Menggenggam Tempurung / The Shell in Hand

2025

Cement, Karst Stone, Lenticular Print

Menggenggam Tempurung inspired by fossilized sea shells I found while visiting a former limestone quarry in Klapanunggal, West Java. Most of these fossils are embedded in karst rock, one of the main ingredients in cement production, along with iron ore, clay, and sand. In the 1970s, a national cement factory was built in this area, extracting the karst rock, leaving behind some rock cliff fragments that remain to this day. During this period, the New Order regime also inaugurated Indonesia’s first vertical public housing project, choosing cement as the primary material for constructing vertical housing because it was considered time- and cost-efficient.

Menggenggam Tempurung / The Shell in Hand imagines how fossilized marine life in karst rock contributes to the image of the modern city. This work positions fossilized marine life as an entity from the past attempting to reappear in the present in a different form.