In Citysins I want to show different aspects of the search for secure mental spaces related to the insecure urban environment.
The city itself has the image of disruption, arrogance, decadence, centricity, frivolity, chaos, and destruction. Recklessness, lust for power, free-thinking, individualism, and the attractive power of money are all associated with people living in the city. ‘Citysins' is about the need of consulting. The city is the gathering place for trade and sins, and building a city brings the consequences of fear of attack and annihilation. Surviving in a city requires an inner strength to deal with stress and uncertainty. Myths of destroying the city have existed as long as people have built cities and conducted businesses, amassed wealth and knowledge ( Babylon ).
As Ian Muruma and Avishai Margalit wrote in their book ‘Occidentalism, the west in the eyes of their enemies': “Trade is of course not a Western invention, but modern capitalism is. Trade as an universal system- that has its origin in the most important cities in the West, and conquered old and new world empires with the pretension to create a worldwide civilization – is in the eyes of those that consider themselves as guards of tradition, culture and religion, a plot to destroy everything that is profound, authentic and spiritual.” The belief in improvement, from the western point of view, is seen as enlightenment (French Revolution). Leon Trotski saw the history of capitalism as a victory of the city over the countryside. The godless (read westernized) city against the righteous countryside.

(Courtesy of www.mellajaarsma.com)

Project in apartment in Lichtenberg , Berlin, text by Heiner Müller “Leben Gundlings Friedrich von Preüssen Lessings Schlaf Traum Schrei”, Heiner Müller Foundation.

Initiated by the Heiner Müller Foundation, five artists were invited to respond to an empty apartment each in Lichtenberg (former East Berlin) where Heiner Müller had previously lived. In a four room apartment, I created multi-media installations inspired by the play “Leben Gundlings Friedrich von Preüssen Lessings Schlaf Traum Schrei” (The Life of Gundlings Friedrich von Preüssen Lessings Sleep Dream Scream) written in 1976. I interpreted the text to various extremes, from the most refined to the rawest and most banal way possible. It wanted to illustrate the very thin border separating these two.

(Courtesy of www.mellajaarsma.com)

Karya ini pernah dipamerkan dalam "IVAA BOOKAID vol. 01/07" sebuah pameran penggalangan dana yang diselenggarakan oleh IVAA.

Karya ini pernah dipamerkan dalam "IVAA BOOKAID vol. 01/07" sebuah pameran penggalangan dana yang diselenggarakan oleh IVAA.

Foto karya courtesy seniman.

What would happen if you could only see a dance lit by a flashing light? You would have to guess the movements in between the flashes. The performance, Crash Team, that I created for GRID is meant as persiflage with the audience of newcomers who like to see reality through the eye of the camera. The two dancers, skilled in traditional Javanese dance techniques, created new movements, crashing into each other wearing helmets made of buffalo horns. The human obsession with struggle is a basic principle behind traditional concepts, for example in the stories of the Mahabharata, as well as the foundation of global power structures.

(Courtesy of www.mellajaarsma.com)

Karya Mella Jaarsma untuk Pameran Biennale Seni  Rupa Jakarta IX tahun 1993