Yogyakarta Final 2 weeks part 2

Yogyakarta Indonesia
Final 2 Weeks (part 2)



















Welcome To The New Yogyakarta
After spending three weeks in Yogya, I was surprised to learn that the city is undergoing a major development boom. This wasn't initially apparent to me since most of my time is spent within the city. However, after spending time with my friends Entang and Christine, and architect Eko Prowoto, I learned that 3 new super malls have been built on the outskirts of the city (a total of 7 are planned), and a number of gated communities have also been erected, with many more in the works. The news saddened me, as I recognize the unhealthy influence of America and sub/urban sprawl with consumerism at its heart. I understand the situation is complex and not black and white; however, I can't deny the disappointment and impression that the longterm impact will likely be a negative one.



















These are images that I took of the diorama's in the new super mall of the latest planned gated communities.



































































This is one of the actual new gated communities near the new super mall.


























New super mall















































































































































































Anton and Novi making plans to enhance the Starbucksesque imagery for the new coffee shop (yes, they too are using that lame style).

Yogyakarta Week Three Day 5

Yogyakart Indonesia
Final 2 Weeks (part 1)

The final two weeks in Yogya have been extremely busy -- hence the lack of new blogs until now. Activities included: finishing the wall project, giving a presentation to an architecture class at Duta Wacana University in Eko Prawoto's class, a visit and stay with my friends, artists Entang Wiharso and Christine Cocca, who run an alternative artists' residency program in Yogyakarta -- Antennae Projects, visit to one of the new super malls in Yogya, a night out at the Gerbong Cafe in Tugu Station to see 25 bands with my young artist friends (two of them -- Novi and Roly, were part of the line up), finishing up the catalogue, and a celebration and launch of the catalogue at Via Via Cafe. Therefore the next series of blogs will cover this past two weeks.

The Wall Project
Artists who participated included: myself, Novi, Anton, Puji, Roly, Anto, Aries, Karyadi, Gedhek (DEKA), Nova, and Arie Dyanto. Aries (dua) videotaped the process. The concept that we were working with was the propaganda that the Bush administration is spreading to the world (or bombing the world with), and in particular the Muslim world, using Christianity as it's mouthpiece, or otherwise known as "God Speak."

Yogyakarta Indonesia Week Three Day 2

Yogyakart Indonesia
Thursday


Drum roll, please ....... we did it!! The Sama-sama/Together catalogue has now been printed!! Arie and I were at the printers until late Tuesday night watching as the book ran through the press. Sama-sama!!!

Yogyakarta Indonesia Week 3

Yogyakarta Indonesia
Monday


Great last two days! We had our first two meetings for the wall project. We met at my hotel at 3:00 pm -- about 10 of us. The hotel I'm sure thinks I'm crazy -- last year the kittens, this year I'm bringing a bunch of artists in to have a meeting for which I cleared the furniture in the lobby so we could sit on the floor and plan our guerilla project.


The group of artists that I'm working with is awesome! I feel really honored to get to work with such a talented bunch. They solely work on the streets doing posters, stencils, and spraycan work. The group includes: Novi, Anton, Puji, Roly, Anto, Aries, Karyadi, Gedheg, and Nova; and Aries 2 (dua) is videotaping our project. Later, we met at 10:00 pm at Sam and Ade's to make more of a plan of action and the materials we'd need. One of the things I love the most about the art community here is that they're so organized in that if you decide to do a project it happens in a flash.



































This morning Novi and Anton picked me up at 9:00 am and we headed over to Sam's to meet up with Roly, Anto, and Aries dua.


Then off to toko chat Spartan (the paint store). Several people there remembered me from years past.

We then headed over to the site to scrape the wall that was layered with posters, old and new. Puji, Karyadi, Gedheg, and several others joined us there later.























The highlight of the day was when I looked across the street and saw a familiar face -- Farhan!!!! I was so happy to see him. Farhan worked with me on the mural that I did here in 2003 -- Bungas, as part of the Sama-sama project. He's married now and has a 6 month-old baby!





























I'd heard word that he'd done a new mural project in Jogja recently, but I hadn't seen it yet. So we headed via motorbike to see it and got caught in a downpour of rain. We had to stop twice to wait for the rain to let up. When we got there I couldn't believe my eyes -- or really, his. The mural is incredible!!!!!! Totally KARAN!



































Meanwhile, Arie has been putting in many hours working on the catalogue -- Nadiah too (she did the copyedits on the Indonesian text). The film has now been printed and they're starting to print tonight! So Arie and I'll be heading over there later to check on the progress and colors.


Tomorrow, we start again at 9:00 am to paint the wall.
Until then, Salamat!