The assignment was to create a map or a self-portrait of yourself in time and space. I believe that my heritage as an Indonesian is strongly connected to my identity as a person. I wanted to bring up my concern on how the Indonesian identity is disappearing within each generation and becoming more Westernized.
I chose to design a deck of cards to show this change because cards in a way can function like a calendar, they represent time - there are 52 cards which represent the number of weeks within a year, the 4 symbols represent the 4 seasons and when you add up the values of the cards they become 365.
Some parts of the cards are cut out so light can go through, the light that goes through lessens as you progress through the cards, this is to represent the identity slowly dying out.
'Bayang' means shadows, but depending whether you use is it as a verb or noun it can also mean hallucinations, to imagine something, to cover something or to protect something. These cards are supposed to express how the Indonesian culture is overshadowed by Western or modern culture and that we need to realize the importance of our culture and preserve it.
The Cards
