Irfan’s work stands out because of his refreshing approach towards the medium of paper - a material which often functions as a support for other mediums, especially in fine art practices. He turned it into a construction material and transformed preconceived notions of objects and their materiality, bringing paper’s lesser-known attributes to the forefront of appreciation and re-discovery. This prompted me to delve further into his practice.

I eventually learned that he grew up in Bandung, a city with a rich printing history where the dissemination of news, information, and ideas hark all the way back to the early 20th century, at the peak of the second industrial revolution. Some Other Matter builds upon the legacy of these extant presses and machine to subvert established ideas of progress. As we enter the fourth wave of the industrial revolution, it is timely to take a step back and consider how we value and respond to the material world, as well as contemplate the consequences of these choices on ourselves and our future.