It took 10 men, one week and 1,600 pieces of bamboo to install the 5.5-meter-tall artwork named Getah Getih, in reference to the red-and-white flag of the 13^th century Javanese Majapahit Kingdom, which became the country's national flag.

The artwork was held up by 73 bamboo stilts, symbolizing 73 years of Indonesian independence. The tangling shape was made to imitate a rope knot, which symbolizes unity. 

Joko also said he did not mind people’s interpretation of his work. Many internet users have voiced negative comments on the work, saying it looks like two people having sex when seen from above. Many also said the work, worth Rp 500 million (US$34,282), was a waste as a fast-degrading installation.

Joko has consistently used bamboo for his work, which has brought him to many high-profile exhibitions around the world.

“My first international exhibition was in the 2012 Art Jog, Yogyakarta,” Joko said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday. He was a commissioned artist, having his tangling bamboos decorating the facade of Yogyakarta Cultural Park, the venue of the exhibition. Afterward, he took off to Malaysia and decorated the City Hall of George Town in Penang with 3,000 bamboo stalks in 2013. In the years that followed, he had his works exhibited at Art Stage Singapore, Frankfurter Kunstverein in Germany and Yokohama Triennale in Japan. (gis)

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