Indonesian artistic stalwart Jay Subiyakto has been making an impact with various audio-visual mediums, among them his most recent work No More Babies. Featured in the ARTJOG contemporary art festival in Yogyakarta’s Jogja National Museum, the installation piece portraying a gold and soft PVC baby skewered by steel rods simultaneously fixated and perplexed viewers, along with its take on contemporary issues such as overpopulation and Indonesia’s seemingly indecisive political leadership. 

Most of all, the installation piece perhaps warned of the burden these challenges will have on succeeding generations, as typified by the verse “No more babies, they belong in Nirvana”.

Collaborating with Chrisye 

While No More Babies might address the persistence of ongoing problems, the sculpture also reflected Jay’s longevity in Indonesian arts. The 62-year-old first made his mark in 1990, after he directed the music video for late Indonesian singer Chrisye’s hit “Pergilah Kasih” (Go, My Love). The clip broke new ground for international recognition of Indonesian music, as the video was the first of its kind to receive airtime on MTV Asia.

“Chrisye requested that I direct the video [for ‘Pergilah Kasih’] through his music label Musica, after he saw the music video I did for Sophia Latjuba’s single ‘Lihat Saja Nanti’ [Let’s See] in 1989,” he recalled to The Jakarta Post.

“MTV Asia had yet to screen Indonesian music videos, so I had to make the extra effort to ensure that they were as good as their foreign counterparts.”

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