Kresek - Daily Life of Plastic Bags (Kresek) is an upcoming, light-hearted wordless comic by Artist Cynthia Delaney Suwito. The name Kresek signifies the rustling of plastic bags in Bahasa Indonesia. The comic revolves around the little movements of the plastic bag. Extending from Cynthia’s core artistic interest to explore subtleties of everyday life and the experience of time, Kresek investigates the latent life of an everyday object- the plastic bag and its place in today’s culture by giving it a face and a personality.
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About the collaboration between Cynthia and JBS
Kresek is an existing project which Cynthia had been working on (the artwork of the publication had already been completed) since the beginning of the year. We have been in discussions with Cynthia on the format of collaboration. Due to the shifting condition of the social space arrangements, the meeting had always been happening in different locations between her studio, coffee shops, our office at Jalan Besar and Zoom meeting rooms.
About Cynthia Delaney Suwito
Cynthia Delaney Suwito’s practice explores the subtleties of everyday life and the experience of time. Based in Singapore, this Indonesian-born artist takes inspiration from simple materials, such as instant noodles, and everyday situations, such as filling out forms. As we pause in front of her works, seemingly ordinary items, the meanings we attach to them, the stories we involve them in, all slowly unravel. Her works breathe life into these familiar objects, enabling people to see and value the beauty and significance that is overlooked in their daily lives. She hopes that her works can invite people to reflect on their own daily activities and see things with different perspectives and new approaches of thinking.
Cynthia is curious about the way things work and what lies behind each person’s behaviour. She believes that our actions are never truly our own, but informed by multi-layered systems of learnt behaviour. Cynthia is able to distill this complexity into a poetic simplicity so that it is accessible and relatable. Using different mediums, such as installation, drawing and video, her works engage the audience both experientially, and in participatory ways, allowing a rediscovery of the wonder inherent in the everyday.
Born in 1993 in Jakarta, Cynthia completed her Bachelor in Fine Arts, First Class Honours, at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. Internationally, Cynthia was featured on BBC Asia and Channel NewsAsia and was in the 2017 FORBES 30 under 30 Asia in the Arts. In Indonesia, she exhibited at 2017’s Body-Out and 2019’s Media Art Globale, both in Jakarta, as well as the Bandung Contemporary Art Award Assemblage in 2019. In Singapore, Cynthia was a finalist at the Harpers Bazaar Art Prize 2015, exhibited at the 2016 Affordable Art Fair and at The Only Paradise is Paradise Lost in 2019.
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About Jalan Besar Salon
Conceptualised by EOMM, the annual Jalan Besar Salon popup seeks to provide a platform for learning and communication. The Salon serves to act as a catalyst for the hotbeds of creativity and progressive ideas in the fields of urban management, psychology, intimacy and socio-environmental topics through the means of art, design and philosophy. Against the decline of face-to-face human contact in our digital age, our workshops, programmes and exhibitions aim to provide a platform for people to come together and hone their tastes through passionate conversation and the exchange of ideas.
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