Those of you who seek out charity shops and car boot sales might like to help me find a couple more puppets. I would like Semar the dwarf, and Hanuman, the white monkey. Though any of the grotesques would be good and if you should come across a delicate lace like wayang kulit going cheap then grab it. Good ones are expensive even in Indonesia.
The theme of this blog is fear, the 'little fear' of everyday life. Fear of foxes. Ketakutan kecil something harder to cope with than the big fear you get when you fall out of you boat or the ladder starts to slip when you are fixing the roof or the car starts to skid on a wet road or the figure of the ruffian in the hall. These things may cause temporary paralysis, the freezing moment of terror, but Ketakutan kecil brings with it reluctance. The vague reluctance to act that is subtle to the point of of being almost intangible, unconscious. It is pervasive, it not only stops one recacting to the obvious causes of fear seeps into the smallest, simplest, actions. Meeting friends, going to the cinema even making a cup of coffee. Reluctance is easy to justify, it breeds a thousands excuses in an instant like some mythical monster. Excuses so plausible, so seemingly justified, so concrete and real that it is hardly possible to see what they conceal. The big fears fears burn bright and hard while the little ones hide in and haunt the shadows or hide behind other forms becoming shadows themselves. So the heroes of the wayang on my wall have a special significance they are more than decoration, they are lambang (attribute, epitome,exponent, symbol.) and I was especially pleased to get another from Liz that fills the remaining space on my wall. Who she is I'm not sure, perhaps one of you can tell me from the photo above, but she is now paired with Krishna. . Shadows guarding against shadows. Krishna, whom I bought in Jogja, is my only wayang kulit puppet made of lace like pattern of leather to give an extraordinarily detailed shadow. The other three, Rama, Sinta and the unknown female are wayang klitik or wayang kerucil, flat shadow puppets made of painted wood. These were found mainly in Eastern Java and were the poor version of the leather puppets. They had almost disappeared at one time but the ease of manufacture has made them popular with tourists. They are also cheaper and easier to carry than the more delicate leather puppets so there has been a revival in recent years, though I don't think they are used for anything but the most informal performances. I think she may be a Sinta - the Indonesian version of Shinta or Sita - so rather than call her Sinta 2 I'll call her Sita.
Those of you who seek out charity shops and car boot sales might like to help me find a couple more puppets. I would like Semar the dwarf, and Hanuman, the white monkey. Though any of the grotesques would be good and if you should come across a delicate lace like wayang kulit going cheap then grab it. Good ones are expensive even in Indonesia.
9 Comments
But let us not diminish the bigger fears - like that of the slambang (thump, bash, wallop, knuckle sandwich) that we might get from the ruffian in the hall.
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tom
2/16/2012 10:12:32 am
If only wearing the right kind of hat would protect us from all our fears.
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tom
2/17/2012 09:02:01 am
I avoided 3d 2d puppets -treedee toodee sounds very pupetty - because I could not easily visualise it. Doesn't red/green 3d rely on an overlap of coloured images. Can you do that by back projection the way you describe? Are you sure it was not some kind of placebo effect simply because you were given glasses? 2/15/2012 09:21:23 pm
Here we go. Cheap jibes at easy targets.
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tom
2/16/2012 10:17:01 am
You misunderstand. I have no problems with Ruffians, my concern is with Foxes. You would find little satisfaction here unless you have an interest in wayang theatre. However there are some very large houses within walking distance that have much that would inspire an enterprising ruffian. I suggest you try Goole Earth.
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I think it was a very brave thing that you did there, Tom, in sharing your fear of foxes with us all. But really this fear is quite misplaced - although understandable considering the bad press that we have to suffer at the hands of the writers of children's books. This fear was instilled into you at your metaphorical Mother's knee.
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tom
2/16/2012 10:05:54 am
Typical foxspeak! A pretence that the world is both rational and beneficial is the first line of deceipt, - to rhyme with receipt - especially when reassuring chickens. Yes, that last sentence gives it all away.
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