HOUSE - GATE EVOLUTION. In-between Cihampelas and Cipaganti area, Bandung, row houses, a once-popular mode of settling, got to keep up with time. Changes in urban planning brought demolition to one of them in the name of city circulation. It's still unclear whether for aesthetics, financial, or urban visual reasons, they kept the previous roof structure intact. Maybe this is the first case where the term 'row gate' can be introduced. Fauzy Prasetya | January 2010
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March 2010
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THE OBAMAS' PUPPET VERSION. Are you one of those people who can no longer wait for Obama's continuously rescheduled Indonesian visit? Maybe you could follow his relatives' footsteps. They ordered a complete White House household set to Ki Ledjar Subroto of Yogyakarta, a wayang (puppet) maestro. It remains unclear whether the mentioned set would act as a yearning cure or as a mere gift. From left to right: Bo, pet dog; Michelle, first lady; Barrack, the president; Sasha, second daughter; and Malia, eldest daughter. Danu Primanto | March 2010 |
FLAT RATE. At Jakarta's Blok M Bus Terminal, transportation industry's vocabulary is being transformed into everyday's use. When I looked for the explanation for 'Jauh Dekat 3000' (literally translated as 'Far/Near 3000', meaning flat cost rate is applied), the seller explained, "It means that everything here worth three thousand (rupiah), Mas! 'Jauh Dekat' because every passers-by understand this. No matter what they're feeling like buying, that's the price." Farid Rakun | March 2010 |
OBAMA PERMITS BECAK'S MALL ENTRANCE. Thanks to Obama, this might be the first time Plaza Indonesia let a becak (human pedaled rickshaw) enter their perimeter. The object is furthermore baptized as an "Indonesian traditional icon" to be juxtaposed with Obama, the "international icon", a theme that underlie the celebration of Plaza Indonesia 20th anniversary art festival. This 2009 Wilman Syahnur's piece was originally placed at Tugu Station, it was transported from Yogyakarta to Jakarta, undergoing inevitable multi-layered exoticism. Little Obama spent little of his elementary school years in Jakarta, the main reason behind the existence of his statue, once situated in Menteng. But before the man himself finally set his feet again to the capital, scheduled to take place on March 20th-21st, a resin version of him has arrived on a becak to the location. Becak, an "Indonesian traditional icon", which has been eradicated from Jakarta streets over than ten years ago, had been given no chance to be introduced to today's mall culture, let alone entering one of them. Ardi Yunanto | Maret 2010 |
BE OUR FRIEND! The inevitable social relationship changes, encouraged by new media technology developments, are occuring everywhere. Celebrities, public figures, or even government officials are on a race to befriend you on existing social network platforms. Bantul police force even has a similar request towards its citizens, which was made not only to help their popularity, but also for help in criminal, as well as traffic, reports. We can see that the force realize their existence is to protect and to serve the society. Question is whether what being served here was just merely an illusion, or is a fundamental change happening really? Danu Primanto | March 2010 |