“I can never forget the cry, ‘I can’t breathe,’ which George Floyd uttered repeatedly before he died under the knee of a police officer on his neck,” explained Indah Sulistiowati Arsyad.

As the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the world, Indah became painfully aware how important oxygen is to human life. She went researching, going so far as to take samples of seawater to study the effects of pollution on phytoplankton, which accounts for up to 85 percent of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. She even visited the laboratory of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Research Center for Oceanography to further her research.

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Indah has come full circle with her video installation, in which the sound of heavy breathing punctuates the background as images flash and animals traverse across the dark, menacing atmosphere reflected in the display monitor.

She has also come to understand that, even in our time of advanced technology, ancient Javanese wisdom can provide enlightenment. According to Indah, Javanese mythology believes that Batara Surya and the kalpataru tree are the source of all life in the universe, the mythical equivalent of the scientific understanding of oxygen. Presenting Batara Surya as animated animals traipsing between a grove of kalpataru trees is a stroke of sheer innovation that confirms her visionary perspective.

Letting go

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