Labtek Apung
Flying Lungs specimen #1, 2025-2026
Dust particle, filter paper, acrylic frame
45 x 39 x 8 cm
'Not everyone can create a ''my neighbor's kid could do that'' type of artwork. Yet, anyone can actually create the kind of 'art' we present here; in fact, we encourage...
"Not everyone can create a ""my neighbor's kid could do that"" type of artwork. Yet, anyone can actually create the kind of 'art' we present here; in fact, we encourage everyone to recreate it.
The materials we use are easily obtained, especially in major cities. They are found as deposits on household floors, roadsides, exhaust pipes, windows on various floors, and countless other places—including the lungs of those of us living in urban and peri-urban areas. Separate these deposits from other dust particles using a sieve, and you will encounter one of the potential permanent residents of our lungs—and those of other living beings.
The difficulty of visually identifying these airborne pollutants poses a challenge for air pollution mitigation, even though they contribute to a decline in quality of life; even leading to death. For instance, respiratory diseases are among the leading causes of death in places like Jakarta.
This is an artistic project that responds to the limitations of our sensory perception. Each edition utilizes dust collected from various locations in Bandung, treating it as an ink medium within a printmaking process.
We actually hoped this project would fail—that the image would not materialize due to a lack of dust as raw material.
But unfortunately, we succeeded."
The materials we use are easily obtained, especially in major cities. They are found as deposits on household floors, roadsides, exhaust pipes, windows on various floors, and countless other places—including the lungs of those of us living in urban and peri-urban areas. Separate these deposits from other dust particles using a sieve, and you will encounter one of the potential permanent residents of our lungs—and those of other living beings.
The difficulty of visually identifying these airborne pollutants poses a challenge for air pollution mitigation, even though they contribute to a decline in quality of life; even leading to death. For instance, respiratory diseases are among the leading causes of death in places like Jakarta.
This is an artistic project that responds to the limitations of our sensory perception. Each edition utilizes dust collected from various locations in Bandung, treating it as an ink medium within a printmaking process.
We actually hoped this project would fail—that the image would not materialize due to a lack of dust as raw material.
But unfortunately, we succeeded."