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Ephemeral Inscriptions: Graffiti, Gentrification, and the Struggle for Public Space in the Indonesian Metropolis Bimala Putri; Omar Alieva; Henny Kesuma; Ifah Shandy; Ni Made Nova Indriyani
Enigma in Cultural Vol. 3 No. 1 (2025): Enigma in Cultural
Publisher : Enigma Institute

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.61996/cultural.v3i1.105

The visual landscape of the contemporary city is a contested terrain where cultural expression and economic forces collide. This study investigates the complex relationship between graffiti practices and gentrification in Indonesia, moving beyond a simple resistance-versus-commodity binary to analyze graffiti as a dialectical force in urban transformation. It examines how graffiti functions as a mode of spatial inscription, a carrier of urban affect, and a critical barometer of the struggle for the right to the city in the Global South. This research employed a longitudinal, mixed-methods, comparative case study design, focusing on the Glok district in Jakarta and the Braga district in Bandung (2019-2025). The methodology integrated quantitative spatio-temporal GIS analysis of 1,250 graffiti pieces correlated with economic data, and a systematic content analysis of their form and themes. This was triangulated with deep qualitative data from 24 months of ethnographic fieldwork and 45 semi-structured interviews with artists, residents, and officials. A critical positionality statement reflects on the ethical praxis of the research. The findings reveal a clear trajectory where illicit, text-based graffiti, initially prevalent in peripheral spaces, created a subcultural "symbolic economy." This was followed by a spatial and formal shift towards large-scale, sanctioned murals in prime commercial zones. Quantitative analysis established a strong correlation (r = 0.78) between mural density and rising commercial rents, but this is interpreted cautiously to avoid assumptions of direct causality. Ethnographic vignettes and interview data reveal the affective dimensions of this transformation, highlighting how the changing streetscape is experienced as a loss of place by long-term residents and consumed as an aesthetic "vibe" by newcomers, while artists navigate complex issues of agency and co-optation. In conclusion, the evolution of graffiti from illicit inscription to curated aesthetic mirrors the process of gentrification. The study concludes that while the co-optation of street art is a powerful force in neoliberal place-branding, the practice remains a site of contested agency and meaning-making. The concept of "ephemeral inscriptions" is proposed to better capture the performative, transient, and deeply political nature of these markings as they chronicle the ongoing struggle for spatial justice.

Toxic Sublime: The Spectacle of Ecological Collapse in Contemporary Art Gladys Putri; Bimala Putri; Henrietta Noir; Jujuk Maryati
Enigma in Cultural Vol. 3 No. 2 (2025): Enigma in Cultural
Publisher : Enigma Institute

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.61996/cultural.v3i2.108

In the era of the Anthropocene, a significant genre of contemporary art has emerged that engages with ecological collapse by rendering environmental devastation visually captivating. This phenomenon, which this paper terms the "toxic sublime," presents a critical paradox: the aestheticization of catastrophe. This study investigates the visual and discursive strategies used by contemporary artists to represent ecological ruin and explores the complex ethical, political, and socio-economic implications of this practice. This study employed a qualitative, multi-modal critical approach. A purposively selected corpus of significant art projects created between 2015 and 2025 that address ecological degradation served as the primary data. The analytical methods included a visual semiotic analysis, operationalizing concepts from Barthes and Peirce to decode the aesthetic language of the artworks, and a Faircloughian critical discourse analysis of associated artist statements, interviews, and reviews. A heuristic modeling exercise, using a composite case study developed from real-world data, was also employed not to validate findings but to explore the generative logic of this aesthetic mode in a controlled, hypothetical context. The analysis identified a consistent taxonomy of aesthetic strategies central to the toxic sublime: 1) the strategic use of unnatural, hyper-saturated color to signify contamination; 2) the deployment of monumental scale to evoke awe and abstraction; and 3) the use of contaminated or synthetic materials as the artistic medium. The discourse analysis revealed a dominant framing of the artist as a "witness" or "alchemist" and the artwork as a "beautiful warning", which functions to legitimize the aestheticization process. In conclusion, the aestheticization of ecological collapse functions as a profoundly ambivalent cultural phenomenon. While it effectively captures attention, it risks neutralizing political urgency by transforming catastrophe into a consumable aesthetic object-a spectacle of decay. This study concludes that the toxic sublime is a defining aesthetic of the Anthropocene, but one that operates within the logic of the art market and the society of the spectacle. Its beautiful forms demand critical vigilance regarding art's complex role in an age of planetary crisis.

The Halal Field: Piety Signaling, Symbolic Boundaries, and the Market-Mediated Stratification of Urban Indonesia Bimala Putri; Fitriyanti Fitriyanti; Henry Peter Paul; Harun Urrashid
Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 8 No. 4 (2025): Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences
Publisher : HM Publisher

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.37275/oaijss.v8i4.296

Indonesia's mandatory Halal certification policy represents a critical juncture of state governance, religious practice, and neoliberal market forces. This study moves beyond a purely economic or policy-based analysis to investigate how this regulation functions as a powerful engine of social stratification. We examine the process by which Halal certification creates a new social field of consumption, reshaping class distinctions and religious expression in urban Indonesia. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed in Jakarta and Makassar. The quantitative phase involved a survey of 500 urban consumers selected via multi-stage stratified sampling. Key variables, including Socio-Economic Status (SES) and Religiosity, were constructed as composite indices. Logistic regression and a Two-Step Cluster Analysis, justified by Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and silhouette coefficients, were used to identify consumer patterns. The qualitative phase comprised 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews and over 100 hours of participant observation, with a specific focus on the gendered dynamics of consumption. Quantitative analysis reveals that SES is the strongest predictor of willingness to pay a premium for Halal-certified products (OR=2.89, p<0.001). Cluster analysis identified three distinct consumer profiles: the 'Conscious Cosmopolitans', 'Pious Pragmatists', and 'Market Traditionalists'. Qualitative findings illuminate how the Halal logo has been symbolically transformed from a religious marker into a signifier of quality, modernity, and class. This enables "piety signaling," a gendered performance of social status. In conclusion, Halal certification is not a neutral regulatory tool but an active force in social structuration. It creates a new field of distinction where "Halal capital" is used to perform symbolic boundary-work, legitimizing inequality through the moral language of piety. This study contributes a novel theoretical framework for understanding how state-regulated religion intersects with consumer capitalism to forge new, intersectional hierarchies of class and gender in the contemporary Muslim world.

The Halal Field: Piety Signaling, Symbolic Boundaries, and the Market-Mediated Stratification of Urban Indonesia Bimala Putri; Fitriyanti Fitriyanti; Henry Peter Paul; Harun Urrashid
Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 8 No. 4 (2025): Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences
Publisher : HM Publisher

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.37275/oaijss.v8i4.296

Indonesia's mandatory Halal certification policy represents a critical juncture of state governance, religious practice, and neoliberal market forces. This study moves beyond a purely economic or policy-based analysis to investigate how this regulation functions as a powerful engine of social stratification. We examine the process by which Halal certification creates a new social field of consumption, reshaping class distinctions and religious expression in urban Indonesia. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was employed in Jakarta and Makassar. The quantitative phase involved a survey of 500 urban consumers selected via multi-stage stratified sampling. Key variables, including Socio-Economic Status (SES) and Religiosity, were constructed as composite indices. Logistic regression and a Two-Step Cluster Analysis, justified by Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and silhouette coefficients, were used to identify consumer patterns. The qualitative phase comprised 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews and over 100 hours of participant observation, with a specific focus on the gendered dynamics of consumption. Quantitative analysis reveals that SES is the strongest predictor of willingness to pay a premium for Halal-certified products (OR=2.89, p<0.001). Cluster analysis identified three distinct consumer profiles: the 'Conscious Cosmopolitans', 'Pious Pragmatists', and 'Market Traditionalists'. Qualitative findings illuminate how the Halal logo has been symbolically transformed from a religious marker into a signifier of quality, modernity, and class. This enables "piety signaling," a gendered performance of social status. In conclusion, Halal certification is not a neutral regulatory tool but an active force in social structuration. It creates a new field of distinction where "Halal capital" is used to perform symbolic boundary-work, legitimizing inequality through the moral language of piety. This study contributes a novel theoretical framework for understanding how state-regulated religion intersects with consumer capitalism to forge new, intersectional hierarchies of class and gender in the contemporary Muslim world.

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