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Aditya Novali / Indonesia b.1978 / The Wall: Asian Un(real) Estate Project 2011 Plastic, cast, steel, zinc, brass, copper, wood, wooden board, fabric, LED light with adaptor, paint, cable, resin 180 x 440 x 25cm / © The artist / Image courtesy: The artist
Aditya NovaliThe Wall: Asian (Un)Real Estate Project 2011
Not Currently on Display
The Wall: Asian (Un)Real Estate Project 2018 comments on Indonesia’s lack of affordable urban housing for low-income communities, and incorporates several dynamic and interactive elements. The elaborate work resembles a vast apartment block and offers multiple vignettes of urban habitats. Viewers are able to rotate elements of the building to scroll through a set of built environments and views — one shows the internal living spaces of an apartment, another a blank brick wall, and the last reveals the metal bars of a prison cell.
Meticulously constructed from wood, resin, copper, steel, fabric and LED lighting, these apartments are contradictory in their appeal — while they suggest scale models used to sell luxury real estate, they defy these expectations with their humble furnishings and fit‑outs.
Aditya Novali studied architecture and design before establishing himself as an artist. This training can be seen in his sculptures, which involve complex production methods and commercial materials, balanced with subversive humour. Themes of urban planning and construction recur across his practice. He is especially interested in creating works with an element of audience participation, perhaps due to his training as a dalang cilik (child puppetmaster) in the traditional Indonesian art form.