragility of love.

So I read the poster stuck on the wall. Stacked one on top of another, the seven tanks and supposed to resemble a pagoda – a symbol of Asian sereneness (okay I can buy that I guess). The tanks were covered with the lotus motif, an Asian symbol of peace and harmony.

“Tanks, synonymous with the landscape of war, are instrumental war machines in the propagation of western supremacy.” said the poster… hmmm, “propagation of western supremacy” – I found that a bit hard to swallow – don’t armies on this side of the world have tanks too? Didn’t Asia invent gunpowder which upped the ante in modern warfare? That line tends to convey in a less than subtle way the egotistical  notion that the WEST is still hell-bent on destruction and domination while the EAST remains shrouded, untainted in its virginity of peace and brotherly love.

“The tanks are decorated or camouflaged with red lotuses and the juxtaposition transforms the killing machine into one that conveys love and peace to humankind.” – So adding a splash of gaudy colour transforms “the killing machine” to a symbol of “love and peace to all  mankind”. Really??? Maybe I’m over thinking this … and maybe it’s just me but I don’t think even a caffeine-induced mind can find the nimbleness to make that quantum leap of imagination.

If art like this is meant to provoke conscious thought then in a sense it works. But if the artist hopes to convince the viewer that his installation bridges the crustiness and horror of war with the teddy bear fuzziness of love, in my book, I remain unconvinced. Right or wrong, they remain worlds apart.