Such an interesting encounter

“The reality of things is not something you convey to people but something you make. It is this that gives birth to meaning.” –The Elephant Vanishes, Haruki Murakami-

The quote is perfectly picturing what I have in mind about the guy who made this t-shirt. His name is Eko, also known as ekohokeh, he was my junior in college, part graphic designer, part artist, part thinker, part businessman [maybe ☺].

I wasn’t really close to him except from some of our similarity in mind about couples of principal ideas on life, culture, art and design. He is to my opinion is a very critical young man, the rare creatures amongst the –look at me- generation. He’s not that fancy, even though he is much less of the famous kind in the society.

Not really much I can say about him, but his attitude toward his passion is really compelling and finding his piece of work in a famous design store in Bangkok gave me such a rush of pride – I was impulsively opened the package and took a picture of the t-shirt and me, only devil might care about the no picture warning- He made it here! Not that he’s the first of Indonesian whose work’s being recognized all over the world, but I just happened to know his early process and it’s great to know that your friend is just doing well in the field he loves. I am just a proud friend.

As far as I remember, in Indonesia, being indie means being indie. You wont get much help, unless you really are SUPER LUCKY talented. Noticing the art and design scenes in Singapore, I envy them to the last drop of my blood. It’s not that I say they are not great, but in terms of opportunity, they do have thousand more lucks than Indonesians. The easiness of getting everything, the notice taken of the talented ones, the well-organized structure, and oh don’t make me start with the luxury of time they have. If the scene is so cultivated and the talented are so risen…it’s not a surprise, no? I know they do have efforts too…but still…I do wish that the talented ones in Indonesia had at least half of their luck.

But isn’t it what finally makes the effort look so beautiful? A dense struggle that stimulates your consciousness, keeps you alert and alive.

*pic was taken in Propaganda Design Store, Emporium Bangkok.