After Gutta Percha: on Lab Laba Laba & Karel Doing

Gutta Percha is a rubber tree native to West Java. It rose to popularity after the discovery of a Tjipetir rubber slab that had drifted from the wreck of a ship that initially sailed to London in 1917. This entanglement of colonial exploitation, serendipity and more-than-human agency has inspired the Indonesian artist collective Lab Laba Laba and the UK based artist Karel Doing to collaborate on a series of films, workshops and events. The programme includes two brand new collaborative works and will be introduced by Rizki Lazuardi, a key member of the collective, and will be followed by a Q&A.

Programme:

Celluloid 19
Dyantini Adeline, 2020, 6 min, 16mm & digital

Throughout the time of Covid-19 pandemic, mankind has tried various ways to avoid interaction with the SARS-CoV 2 virus. This work is an experiment that draws parallels between preventive actions against the virus and the practice of celluloid film hand-processing. Both the film print and the filmmaker’s hand have been soaked in various natural herbs and chemicals.

Serene/Static seq.2
Semburat (Aditya Martodihardjo & Indira Larasati), 2016, 10 min, 16mm & 35mm slides

Grasping the sense of time could be challenging while gazing at a body of water. A two-channel projection juxtaposes poetic verses and a static image of a rocky creek. The time streams, but the time stream is locked. Along the looping whitewater, words slide as a unit of time.

Dajang Soembi
Edwin, 2005, 7 min, 16mm

In this silent film adaptation of the Sundanese legend of Sangkoeriang, princess Dajang Soembi marries a dog claiming to be a god under a curse. Their son, Sangkoeriang, loves his mother deeply but does not get along with his canine father, ultimately leading the family to a tragic end.

Not a Light Touch
Rizki Lazuardi, 2022, 3 min, CGI to 16mm

Houses engulfed in flames address the “unsaid” of colonial-related aspects of the archive. What happens in the absence of materiality when the archive does not exist or is crumbling? With a focus on the pest plague in the early twentieth century in colonial Indonesia, this film emulates the histories recorded in the East Java pest eradication report by Dr Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo in 1914.

Mr Balangue’s Telex Report
Rizki Lazuardi, 2020, 23 min

In 1980, a Filipino art director, Francesco Balangue, conducted a visual research in Jakarta for his upcoming film. Unfortunately, the shooting permit was rejected by the Indonesian authorities, as they find the film premise politically too sensitive. In 2019, the research footage was found collecting dust in a vault of an archive centre.

Patterned Vegetation
VA, 2025, 7 min

A phytographic animation of plants foraged near Indeks project space in Bandung accompanied by a soundtrack by Rama Saputra (Sundialll) who uses traditional Sundanese instruments to create experimental compositions. The footage was made during two workshops mentored by UK based artist Karel Doing and attended by 28 local artists and filmmakers.

Hantu
Karel Doing, 2025, 4 min

The Indonesian city of Bandung is well known for the Asia-Africa conference that took place in 1955 and laid the foundation for the nonaligned movement. Nowadays the Jalan Asia-Afrika is populated by 'ghosts', local people who dress up like superheroes and horror movie characters. This short film participates in this peculiar combination of independence, plagiarism and supernatural faith.

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Funded by The British Council: Connections Through Culture