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The Ruangrupa gallery in Tebet, South Jakarta, is playing host to the works of some of the country’s most promising young artists this month, but the medium for this showcase is not the canvass, but the page.

Prominent locals such as Oomleo, Aprilia Apsari, Ariela Kristantina, Bambang Toko Witjaksono and Bujangan Urban are all featured in the “Codex Code” exhibition, running through Monday.

Unlike most exhibitions that display archetypal works of art such as paintings or sculptures, “Codex Code” is bent on bringing out a different side of the artists involved. Basing the show on zine culture (self-published magazines typically produced on a photocopier), the artists were asked to create their own books from whatever materials they chose to use.

The first part of the exhibit was held in March in Yogyakarta, and involved many young artists from that city.

Event initiator FX Woto Wibowo, better known by his alias Wok the Rock, said the exhibit sets out to embrace the do-it-yourself philosophy.

“The [zine and DIY] culture has been successful in dismissing the notion that creating a book is difficult, that it involves staying in a course of social norms and stiff journalistic limitations, and that a book can only be written by a public figure,” Wok explained, adding that Dadaist artists proved that books could also be a medium of art.

The books on display show the diversity of their creators’ backgrounds. They include works by fine artists, bloggers, musicians and designers.

Apart from the more orthodox scrap books, there are also wall posters with stories written on them, blog entries, illustrated books, comics, audio books and many others.

Wok himself created an audio book that tells the story of how man came into being on earth. Combining folklore from the Philippines and Africa, and a story he found on the Internet, Wok created an inimitable science-fiction work that borders on the absurd.

“I’m not basing it on holy books, but outside of it. Something that is imaginatively fantastical,” he said.

Wimo Ambala Bayang, a photographer, created a book which displays photographs of statues taken during various holiday trips.

“I’ve made a habit of taking shots of statues wherever I am, for the sake of posterity,” Wimo said.

Bandung multimedia artist, Muhammad Akbar, on the other hand, created an enormously thick tome. Inside, there are lyrics from a variety of popular and not-so-popular bands Akbar grew up with. An MP3 player is embedded into the book, encapsulating the nostalgia involved in documenting the lyrics.

Irwan Ahmet’s book is a collection of self-written prayers; many of them involve the small-scale hopes of modern society, especially for the citizens of big cities like Jakarta. The prayers include “Cure My Putrid-Smelling Body,” “Shorten the Distance to My Office,” “Encourage Me to Work Out” and “Don’t Leave the Rest of the Meal Stuck On My Teeth.”

‘Codex Code’

Ruangrupa Gallery

Jl. Tebet Timur Dalam Raya No. 6,
South Jakarta
Tel. 021 830 4220

Runs through Monday