C&C Hearts...

'The Katallog Catalog"

2010-05-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

Katallog is a collective of artists with different tastes, perspectives and mediums who have gathered to create a small concept store selling their own products in Bandung, Indonesia. Both the artwork and products produced by the members of Katallog are witty blend of lo-fi, conceptual craft.

"The Katallog Catalog" is a group exhibition showing the artwork of each member and representing the group as a strong creative force in the Bandung art community. The show references low vs. high art, original artwork vs. (un)limited editions, and aesthetic value vs. monetary value.

Opening Party: May 8th, 7PM- late

Exhibition runs May 8th-23rd
Mon-Fri: Appointment only
Sat-Sun: 12-8PM

A.O.D. Art Space
Panglima Polim V no. 38

Katallog Artists:
Annisa Oktafeny
Budi Adi Nugroho
Enarldo T.G.
Fauzy Prasetya
Irma Dewi Febriani
Nuri Fatima
R Yuki Agriardi
Tisa Granicia
Tubagus Ardan Hanafi
Wiyoga Muhardanto
Yufie Safitri

This exhibition is curated by C&C Projects for A.O.D. Art Space, and fully supported by Think.Blank.

For more details, Please contact info@candcprojects.com.

Follow us on Twitter:
@hellokatallog
@candcprojects
@AODjakarta
@thinkblank

Brightspot Market

2009-12-03T05:32:00.000-08:00

We haven't mentioned anything about Brightspot Market on our blog yet, and we're already on the third one. Visit the Brightspot Market website to find out more about it.

In the mean time, here's the upcoming Xmas Edition

We're All Millionares Party and Installation

2009-08-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Artists

Before

Julian and Jimmy

The pregnant C

The Main Gallery

The rear gallery

Everyone hanging out in front... too many people, way too hot inside

C&C and the A.O.D. Family

Bad at Blogging

2009-08-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

We're obviously very bad at blogging. so much has happened in the last year, but we haven't taken the time to post it.

We're All Millionaires: Opening Party!

2009-06-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

Opening Party: June 13th, 7 PM

Location:
A.O.D. Art Space
Panglima Polim V/38
Jakarta, Indonesia

Gallery Hours:
Tues-Fri: 3pm-8 pm
Sat-Sun: 1pm-8 pm

"We’re All Millionaires" is a group show of contemporary artworks that are to be sold for 1 Million Rupiah. The exhibition concept aims to poke fun at the cultural misconceptions of the term “millionaire”, and address the oddities of art economics and ownership status.

Curated by C&C Projects for A.O.D. Art Space

Participating Artists:

Ahmad Nursalim
Albert Yonathan
Andriew Budiman
Andro M. M. Napitupulu
Annisa Utami
Archer
Arthur Paath
ASTRONAUTBOYS
Carolina Montejo
Christina Phan
Danang Hadi Phe
Darbotz
Dhanny Sanjaya
Farid Rakun
Fauzy Prasetya
Harry Mahardika
Irfan Wahyudi
Julia Sarisetiati
Karna Mustaqim
MEI.collectiv (Jessica Resmond & Jorge Bachman)
Mohamad Haikal Azizi
Muhammad Akbar
M Hendra Permana
Nuri Fatima
R. Yuki Agriardi
Rega Ayundya Putri
Soni Irawan
Tandya Rachmat Sampurna
Theresia Agustina Sitompul
Tisa Granicia
Top Changtrakul
Toto Nugroho
Tromarama
Widiyanto
Yaviz Basalamah
Zulkifi

Show Announcement: We're All Millionaires

2009-02-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

Submissions are now closed. Thanks!

C+C Projects is looking for art submissions for a group show at A.O.D. Art Space, Jakarta.

“We’re All Millionaires” is a curated group exhibition of contemporary art that will include students, emerging, and established artists alike. The goal of this exhibition is to create an alternative to the high-end art market, and open new doors for artists and aspiring collectors.

Each artwork will be sold for exactly Rp. 1.000.000,-.

Open to all (Indonesia-based) artists working in any medium and any theme. Artwork produced in series or editions are encouraged. We would love to see your paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, collages, sculptures, and any other format.

Submissions:
Send a jpg image to millionaires@candcprojects.com along with the following:

- Short artist statement
- Description of work (include dimensions, material, and title)
- Artist contact info
- CV or Bio

Deadline: 31 March 2009

For submissions and detailed guidelines please visit candcprojects.com/millionaires

Submissions do not guarantee entry into the show. The artists who have been selected will be notified by email.

Eames, the Eames, and Herman Miller

2008-12-11T01:23:00.000-08:00

We recently had the privilege of hanging out with Eames Demetrious, grandson of legendary designers Charles and Ray Eames. For those who don’t know, The Eames’s changed the world through their designs. It’s almost guaranteed that everyone in the modern world has encountered an Eames design at some point in his or her life.

Eames Demetrious, head of Eames Office and an artist in his own right, was stopping through Jakarta in conjunction with the launch of the new book 100 Quotes by Charles Eames and an exhibit of his grandfather’s photographs. Herman Miller, producer of the Eames furniture, organized the exhibition at O House Gallery. We were very excited to see the selection of photographs in person, and be able to talk with Eames about his personal connection with them. One image that we particularly liked was a self-portrait of Charles and Ray’s reflection in the window of their case study house.

Eames ended his visit with a lecture at Aksara bookstore in Kemang. A small but dedicated crowd turned out to meet him and learn first hand about the history behind the family and business. He told great stories about visiting his grandparent’s house as a child, his first camera (given to him by Charles), and Charles’s friendship with designer, Eero Saarinen. Even though Eames was there as an ambassador of the Eames Office and Herman Miller, we had a chance to speak with him privately about his own work as an artist and film maker. You can check out more about his various projects here and his parallel universe here.

Eames speaking at the exhibition opening

Our favorite quote from Charles Eames

Herman Miller asked us to show our chair in the exhibition

Self portrait of Charles and Ray

At Aksara

Indoneisan Architect, Han Awal

Eames signing a photo of Han Awal's son with the House of Cards

Star-struck!

C+C Projects: Nike Sportswear Launch Jakarta

2008-10-29T00:30:00.000-07:00

In August we worked along side Future 10 Productions to launch the new Nike Sportswear line in Jakarta. This was part of a global launch to coincide with the Beijing Olympics, in which countries all over the world held locally organized events. Aside from collaborating with Future 10 on the creative concept, we curated a video art exhibition, worked with designer, Leo Theosabrata on the exhibition space and developed a limited edition set of flip books. The video exhibition featured 8 Indonesian artists/ art groups who created new works inspired Nike's 8 icon products. Each of the videos stood out with the artist's unique style, and were an amazing contribution to the show.

Thanks to the guys at WhatNot for all their help, and a special thanks to all of the artists: Ademus & M. Akbar, Adel Pasha, Anton Ismael, Darbotz, The Secret Agents, Irwan Ahmett, Ate (Open Labs), and The Slyndicates.

Check out pics of the space and event. Also, keep an eye out for another posting about the flip books.

The Air Max

Installation by Ademus & M. Akbar

Leo Theosabrata

Installation by Ate (Open Labs)

The Flip Books

Sanchia (The Slindicates) and her monsters

Mapping Invisible Cities at Goethe Haus, Jakarta

2008-10-20T02:00:00.001-07:00

This was another show that I thought was worth mentioning. Mapping Invisible Cities included works from several photographers throughout south and southeast Asia.

Julia Sarisetiati (one of our favorites in the show)

Davy Linggar show at Ark Galeri

2008-10-20T01:36:00.000-07:00

I know this is really old news to some, but I came across some pics of Davy Linggar's show at Ark Galerie and thought I should post them.

Jamie Livingston: a Polaroid every day

2008-05-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

I came across this post on mentalfloss today and thought the subject was absolutely amazing. Jamie Livingston, an independent filmmaker and photographer in New York, took a Polaroid every day from 1979 to the day before his death (which happened to be his birthday) in 1997. The images tell an intimate story of his life through snapshots of his friends and everyday surroundings. Thankfully, the entire collection of images has been posted to a website for us to see. It reads like a movie, describing how wonderful and how temporary life is.

Update:
The more I think about this, the more I'm completely floored by it. It seems that I'm not the only one that feels this way. After doing a bit more research I found this site that appears to have compiled a number of responses to the original mentalfloss post (only created a week ago). This is not the first time this work has been shown to the public, but its new exposure has caused an uproar in many parts of the world. It's amazing that a simple (yet extremely complex) personal sentiment of a complete stranger has touched many peoples lives nearly 30 years after it started. As I've been looking through the images, I find myself checking significant dates in my own life to see what was happening in Livingston's. What also blows me away is the clash of mediums. Livingston's Polaroids, intimate one-of-a-kind images, sat (nearly) unseen in boxes for more than 20 years. In the coarse of a week it the entire collection has been newly exposed to (potentially) millions of people through blogs. Please look at the images and read the responses.

Walter Gropius on Google

2008-05-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

We thought it was pretty cool of Google to honor Bauhaus founder, Walter Gropius today.

Yoshitomo Nara in Yogakarta, Indonesia

2008-04-25T02:56:00.000-07:00

Yoshitomo Nara at Cemeti Art House in Yogyakarta! Can't wait to see the show.

Stefan Sagmeister Video

2008-04-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

While making my usual rounds through the endless supply of art and design blogs, I came across this video on thedesignfiles.net. Created by Hillman Curtis Inc, the video shows the installation of Stefan Sagmeister's exhibition, Things I have Learned in My Life So Far. I thought it was a pleasant reminder of life's simple lessons. Read more about it here.

Eko Nugroho: "Pleasure of Chaos"

2008-04-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

Last week we attended a very successful and well presented show by Eko Nugroho at the Ark Gallery in Jakarta. The show, titled "Pleasure of Chaos" featured large scale paintings of monstrous characters in various states of unpleasantness. In our opinion, the stars of the show were his massive tapestries, representative of flags and family crests. The show sold out soon after opening, partly due to being blessed by one of Indonesia's most influential curators, Jim Supangkat. Unfortunately, we were without a camera during the opening. Check out the Ark Gallery for more of his work, and dothewhatnot.com to see photos of the installation.

Singapore: Tania's place

2008-03-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

I always imagined living in a Singapore high-rise apartment would be drab and quite boring, but our friend Tania proved us wrong! She managed to make the place very cozy and full of character. It's simple and airy, and inspiration lies in every corner.

Singapore: Chua Chye Teck, Wonderland

2008-03-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Another goal for our weekend in Singapore was to see some art. Unfortunately, however, we ran out of time. Luckily, we stumbled across the Wheelock Art Gallery on Orchard Rd. This temporary art space is hidden in a covered walkway next to a construction site, but it's huge windows make it impossible to miss. The current show, Wonderland, is a photo installation by artist Chua Chye Teck. The images are a commentary on consumer culture, featuring objects reclaimed from the salvation army. The irony about this show is that it's presented on Orchard Rd., the epicenter of mass consumerism in SE Asia, in a gallery created by a corporate commercial property developer. None the less we're very happy to see art presented in a high-traffic public place, easily accessible and inviting for the non-art going public.

Swankglossy.com

2008-03-12T00:36:00.000-07:00

Check out the photo shoot we did for this months issue of Swankglossy.com. They're an online fashion magazine based in Jakarta. The spread features one of a kind pieces by designers: Adrienne Schaffer, Tasha D., Priyo Oktaviano, Green Eyes Placid Tree, and Tomas DeLucia, as well as one of our original designs.

Singapore: Brunch on Dempsey Road

2008-03-11T03:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a quick trip to Singapore for various reasons, including seeing and experiencing things we can’t easily find in Jakarta. Although we have Koi Kafe to hold us over at home, one of the things on our to do list was a nice brunch. With Cynthia’s life-long friend, Tania, as our guide we headed to the inner-city oasis, Dempsey Road. Our brunch at Jones the Grocer was a beautiful but simple combination of fresh, high quality ingredients. Although the meal left a bit to be desired, the casual gourmet atmosphere kept us at our table for almost 2 hours. Afterwards we strolled around the Dempsey Hill complex to find several other restaurants, shops, and a couple galleries. Camp, a restaurant/ bar with creatively themed private rooms such as the “Kubrick” room was another great find. On our way back down Dempsey Rd. we stopped by the mid-century styled PS. Café to enjoy a quick drink on their deck, and the view overlooking a shady hillside and lush trees.

Shots of our breakfast at Jones

Heading down to Camp. Sorry, no interior photos allowed.

PS. Cafe. This photo doesn't do the place justice! Check out the website to get a better idea.

By the way...

2008-02-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

I'd like to introduce the latest addition to our family. This is Coco.

Agrikulture photo shoot

2008-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

Last week I did a fun photo shoot with my brother-in-law's band, Agrikulture. Check out this posting on the Future 10 forum for behind the scenes shots.

KidZania

2008-02-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

We recently took our niece and nephew to Kidzania, a new establishment in Jakarta. It's a crazy half sized world, free of adults but full of grown-up activities. After buying their ticket, the kids enter through a scaled-down replica of an Air Asia airport terminal. They start their new lives with 50 Kidzos (the local currency). After depositing it into the bank, they take their atm cards and spend to their heart's content. Of course, you have the choice of buying fake groceries, going to the salon, or even buying real burgers from the restaurant. Once the kids run out of money, they can work in any of these places to make their money back. Just like the real world, the salon charges 10 kidzos, but only pays the employees 8! Local and international branding is plastered in every possible corner, from the candy factory to the Honda dealership and Pertamina gas station. The little town is complete with a hospital, theater, fire and police stations, and a printed newspaper with kid reporters. Originally starting in Mexico, Kidzania also has locations in Japan. Check out the photos...

Alexia checking out

And enjoying a relaxing time in the salon

Firekids get ready to spray a burning building (real water, fake flames)

Filling up the Honda CRV

Xavier went to Driving school and got his license

Gabbie changing a newborn in the hospital nursery

Future surgeons of Jakarta

Furniture expo in Jakarta

2007-11-17T21:55:00.001-08:00

The idea of a furniture expo in Jakarta usually makes me think of handicrafts and batik everything. Although 90% of the show was exactly what I expected, I was extremely surprised by the feature pavilion's focus on contemporary Indonesian design. Alvin Tjitrowirjo, Jakarta's best young furniture designer and friend of ours, blew the competition away with his range of sleek, modern pieces. Even the dramatic exhibition hall interior was designed by the progressive local architect Andra Matin.

Main entrance to the exhibit

Alvin T. in his fiberglass and leather Snug chair

"Soiree" modular bench (Alvin T.)

Wooden Radio by G Mango

Intimate Distance

2007-10-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

We recently attended a show at the Galeri Nasional Indonesia, called Intimate Distance, Indonesian Women Artists. The opening event launched a new book entitled “Indonesian Women Artists: The Curtain Opens”, featuring over 30 contemporary Indonesian female artists. The work ranged from mediocre abstract sculpture and living room art, to highly conceptual and feminist works. Considering that Indonesia is a conservative, patriarchal Muslim society, we felt that the show was socially significant. Even within Indonesia’s small world of “high” art, women artists are rarely seen. Several artists here are obviously rich housewives, but their money helps fuel the art economy and supports younger artists. More power to them… anything to help make art accessible.

Here are a few shots of pieces we liked…

VideoBabes: Ariani Darmawan/ Prilla Tania, Orchestration, 2007

Melati Suryodarmo, Illumination, 2007

This was one of my favorites, but I don't know the artists name.

Interior view of passports above. Those are smashed mosquitoes.

Astari Rasjid, Horas, 2007

Tiarma D. Sirait, Love Me, 2007

Droog Does Jakarta

2007-06-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

A while ago I posted about Droog Designers Niels van Eijk and Miriam vander Lubb and the table they created in Bali. Well, this month Erasmus Huis (Dutch Cultural Center, Jakarta) has a Droog Design show where we were lucky enough to see the table in person. The previous pictures (taken from the website) really didn’t do this piece justice! The table is way bigger than I imagined, and much more detailed than those pictures show. Truly Impressive!

Several other Droog designs were featured in the show, some that I’ve seen and others that I haven’t. We really enjoyed the presentation. It wasn’t overdone, but made good use of the small space. The gallery was divided by modular chain link fences with sculpted objects like a couch, rocking horse, moose head and doghouse protruding from them. See below for visual references.

One-Man Circus

2007-06-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

Another event on CCF’s Printemps Francais calendar was a contemporary one-man circus. It was a simple and elegant performance with little more than a balloon, a rope and 3 sheets of plywood as props. The minimal lighting setup included the low-tech psychedelic staple: an overhead projector with colored oil dripping into clear water. The show was mesmerizing and left us feeling refreshed. We realized that it doesn’t take much to impress us… just a little bit of genuine creativity.

Paint by Number Project

2007-06-12T01:30:00.000-07:00

For one of our latest projects we were asked to curate an art show inspired by DJ Missill’s graphic art and graffiti work. In an attempt to go beyond the standard “graffiti art show” we decided to mix the mid-century phenomenon, paint-by-numbers, with contemporary art styles. Jakarta based artists, Sanchia, Lisza, Wormo, and Rayray all submitted illustrations of female characters to be converted to a paint-by number outlines and shown along side one of DJ Missill’s own.

During the event, we invited a bunch of artsy girls to fill in the outlines while the crowd (mostly guys) sat back and watched. Even though each image was numbered with a color guide, it was perfectly ignored to create entirely new versions of the work. As the night went on and the drinks kept flowing, the artwork became more and more outrageous. The result was an over the top, out of control female frenzy… exactly what we wanted!

Thanks to the artists, all of our lovely painters, 707. WhatNot, Soul Menace, Future 10, and CCF. Oh, and thanks to the GIRLS!

DJ Missill bombing her own work

DJ Missill

2007-06-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend CCF (French Cultural Center, Jakarta) brought DJ Missill, a graffiti artist-DJ-Producer. This young hyper-active renaissance woman is currently touring Indonesia as a part of the annual Printemp Francais cultural festival. We were lucky to meet and hang out with her after an artist talk held by CCF. Afterwards she was invited to an impromptu graffiti session under a nearby bridge alongside a local graffiti crew and artists from IKJ (Jakarta Art Institute).

Later in the evening, she played an awesome mash-up DJ set at a club called Public while we put together a live paint-by-numbers art show.

Hong Kong

2007-05-16T02:09:00.000-07:00

On our way back to Jakarta we stopped in Hong Kong for a few days. This place was intense (although nothing compared to Tokyo). Due to the crazy integration of high-tech, old China, and lush foliage growing out of cement encrusted hillsides, we found ourselves making constant references to Blade Runner and Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

During our stay the weather was perfect, the shopping was great, but subculture seemed quite illusive. In such a dense metropolis, there must be more to it. Every now and then we caught a glimpse of something intriguing, like the design meeting spot, AfterSchool Cafe. It's definitely worth a trip back, just to find out what else is going on. If anyone has suggestions for good art/ design/ music stuff in HK, please post them in the comments!

The view from our friend's apartment

These bridges run from building to building through several parts of the city. There's one section that has an 800 meter outdoor escalator connecting several neighborhoods on the side of a steep hill.

an interior view of the bridge

Beat Streuli

2007-05-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of an installation by another one of my favorite photographers, Beat Streuli. This is at the MCA in Chicago.

An interior view.

The sunlight coming through made a great projection.

Vic Muniz

2007-05-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

Just before we left Chicago, were lucky enough to catch a great lecture at the MCA by Brooklyn-based artist, Vic Muniz. His work is often an appropriation of iconic images, temporarely recreated with common materials like salt and chocolate syrup, which he then photographs. The lecture was a casual look at his career, from his beginning as a sculpture to his role in developing a new school in Brazil.

I was extremely happy to hear him talk about two of my favorite series: Pictures of Dust, monotone drawings of minimalist art installations made with dust collected from the Whitney Museum’s floor; and Pictures of Color, reproductions of famous artworks made with Pantone swatches. Muniz also touched on several key issues in contemporary art from the importance of drawing to the fear of the pixel.

A couple years ago, we had the luxury of seeing lectures by Richard Prince and John Baldessari, two of the most acclaimed artists in the realm of image appropriation. In comparison, we found the talk by Vic Muniz to be insightful and entertaining. His positive look at art and lack of pretentious intellectual jargon was quite refreshing. It was, by far, one of our favorite lectures to date. To hear a recording of the lecture, visit Chicago Amplified.

Droog Does Bali

2007-02-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

Droog designers Niels van Eijk and Miriam vander Lubb manged to seamlessly meld the clean dutch aesthetic with traditional Balinese handicraft in their beautiful one-of Godogan table. Reminds me of Michael Koehler's untitled (tree) bench, taken to the next level and then some. Check out this month's issue of ID Magazine for more info on this and other contemporary ornament.

Hejfina Showroom

2007-02-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

Our friends over at Hejfina recently opened a furniture boutique called Hejfina Showroom. The showroom focuses on beautiful, clean lined furniture and home accessories that utilize natural materials. Several of the featured designers are locally based and have become Chicago icons. Hejfina showroom offers ready-made pieces and custom design service. Check out some photos from the website...

Carson Maddox

koehler.design.build.

F2

Our latest project

2007-02-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a series of custom painted Eames chairs. The design is our interpretation of a Javanese Batik pattern, inspired by a piece in my mother-in-law's batik collection. We used metallic copper paint on a vintage fiberglass armshell chair (saved from an auditorium fire). This first one was presented as a wedding gift to Anton (Cynthia's brother) and Elda, but there are more to come in the series. We're really excited that the project was featured on Design*Sponge recently. Please check it out for more info.

Tokyo

2007-02-09T17:24:00.000-08:00

Way back in November, Cynthia and I stopped over in Tokyo for 3 days. This was my first time there and Cynthia’s first visit in many years. We were quite jet lagged the entire time, but made the best of it by dragging our tired asses all over that city. Even though we were in constant motion we still only saw a small fraction of what’s available. As luck would have it, we happened to be there during the 100% design show. While it may be old news for some people, we wanted to share our opinion of the show. Here are a few words from Cynthia and a selection of photos from the trip. Enjoy.

Cynthia had this to say…

100% DESIGN TOKYO

We visited Tokyo, Japan on our way to Jakarta just in time to catch 100% Design show. This event originally was a yearly event in London and this is the second year of the Tokyo version. The event showcases furniture & product design work from up & coming and established names. Since they wouldn’t allow us to take photos inside, check out the links we provide. Most of these sites are a wealth of information.

For up & coming designers, we really like Designboom’s effort to expose designers representing different countries. A design company from South Korea called No Name No Shop (www.nonamenoshop.com) had very unique concepts. They showed kits made of wood and other natural materials, that can be made into fantastic objects like fairies…Check out this link: www.designboom.com/snapshots/tokyomart06

The Dutch stand was the most prominent. Royal Tichelaar Makkum ( www.tichelaar.nl ), a very old ceramic flatware company hired young Dutch designers to create lines. Studio Job, a very cool design couple that the world has been hearing so much about, made plates that are nowhere close to the blue on ceramics typical of the classic Dutch style. These plates were our favorite piece in 100% Design.

Marcel Wanders was the design rock star of this event. He designed souvenir pieces for the event. And he also showcased his new collection for Puma. We didn’t care much for the stuff he was showing but we’re still big fans. This man designed the Knot Chair!

Outside they had containers that were used as gallery spaces. We met the Hulger phone designer, they’re old phone handset that attaches to your cell phones. He said his next step is making them for Skype! We’ll keep an eye out for that.

Hulger container at 100% design

coffee shop outside the fish market.
Yes, the photo shows the whole thing.
This place was awesome. Run by the older lady behind the counter.
The coffee wasn't great, but the experience was well worth it.

Love hotel

Great Contemporary Japanese restaurant

Actually taken in Singapore.
We couldn't figure out why there were dear playing basketball
or what it had to do with ANA

This is Cold Starbucks on a 7-11 shelf. There's a microwave next to it.

Fish Market

Life has been crazy...

2007-02-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

... over the last month and a half. We just haven't had much time to post anything. I am catching up though. This week I'll be posting a back log of miscellaneous stuff including our trip to Japan and images from a project we've been working on. Stay tuned!

Pimp My Ride

2006-12-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

We saw this scooter around the corner from our house. Each panel is covered in Batik fabric, and the scooter itself was a low rider. Neither one of those feature are very practical in Jakarta, but both make for a very cool ride.

Melcome

2006-12-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our blog. We’re a couple of nomadic self-(un)employed designers feeling a little lost in new environments. Our interest will be heavy on the arts, design, youth culture and everything in between. Our current location is Jakarta, Indonesia. Most of the things we write about are first experiences.

In my case, I’m rediscovering a place where I grew up. I am going to stay in Indonesia until spring 2007. Unfortunately, my husband, Chris will leave me here for a couple of months while he heads home to Chicago for family reasons.

We will both be contributing to this blog on a regular basis, so please come back!
Comments are absolutely welcomed since our goal is to start dialogs with like-minded people. Enjoy!

Our first post: A weekend in Jakarta, Indonesia

2006-12-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

Friday:

We started the weekend at TOIMOI shop in Kemang for a group art show. Toimoi is an interesting little store that focuses on trendy local and international product design. They recently extended their shop to include a nice gallery that features several young artists.
We really liked the unpretentious feeling of the space (a rarity in Jakarta), with its high walls, loft for storage, and modest office tucked away in the back.

The group show “Fringes, vol. 1” is a collection of paintings and drawings from various artists that will be showing here regularly in the future. Overall, the show had a lot of eye-candy and was really fun to look at. The works were very playful, and it was obvious that there was a lot of creative energy surrounding the show. This type of event needs to happen way more often in Jakarta. It seems that youth culture here is hungry for creative outlets and eager to express themselves.

We moved on to a weekly party run by my brothers (in law) called TURN ON PLASTIC at Centro. Hard to believe their 11 years anniversary is coming up soon. Hope to see old friends at the anniversary party.

Saturday:

Our day was suppose to revolve around the Jakarta Intl Film Festival, but we wasted movie tickets and did other things instead.

We tried Blenger Burger in our neighborhood. It’s a successful local burger joint created by a group of young guys. I’m pretty sure they got the idea for their special sauce from In & Out Burger in California. Strawberry juice was a delight for the hot afternoon. My Blenger experience was spoiled while I was waiting for our food when my friend told me on the phone that they microwave the burgers inside Styrofoam boxes. Sure enough, I saw them do it. She kept telling me “Microwaving Styrofoam causes cancer. Don’t eat there. Be careful!” Who knows? I guess one time won’t hurt.

In the afternoon, we caught a brief fashion show for the launch of EDWARD HUTABARAT’s fashion photo book. The event took place in a very odd location. It was in a Kinokuniya bookstore inside a mall. My sister, Amalia, took us there because she’s been a fan of his work. Hutabarat uses Javanese batik prints applied to contemporary dress silhouettes that are just great. I was excited to see well-designed outfits that are not all fancy and embellished. It’s just about good design. The book is beautiful but over-designed, so I decided to not buy it. I’d rather save my money for Edward’s dresses. Can’t wait to see his new boutique in Kemang Icon.

After the event we met up with well-known furniture designer, Leonard Theosabrata He’s probably one of the most successful product/ furniture designer in Indonesia right now. Everybody here knows his “Accuputo” chairs (www.accupunto.com). Cool guy and smart, too. He gave us the 411 of design in Indonesia. Hopefully we’ll be working with him in the future.

We asked about cataloging artists and designers in Indonesia. Who’s doing it or is it even happening? Both my sister and Leo answered passionately, “ Nobody!” They said maybe the British Council but they don’t really have the capability to handle the scale of work. But why are they doing this job? Shouldn’t the Indonesian government do it?

Around 8 or 9 pm Burger Blenger took revenge on Chris’s stomach. Oops! We had to rush home.

Sunday:

Chris woke up tired and pale. I am waiting for my turn, but so far I’m fine.

We wanted to go shopping for old furniture pieces like legs or just a tabletop, so we headed to Ciputat area. There are rows and rows of shops selling reconditioned antique furniture and various parts (if you ask). We checked out the first row and found a big bowl made from one piece of wood for $9 US. You can also find furniture from the Dutch colony era, Art Deco to Mid-century modern.

In the evening, we caught a Japanese movie called “ A Stranger Of Mine” at JIFFEST (www.jiffest.org). It’s a simple, well-written comedy that tells the story of one day from the perspective of several intertwining characters. This movie definitely makes me think of others like Pulp Fiction or Memento, but much lighter though.

So… That was our eventful weekend in Jakarta. Our future posts probably won’t be as long. We’ll be sharing stories of our other travels and miscellaneous things that interest us.
Thanks for reading,
C+C