The Ninth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

119 ARTISTS The Wall: Asian Un(real) Estate Project (top, detail) 2011 Plastic, cast, steel, zinc, brass, copper, wood, wooden board, fabric, LED light with adaptor, paint, cable, resin / 180 x 440 x 25cm / Courtesy: The artist Born 1978, Solo, Indonesia Lives and works in Solo Aditya Novali’s The Wall: Asian Un(real) Estate Project 2018 is an elaborate installation that conjures a vast apartment block and offers multiple vignettes of urban habitats in Indonesian cities. Meticulously constructed from wood, resin, copper, steel, fabric and LED lighting, there is something fascinating and desirable about these apartments. Although they suggest scale models used to sell luxury real estate, they defy expectations in their humble furnishings and fit‑outs. Viewers are able to rotate elements of the building to scroll through a set of built environments and views — one shows the internal living spaces, another a blank brick wall, and the last the metal bars of a prison cell. Informed by urban planning and construction, as well as the intersection between public and private spaces, Novali’s installations often involve an element of playful humour to engage the audience’s curiosity and to invite interaction. The artist’s background in architecture and conceptual design is also evident in his knowledge and skilled use of commercially available building materials. Novali’s interest in audience participation and social commentary can be traced back to his training as a dalang cilik (child puppetmaster), a traditional Indonesian art he practised from the age of seven. A demanding role, young puppet masters must be adept at singing, dancing and improvisation. The wayang (puppets’) movements are linked to the music and to each other, and the narratives often point to an underlying social message or ethical position the audience must interpret. Though he has close ties to Indonesian traditions, Novali prefers to reference them in subtle ways in his practice, particularly in his projects addressing rapid urban change in Indonesia. Many of his works — such as The Wall or NGACO – Solution for nation 2014, his trade fair stall of aberrant tools — explore Indonesian development from an unexpected angle. As the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia’s increasing urbanisation has resulted in a chronic housing shortage for its inhabitants, which the government has attempted to address through policies such as President Joko Widodo’s One Million Houses Program. 1 However, lack of regulation, limited construction knowledge and the use of inappropriate building materials have combined to pose health and safety risks in a country where earthquakes and flooding are frequent. In addition, insufficient investment in infrastructure has resulted in water access and sewerage disposal issues. In cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung, affordable housing for low-income residents in urban areas is also an ongoing problem, as development has been aimed primarily at the middle class. Substandard temporary housing and shelters in densely populated areas have become permanent settlements, known as kampong , 2 which occupy state land, including disposal sites, riverbanks, railway tracks, laneways and other marginal spaces. 3 Aditya Novali’s The Wall reflects on the emerging urban environments in Indonesia’s rapidly developing cities, and draws attention to the failure of public housing to meet the needs of its people. As he has remarked: ‘For me a building is not just a building, it’s a complex system of life which can be also seen from different perspectives’. 4 Homes are extensions of our personalities — they reveal our similarities, differences and idiosyncrasies, offering a window into both our public and private lives. However, for some, the shelter offered by a roof and four stable walls is a luxury they can’t ever imagine. Abigail Bernal Endnotes 1 Indonesian cities are growing faster than those in any other Asian country at a rate of 4.1 per cent annually; see ‘Indonesia’s urban story’, The World Bank , 14 June 2016, <http://www.worldbank.org/en/ news/feature/2016/06/14/indonesia-urban-story>; and ‘Indonesia’s mass housing sector: The rise of vertical housing’, Global Business Guide Indonesia , 2017, <http://www.gbgindonesia.com/en/property/ article/2017/indonesia_s_mass_housing_sector_the_rise_of_vertical_ housing_11739.php>, viewed May 2018. 2 Kampong is the name for rural farming villages, but also for poverty- stricken villages on the outskirts of the city. 3 The Indonesian government has implemented various housing policies, including the Kampung Improvement Program, which stipulated that developers build a set number of low-income apartments for each luxury development; however, the scheme has not been enforced. 4 Naima Morelli, ‘Interview with Aditya Novali: The poetics of transformation’, CoBo Social International , 1 February 2016, <https://www.cobosocial.com/art-and-design/interview-with-aditya- novali-the-poetics-of-transformation/>, viewed May 2018. ADITYA NOVALI