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cans. The incorporation of these objects reflects the efforts of the urban
poor to survive a difficult economic situation through the use of their artistic
sensibilities. To Dono, recycling junk is an innovative practice because it is a
cultural matter. ‘The facts show the efforts of poor people using tradition to
survive in a difficult modern situation. The creations show how tradition
continuously makes breakthroughs, not only for the sake of artistic means but
more for survival,’ he believes.
Heri Dono has worked with mechanics to develop the machinery of his
installation from bits of old transistor radios. He knows the people who help him
well. ‘They work every day at their small radio shops repairing used transistor
radios. There are thousands of them in Yogyakarta. After repairing them, they
sell the radios cheaply to the grassroots.’
It is a matter of fact that in traditional Javanese society every person is a
craftsman because they make their own utensils. However they also make works
of art. The term for doing this kind of work is penciptaan. The direct
interpretation of the penciptaan is creating. The term also has a unique
meaning. The word penciptaan, derived from the term cipta meaning imagination,
hopes, fantasies, and dreams, also includes the notion of communal idealism,
shared values in daily life.
Correspondingly, penciptaan means making dreams, fantasy and idealism
become tangible or visual, through the capacity of hands by enforcing rasa
(a kind of intuition) and the feeling of beauty that goes beyond sensation.
This artistic practice is far from expressing opinions or making statements.
Related to this, art in Javanese is kagunan, an activity of emitting feelings that
express the beauty of moral ethics. The term kagunan is derived from guna,
which means the insightful idiosyncrasy of a person.
Perceiving this artistic sensibility, Heri Dono asked people to collaborate
with him in making works of art, and those who were craftsmen graciously
accepted the invitation. During the process of collaboration, these people did
not just help Dono; they also gave him advice and ideas. Together they created
works that not only show Dono’s convictions. The art also reveals the surprising
dreams, hopes, fantasies, and beliefs of the urban poor in facing today’s harsh
realities. And these, in turn, have enriched Dono’s representation of the world.
This text was first published in the exhibition catalogue of Upside-down Mind, CP Artspace,
Washington, DC, 2003. For information p. 174
Heri Dono, Political Clown (detail), 1999
38 Prince Claus Fund Journal #10a Tradition and Innovation