My inspiration for my artwork was the sculpture, What Would You Do If These Crackers Were Real Pistols by FX Harsono. He is an Indonesian contemporary artist who is well known for his installations often inspired by the political and economic background of Indonesia.

This particular composition consists of pink crackers shaped like guns lying in a pile on the floor and a wooden chair and desk with a notebook where you can write down your answers to the title of this piece. What struck me was the vivid pink the crackers were painted. It stands out from the theme of Harsono’s artwork which is meant to be loss, memory and conflict and adds a little charm and innocence to it. I decided to use multiple, different shades of pink in my work so it becomes a focal point for viewers instead of being dull like most pieces related to violence.

Harsono’s sculpture is based on the violence of the New Order Regime that went on in Indonesia from 1966-1998. It stood as political statement against the former President Suharto’s military junta which went around killing millions of people for religious and ethnic reasons. A similar situation happened in India and Pakistan called the Partition which occurred in 1947. After the British left India, there were many riots between Hindus and Muslims due to religious differences. This matter became so disastrous that India had to split into two countries, India (where Hindus settled) and Pakistan (where Muslims settled). My great grandparents were living in Lahore which is an area in Pakistan but they were forced to leave their home as they were Hindus. With great difficulty and immense risk, they eventually arrived in India where they had my grandpa.

The numbers I chose to use in my artwork were 62, 47 and 15. I chose 62 because it is the postal code of Indonesia where Harsono is from, 47 because 1947 was the year of the Partition in India/Pakistan and 15 because that’s the average number of bullets in a pistol which is what Harsono’s installation was about. I also used rectangles and circles to express separation on the top part of my painting by putting the rectangles on one side and the circles on the other with a clear border. It shows both the religious and ethnic segregation in Indonesia and the Hindu and Muslim segregation in India and Pakistan. Additionally, I used the shapes to create a train which is how people were going from Pakistan to India (and vice versa) during the Partition. Finally I used a word in Bahasa, Tembakkan, which translates to “Fire it”. I think it was appropriate for my artwork as Harsono’s piece is about pistols but it’s also a phrase that was used a lot during the Indonesian New Order Regime and I felt that this should serve a reminder of how many lives were lost after that command was spoken.

One of the challenges I faced while creating this piece was trying to fix the mistakes I made. I accidentally made a rectangle in a space which was supposed to be empty but I fixed it by painting over it. It was hard to recreate the exact shade of pink the background was painted but after many attempts, I finally managed to make it which I thought was a very good achievement.

I chose to use What Would You Do If These Crackers Were Real Pistols as inspiration since it really makes you stop and think about the question at hand. Many people will have different responses depending on their lives and I love that this installation is interactive since I can write down and view other people’s answers. If those crackers were real pistols then I would’ve probably stole one and hide it under my bed in case there was ever a very serious emergency. Harsono stated that he would’ve shot his teacher as he apparently kicked him out of art school. He also said that as decades went by, the answers in the notebook had gradually changed indicating that times have changed as well. I feel that this piece has such a deep meaning and represents the anger many people feel after conflicts like the New Order and Partition which is why I chose it.