Urban arts as critical commentary acts of pandemic in Indonesia: Multimodal critical discourse analysis

Abstract

The present study examines the practice of urban arts as critical commentary acts of pandemic issues in Indonesia’s public spaces based on the viral news on July–August 2021. There are 11 viral arts as examples which are evaluated by three approaches, i.e. Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) approach, Systemic Functional Linguistic and Ideological square. This study aims to critically examine the meaning-making process of different semiotic resources, reveal the ideas and values, and how the in-group and out-group representation in the underlying discourse. The findings reveal that the urban arts are powerful mediums of voicing and criticism publicly about social, political, and humanity issues during pandemic. Since the urban artists may position themselves as the representative of the public, they are depicted in the miserable states as the victims of the unresponsiveness and incapability of the government in handling the pandemic. The choices of verbal and visual modes purposely signal the public’s despair state and emphasize the government’s shortcomings. However, the presence of urban arts is not entirely accepted as social form of communication. Lack of appreciation and official public spaces always put the urban arts on the edge of vandalism. Power and political elements even come into play to restrain the freedom of speech.

Keywords:

• multimodal critical discourse analysis
• ideological square
• urban arts

Public Interest Statement

The interest of this article is to reveal the meaning-making process of controversial urban arts released during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia through the analysis of verbal and visual resources. This article provides useful description and interpretation to understanding the meanings of urban arts from the approach of multimodal critical discourse analysis and supported by how the artists represent themselves and the authorities in the arts using the theory of ideological square. The result confirms that the artists employ certain strategies in the choice of verbal and visual resources that can depict their pandemic resentment toward the authorities and position them negatively due to their restriction of speech freedom and their shortcoming in handling the pandemic. However, urban arts mostly are still perceived as vandalism and lack of recognition as critical commentary acts.

1. Introduction

Since the first-identified infection of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan (China) in the late 2019s, the various levels’ stringency of lockdown policy has been enforced in numerous countries to prevent its transmission (Tampubolon, 2021). In spite of the limitation of particular activities, that the practices of urban arts in public spaces which are inspired by pandemic have thriven worldwide, such as in New York, Mumbai, Norway, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Bangkok, London, Colorado, California, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, London, Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, New Delhi, Manchester, etc. (Billock, 2020).

A similar phenomenon occurred in Indonesia in July–August 2021, when two urban arts went viral on social media and gained much attention. In a few days, the other urban arts spread in several big cities of Indonesia as a response to the persecution of the first arts. As a result, it provokes heated debates about how they are perceived. In a few days, those creators were pursued, and their works were censored forcefully regarded as vandalism and provocative acts by the local authorities. On the contrary, people justify them as part of self-expression and accuse the government’s reluctance to receive critical responses related to failing to resolve many problems (Puspawardhani, 2021).

This case reminds the presence of urban arts, which have been engaged in human life since hundreds of years ago. They are not a newly discovered phenomenon. Historically, the first prehistoric art acknowledgment of wall paintings was noticed in the caves of Lascaux, France, about 17,000 years ago and portrayed the ancestors’ life in the Paleolithic era (Rodney, 2020). They became the spotlight after the works of Banksy, Steve Powers, and Keith Haring to promote social awareness and activism in the 1980s (Blanché, 2016; Radwan, 2018). Meanwhile, the first emergence of Indonesian urban arts was recorded in the wars of independence as propaganda to provoke the spirit against the colonialists on the headline “Boeng Ajoe Boeng” and “Merdeka ataoe Mati” (Nababan, 2019). The rise of urban arts was accelerated in the late 1990s when student movements’ domination of political graffiti occurred during the Reform era (1998–2003) to voice their opinion (Lee, 2013).

Nowadays, they are omnipresent features in the urban landscape, involving in Indonesia (Pramana, 2019). Some studies argue that they carry out more values rather than solely as visual artistic expressions. They can be appreciated as the medium of voicing certain issues, beliefs, ideas and even protesting the disorders that can be interpreted in broader discourses (socially, politically, or culturally) (Blanché, 2015; Gutiérrez & Marcos, 2020; Paudel & Neupane, 2019). Public spaces are preferable sites to show off their existence, connect with people and call for public discussion or reaction (UKessays, 2020). Furthermore, they are regarded as symbol “freedom of expression” because of the nameless designers and the free of social norms and limitations (Abel & Buckley, 1997 in Al-Khawaldeh, Khawaldeh¸ Bani-Khair & Al-Khawaldeh, Al-Khawaldeh et al., 2017; Awad, 2021).

However, there are always contradictory idea that puts urban arts on the edge between vandalism and art. In the case above, the authorities showed immensely negative responses. A clampdown on the paintings and the perpetrators was executed immediately. In the context of Indonesian law, this issue is emphasized as the destruction of public or private properties or facilities. Due to the given label “unauthorised, unsolicited, unsanctioned and unofficial arts”, they are merely considered as unreasonable and scribbling paints that have no intention of public understanding (El-Nashar & Nayef, 2016; Jati, 2019; Minanto, 2015; Vanderveen & Ejik, 2016).

With the background as mentioned above, the present study aims to investigate them critically from a linguistic perspective. In this case, this study is concerned with the deeper evaluation of messages in the urban arts without discussing their status (legal or illegal works) from the law’s perspectives. This study believes that they are a matter of shared acceptance and regulation (Hansen, 2021). Despite their bad reputation as visual noise, the present study along with the others can respect them in positive attitudes such as cultural practices (Paudel & Neupane, 2019; Widiarto, 2018), media literacies (Minanto, 2015), advertisements (Sohrabi & Zoojaji, 2018), tourist attractions (Crespi-Vallbona & Mascarilla-Miró, 2020; Martínez-Carazo et al., 2021; Seok et al., 2020) and even legal heritage artifacts (Poon, 2016).

Urban arts are the source of enrichment of linguistic data. This study focuses on understanding the urban arts through Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA). It involves critical investigation of employing various semiotic resources within the study of CDA (Ledin & Machin, 2018; Machin, 2013; Machin & Mayr, 2012) combined with Halliday & Matthiessen’s transitivity theory of systemic functional linguistics (2014) to examine more accurately the verbal mode. The nature of urban arts usually consists of verbal and visual resources as a unified whole—they are not merely juxtaposed as separate modes and distinct meanings. They are social practices within CDA. MCDA focuses on the meaning-making process of semiotic resources and their roles as means of social construction. Those choices can signify the underlying discourse that constructs the way how the viewers understand the entire arts. As human products, they are embedded by certain beliefs, values, or the ideologies.

A number of studies have extensively examined various kinds of discourses by MCDA approach, such as in the video (Helland, 2017; Monson et al., 2016; Nørgaard, 2021; Sedlaczek, 2017; Wang & Feng, 2021), photograph and its caption on the news (Serafis et al., 2019; Tasseron, 2021), games (Mukhtar, 2019), web-pages (Gibson et al., 2015; Lewin-Jones, 2019), textbook (Keles et al., 2021), food packaging (Chen & Eriksson, 2019), meme (Moussa et al., 2020; Unuabonah & Oyebode, 2021), advertisement (Kenalemang,), magazine (Chen & Machin, 2014; Jones, 2019; Rasoulikolamaki & Kaur, 2021).

To strengthen the analysis of MCDA and discover what the urban artists portray on their arts, Van Dijk’s sociocognitive approach and his ideological square (2003, 2014) are employed to understand the self-representation of the urban artists (Us) and the other-representation whom they are aimed to (Them). It points out the mediating layer of cognition (ideology) which is situated between discourse and society components. The ideological square shows how the polarization between those two groups and how they are presented in the discourse.

In light of those aims, this study focuses on the meaning-making process of semiotic resources in the urban arts as a means of representing “who we are, what our ideas are, what we stand for, and how our relationships with the others are” to interpret the world. This study proposes two major questions: (1) how are the meanings of urban arts created by the choices of verbal and visual resources from the artists? And (2) how do the artists represent themselves and the authorities in the urban arts? The cold and concrete walls of the public spaces are living canvases to engage with the larger communities as if they are screaming, crying, or telling stories (Gleaton, 2012). The artworks liven the dead walls and surrounding area, which urge the viewers to lift out their eyes and notice them (Gagliardi, 2020). Urban arts as human products are raising an essential question: what do their role for human life? (Novak, 2017).

2. Method

Great attention has been put on the news of urban art practices during the pandemic in Indonesia on July–August 2021. It was principally initiated by the presence of two artworks that went viral on social media and were executed by the authorities. Afterward, as a return against those authorities’ actions, the other urban artists created similar arts outspread in other cities such as Bandung, Yogyakarta, Depok, Tangerang, Ciamis, Banjarmasin, Pasuruan, Solo. Due to the implementation of social restriction and the removal of some urban arts, this study cannot observe and take the data directly.

There are 11 examples of urban arts taken from some national online media depicted in Table 1 below. Since the data are provided from secondary sources, there may be different to the certain degree of colors or perspectives in the way how the urban arts are taken by the photographers or seen by the viewers. However, the present study attempts to confirm the data in detail from other sources to limit the deficiency.

Table 1. Sources of data

Figure	Sources
1	https://www.tvonenews.com/berita/nasional/3775-dugaan-mural-pelecehan-jokowi
2	https://www.republika.co.id/berita/qye78i487/mural-mirip-jokowi-sedang-dihapus-matatertutup-masker
3	https://hot.detik.com/art/d-5692683/heboh-mural-tulisan-dibungkam-di-yogyakarta-dihapus-aparat
4	https://news.detik.com/foto-news/d-5697485/mural-gejayan-memanggil-mejeng-di-simpang-empat-gayam
5	https://www.suara.com/news/2021/08/23/192220/banyak-mural-kritis-dihapus-muncul-mural-urus-saja-moralmu-jangan-muralku?page=all
6	https://www.gelora.co/2021/07/viral-mural-tuhan-aku-lapar-di.html
7	https://faktanews.co.id/mural-kritik-sosial-bermunculan-ditengah-penanganan-covid-19-kali-ini-bertuliskan-dipenjara-karena-lapar/
8	https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/08/21/120300278/dianggap-meresahkan-mural-wabah-sebenarnya-adalah-kelaparan-dihapus-satpol
9	https://jakarta.tribunnews.com/2021/08/21/mural-bertuliskan-kritikan-muncul-lagi-di-tangerang-dipenjara-karena-lapar
10	https://www.suara.com/foto/2021/08/25/174023/kritik-sosial-melalui-mural-di-sudut-ibu-kota
11	https://bogor.suara.com/read/2021/08/30/200529/viral-mural-di-bogor-butuh-sesuap-nasi?page=al

This study employs the term “urban arts” which is borrowed from Blanché (2015, 2016) to encompasses for any arts (urban art, style writing/graffiti, mural) which is displayed legally or illegally on the public walls or surfaces of buildings, transportations, etc. Yet, both “urban arts” and “street art” terms are often synonymous in their use.

Furthermore, this study is grounded in theoretical and methodological frameworks between the multimodal lens of social semiotics (Kress & van Leeweun, 2006; van Leeweun, 2005) and the critical perspective of analysing discourse (Critical Discourse Analysis) in the field of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) (Ledin & Machin, 2018; Machin & Mayr, 2012). The underpinning theory of MCDA is social semiotics, which was inspired by “language as social semiotic” and the systemic functional approach of Halliday (Machin & Mayr, 2012). It is a social theory of communication which tries to examine the meaning- making process as a social practice. Its basic knowledge is (1) the shift away of language interpretation from the formal and rigid view of language as a system to the social interpretation of language as a system of meaning potentials (semantic choices); (2) the social use of language (Halliday, 1978). Thus, social semiotics open the gate of analysis to see how the semiotic resources chosen by the sign-makers themselves achieve specific communicative aims and represent people or events in the given context.

Based on the steps of multimodal analysis proposed by Jewitt (2016), after collecting the data, the multimodal analysis starts with the intensive observation of individual modes in the urban arts to establish a list of modes and semiotic resource in use. For example, (1) visual modes involve images, drawings, symbols, etc.; (2) typographic mode involves its size and features; (3) color mode examines saturation, brightness, modulation, etc.; (4) layout involves framing and orientation; (5) participants are categorized whether individuals or groups, individualized or collectivized, generic or specific or none representation; (6) positioning the viewer involves angles, proximity (gaze, distance). In the analytical process, the choices of semiotic resources are examined in isolation. The next step is to examine and investigate the possible meanings from the interplay of each mode and semiotic resources. Social, cultural, or political contexts are involved in interpreting them.

Then, the strategy of ideological square of van Dijk (2003, 2014) is employed to reveal the representation of Us (in-group or urban art communities) and Them (they who are intended by the urban artist) and strengthen the analysis of MCDA. Its complex of meta-strategy can portray the ideological discourse through positive or negative features which are manifested in the linguistic toolkit. Since the urban arts involve multimodal texts, the discourse structures vary than verbal texts. It is the illustration of ideological square:

1. Positive self-representation: representing Us positively by emphasizing their positive things and de-emphasizing their positive things.

2. Negative self-representation: representing Them negatively by emphasizing their negative things and de-emphasizing their positive things.

Positive self-representation presents our group positively by promoting the good things and blocking the bad things. On the contrary, those out-groups they refer as opponents or competitors are presented negatively, if only they are different, by de-emphasizing their good things and promoting their bad things.

3. Results and discussion

This study proposes that the critical meaning-making process of urban arts can be examined by the MCDA approach added by the analysis of verbal mode from the theory of systemic functional linguistics. Some urban arts usually involve a mixture of verbal and visual modes. However, there are some of them dominated merely by visual or verbal resources. Based on the results, the themes of the arts principally represent the current situation of the coronavirus pandemic ranging from politics, corruption, morals, misery of humanity, freedom of speech, etc. It is divided into three core topics in the following sections, e.g. (1) criticism for unresponsiveness of the government during pandemic, (2) criticism for restriction of speech freedom and (3) reflection of public condition during pandemic. In the end, it is followed by the critical interpretation by ideological square.

3.1 Criticism: Unresponsiveness of the government during pandemic

Both figures above are significantly dominated by visual materials. The photographs do not consist of much object or setting so that the viewers are directed to focus on the single person depicted in the arts. There are a number of photographic choices to portray the participants. The mural artists of both figures apply an individualization strategy. They depict a single person in each of urban art that causes the person to be salient images in the walls. At a glance, both people probably possess adequate resemblance leading to the Indonesian current President due to the similarity of their facial expression and hairstyle.

In the reports of Indonesian national media, Figure 1 is one of the artworks that went viral for the first time. It was removed immediately by the authority, because it was suspected as a threat and humiliation toward the nation symbol (President). Then, the person in Figure 2 wears a long-sleeved and plain white shirt that has been well known as one of the official codes of the Cabinet. Even though their eyes are covered with a word in Figure 1 and an object in Figure 2 limiting the full part of the face, both represented participants are illustrated to closely portray into the President’s character.

Figure 1. Controversial urban arts resembling the political figure

Source: www.tvonenews.com (Kusnaedi, 2021).

Figure 2. Controversial urban arts resembling the political figure

Source: www.republika.co.id (Huda, 2021).

Besides communicating how people, objects, actions or settings are represented, the photographs can position the viewers in relation what are depicted. By individualization strategy, the artists position the viewers to get closer with and focus on the only one of represented participant in the arts. He is surely captivating the viewers due to his big size fulfilling mostly the background. Since the frame is made in the close shot in Figure 2, even in extreme close shot (anything less the head and shoulder) in Figure 1, the artists create intimacy relationship between the viewers and the represented participants. The close personal distance is strengthened with both depiction at eye-level angle indicating equality or no power depicted.

The analysis of visual materials demonstrates communicative tasks. The engagement between the resembling person of the President and the viewers (Indonesian public) is situated in a sense of intimacy and less power. Despite the intimate relation expressed by the choice of proximity and angle, removing the impression of isolation and distance between the superior and the inferior, it is not expressed thoroughly. Gaze implies symbolic contact within interaction. In fact, the represented participants do not address the presence of the viewers. Those barriers signify “the offer” images. They position the viewers as the observers merely and the represented participants as a phenomenon and items of information, not a person, to be examined.

Both arts may reflect dramatic meaning. In Figure 1, the eyes are covered by the error message on the red box color. Cebrat (2018) states that it is “(also known as HTTP 404, 404 Not Found, File not found, or simply, 404) an error message in a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) standard response code” The possible meaning implied from the use of this code is telling the viewers that the requested person (the represented participants) is difficult to be accessed. Depicted by no action or behavior, it possibly illustrates a sense of less responsiveness or effort from the participant. Furthermore, the background of Figure 1 is highlighted by two combinations of saturated colors (black, red) to enhance emotional temperature.

Another ironical state is reflected in Figure 2. The mask covers the eyes that strongly associated with pandemic situation. The mask is symbolically one of the most essential health protections, but it is oddly used to disguise his sight. It is more emphasized by the choice of mental process where the object appears indexically to be thinking something—lifting his index and middle finger and pointing them to his forehead while leaning over his upper body. Thus, the artists demonstrate that the participants do not fully figure out the situations. It possibly implies that he cannot see and feel what are actually going on during this hard time.

Referring to the artists’ choices of visual and verbal materials, those murals relate to the government’s position and contribution, symbolized by the resembling person of the President at the given time. Those murals offer the president’s depiction to the viewers—that is what he does and looks like in pandemic. Both figures have implied similar meanings. A sense of solemn and serious moods appears from a small number of muted colours (grey, black and white) on drawing the participants and produces a monochrome level. As the symbolization of the government, he is depicted to be sightless purposely by using certain properties (caption and mask).

The artists attempt to convey the criticism toward the President specifically and his cabinet generally about their poor capability in handling the pandemic. It is reflected that they cannot see the real condition in the pandemic and are even difficult to be called up as framed by oblique shot signaling a sense of detachment distance. While there is an opportunity to show off the act of thinking, it cannot be successfully executed due to the barriers on the eyes.

3.2 Criticism: Restriction of freedom of speech

There are three street arts that reflect the similar meanings related to the topic of speech freedom. They are highlighted by verbal modes and supported by a few of visual features. Both Figures 3 and 4 employ similar words. However, Figure 4 is constructed in a complete sentence, and Figure 3 is constructed in shortened words. On the other hand, Figure 5 conveys similar meanings, but it is realized in different language features. They appear as commentary acts for the recent issues. They powerfully express the disagreement about the prosecution of street arts by the authority and the disappointment for the prohibition of speech freedom.

Figure 3. Urban arts voicing speech freedom

Source: www.detik.com (Agnes, 2021).

Figure 4. Urban arts voicing speech freedom

Source: www.detik.com (Erlangga, 2021).

Figure 5. Controversial urban arts voicing speech freedom

Source: www.suara.com (Gunadha & Bhayangkara, 2021).

First, Figure 3 brings out the straightforwardness meanings written in the big size under Kewek Bridge, Yogyakarta. This bridge connects the center of Yogyakarta city, Kota Baru with Marlboro, the most popular and iconic street in the city. Hence, the choice of public space surely generates the public attention. Some local and national media reported its eradication within less than 24 hours as the meaning is judged containing provocative arts. The word “DIBUNGKAM” is drawn by the white color to highlight the black color in the background. It is written in capital letters and bigger size than the others to stress it as important words. The choice of black color can represent the simplicity—the straightforward way to convey the potential meaning of the graffiti. At the same time, it can imply unpleasant moods.

The potential meaning of colors above can strengthen the grief meaning of the word “DIBUNGKAM”. Based on The Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language (KBBI) accessed online, the root word is the verb “bungkam” referring to “speaking prevention” or “prohibiting someone to speak out” It gets closer with the meaning of the word “silenced”. The participants of the material process are excluded by passive agent deletion and being anonymized participants to probably avoid the specification—the Actor (the person who prohibits the Goal to speak) and the Goal (the person who is silenced). Looking at the fact that this artwork was criminalized by the authority due to its provocative meanings, it can imply that the artists are the Goal who are restricted for the practice of street arts or voicing critically their opinion by the Actor leading probably to the authority.

Then, there is a smaller graffiti than the word “DIBUNGKAM”. Focusing on the noun “represi”, it refers “to end doing suppression, restraint, or detention” based on The Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language (KBBI). It is expressed in the similar strategy, i.e. passive agent deletion. In line with the result of the interpretation for the word “DIBUNGKAM” aforementioned, it is still continued that the Goal demands the Actor to stop executing them forcibly. At last, the smallest art is imperative words, “mentalmu, SEMANGATMU” which encourages the viewers to struggle with their own standpoint.

Another urban art in Yogyakarta located in Simpang Empat Gayam area is Figure 4. It consists of one full sentence “Kami butuh didengar, bukan dibungkam!”. The meanings of Figures 3 and 4 are much alike. The use of collectivization for the word “kami” or “we” stress that the practice of prosecution is experienced by many urban artists or groups of urban artists. The artists as Behaver for the behavioral process “butuh” (need) is carried out to signify certain psychological behaviors felt by the artists. Then, the material process “didengar” (to be heard) and “dibungkam” (to be silenced) express the Goal’s need for the action to be heard and appreciated by the Actor, not to be silenced.

Emphasized by a smaller caption in Figure 4 “dilarang kritik” (don’t criticize), it can be a satire for the government that may be often “offended” by the critical voice in the urban arts. The symbolic of sign stop is even employed to illustrate the intention of the artist. Thus, the communities of urban arts expect the government to consider their opinions and regret their choice to treat the urban arts as vandalism merely. From the artists’ perspective, there is prohibition of speech freedom as if the government is immune to the criticism. This art can be triggered by the removal of the first-viral urban arts (Figure 1).

On the other hand, Figure 5 is located in an unknown place, but it appears in the period of this phenomenon. It yells imperative form “urusi saja moralmu, jangan muralku!” or “Mind your moral, not (mind) my mural!” It is written in white color behind a colorful background of the wall. There are vibrant colors which may illustrate liveness and playfulness and highlight the words. However, it can be a satire that is opposite to the mood of the words. In the SFL’s view, the behavioral process “mind” indicates the presence of psychological behaviors felt by the artists due to the persecution of the urban artists recently. The artist as Behaver may demand the government to reflect on their morality as phenomenon and social responsibility toward the public instead of concerning the urban arts. The art may be triggered by the arrest of Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs recently for government’s COVID-19 aid program.

3.3 Reflection of public condition during pandemic

Five urban arts express similar meanings in relation to the current situation. They are graffiti. They propose the case of famine as the significant impact of coronavirus, and it is even considered worse than dying from the virus. When the implementation of the large-scale social restriction is implemented (PSBB) in several big areas, there are greatly limitations of activities in public spaces, gatherings, modes of transportation, and the closure of schools and workplaces. Even though there is no strict prohibition for the food and beverage sector, these regulations still provoke food insecurity, unbalanced food value chains, malnutrition deficiency, and even poverty into the extreme levels. Hence, the threat of a food security crisis is the essential idea from the urban artists to possibly encourage the awareness of the government and policymakers (Paramashanti, 2020).

Figures 6, 9 , and 10 similarly use less saturated colors such as grey or black as the wall background to arouse the emotions like sadness, mystery and silence. The wall appears dull and lifeless to illustrate the famine possibly. As a result, the white color for the word helps to bring brightness for the viewers. On the contrary, Figures 7 and 8 employ intense, rich, and vibrant background colors. If Figure 8 dominantly uses yellow color, Figure 7 uses more hybrid colors. In this case, it can probably propose other meanings as the notions of the words communicate oppositely to the colorful background suggesting fun and liveness.

Figure 6. Urban arts voicing the state of famine

Source: www.gelora.co (@Geloranews, 2021).

Figure 7. Urban art voicing the state of famine

Source: www.faktanews.co.id (Makin, 2021)

Figure 8. Urban art voicing the state of famine

Source: www.kompas.com (Haswar & Agriesta, 2021)

Figure 9. Urban art voicing the unfair prosecution for telling the state of famine

Source: www.tribunnews.com (Zulfikar, 2021)

Figure 10. Urban art teasing the fear of street art

Source: www.suara.com (Atmaja & Budiyanto, 2021)

Figure 6 is the first-viral urban arts along with Figure 1 in Tangerang City. By considering the pandemic situation and the understanding of the word literally, TUHAN, AKU LAPAR’ (God, I’m hungry) can possibly express some emotions like hope, desperation or anger toward God. In the SFL’s view, it is classified as a relational attributive process to ascribe certain quality—the Carrier (“I”/“aku”) is in the state of hunger (Attribute) in the pandemic. The carrier can be interpreted widely involving not only the artists but also the public. The word “God” emphasizes the Carrier’s anxiety and depression to the supreme being for their struggle during pandemic. As this artwork is removed by authority, the content may be considered to be bold that can arouse strong feeling the viewers and provoke negative response to the government.

Figure 7 is found out in Tangerang, while Figure 8 is located at Banjarmasin. If Figure 6 focuses on expressing the state of the Carriers, both Figures 7 and 8 emphasize the significant impact of coronavirus pandemic for the society “Wabah sesungguhnya/sebenarnya adalah kelaparan” (the real plague is famine). In the SFL’s perspectives, it is relational identifying process where the real plague is identified by the state of famine (“kelaparan”) as the Identifier. Both Figures attempt to state the fact from the artist’s point of view that hunger hits Indonesians due to the physical distancing and causing economic hardship.

As Ikhsan and Virananda (2021) show that there is great pressure on Indonesia’s food security, leading to employment and poverty due to decreased income and reduced access to activities. Focusing on the demand side, food security is on the stake by “income shock” and “purchasing power decline”. Hence, the urban artists signify desperately appeals aimed to the God about this misery of humanity. It may be a type of satire because the meaning may not indicate happiness as it is drawn behind colorful and vibrant background.

Next, Figure 9 is located under flyover of Taman Cibodas in Tangerang. It yells ‘DIPENJARA KARNA LAPAR (Being prisoned because of hunger). This graffiti can be understood literally like Figures 7 and 8. It is written on rough wall in the white-colored words highlighted by red word border lines. It is constructed in passive form that does not directly mention the social actors. However, it can be implied in the given context that it is surely triggered by the persecution case of Figure 6. Therefore, this urban art depicts a satire from the artist. In the SFL’s view, the material process “dipenjara” refers to the state in which the Goal (the urban artist of Figure 6) is prisoned by the Actor (the authority). “KARNA LAPAR” as the circumstance of reason demonstrates the cause of the action “being prisoned”

Figure 10, located in Jakarta, expresses more various meanings. There are two cube objects and the antenna resembling with television. The television looks like broadcasting the information contained in the cubes publicly. The grey color of background is used to highlight the white-colored words. The first graffiti is “YANG BISA DIPERCAYA DARI TV CUMA ADZAN” (What can be believed from TV is only Adzan). It is classified as relational identifying process where Adzan—the act of call for Muslims to carry out the prayer - is served as the only one identity to what the artist can believe on TV. The words “TV” and “adzan” are realized in different colors as the focal point of ideas. Its interpretation can be ambiguous since it can be related to any case. However, it probably implies that there is lack of trust, sincerity or honesty for the information or news delivered in the TV program beside Adzan. It can be merely a plain statement, but it can be interpreted further to raise public awareness.

The other art in Figure 10 is similarly the repetition of artwork in Figure 6, “KAMI LAPAR TUHAN” The word “LAPAR” (hungry) is stressed as key information in the bigger size and black color. It is inferred that the meanings of Figures 6 and 10 are much alike. If the participant of Figure 6 is identified as an individual, the participant of Figure 10 is described as part of collectivity. Even though both can refer generally to Indonesians, the use of collectivization “kami” (we) stresses the quantity of victims. There are many Indonesians assigned in the state of starvation (“LAPAR”).

At last, the other graffiti of Figure 10 is written outside of the box in the capital words “JANGAN TAKUT TUAN-TUAN INI CUMA URBAN ART” (Don’t be afraid, Sir. It’s only urban art). It can be interpreted as a piece of satire rather than a direct political protest in line with the persecution acts by the authorities against Figures 1, 3, and Figure 6. It is implied that there is no need to fear from the authority (“tuan-tuan” or group of men) because it is only an urban art expressing the people’s pain.

In Bogor, Figure 11 contains a mixture of verbal and visual resources. It is exposed on the white background to stress black-colored graffiti and the girl. As the most salient participant, a shot single of the girl wearing the long dress is illustrated in the act of sitting and snuggling while her head sinks into her body. The portrayal of her pose may demonstrate sorrow and grief. She is depicted in the long shot showing her full body to signal the impersonal distance. It can be implied that the girl as the representative of innocent people is probably isolated socially in COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, there is slightly teardrop near the eyes indicating emotional process.

Figure 11. Urban arts voicing the negative effect of lockdown for people

Source: www.bogor. suara.com (Ahmad, 2021)

Meanwhile, the graffiti is written in capital words to show strong feelings and raise sad feelings as if it is shouted. It conveys “KEGIATAN DIBATASI HINGGA LUPA RAKYAT BUTUH NASI” or literally “the activities are restricted until it is forgotten that people need rice.” In the SFL’s view, it offers material process “dibatasi” (restricted) for the Goal “kegiatan” (activity) by the Actor referring to the authority. Indonesians (“rakyat”) are the Client of the action “restricted” before and the Behaver of the behavioral process “butuh” (need). The phenomenon experienced by Indonesians as Behaver is the need of “nasi” (rice) or food security. Therefore, this street art implies a similar meaning with Figures 6, Figures 7, 8, or Figure 10 about the side effect of social restriction policy. According to Pujowati & Sufaidi (2021), the enactment of PSBB policy strictly is helpful to cut off the chain of COVID-19 transmission. At the same time, it leads to decline in public revenue, causing deterioration of purchasing power. Hence, it is unavoidable that there is the instability of the national economy.

A small graffiti above the girl is a hashtag “#TOLONGKAMITUHAN” or “Help us, God”. It is written in capital words as additional information for the bigger one. It obviously signifies that there is lack of trust toward the government, drawn by strikethrough line. Therefore, no gaze at the girl represents all meanings of Figure 11 as an item of information for the viewers without giving any chance for discussing. A sense of loneliness and isolation is depicted in her long-shot distance.

3.4 Representation of Us and Them

After the analysis of street arts in the previous section, it is followed by the analysis of street art discourse indicating conflict through the theoretical framework of Van Dijk’s ideological square. According to the results aforementioned, it leads to the polarization between positive self-representation for the artists and negative self-representation for the authorities (the government, the local communities or local Public Order Agency). There are certain strategies embedded in the verbal and visual materials to (1) emphasize the artists’ positive features and de-emphasize their negative features and oppositely (2) emphasize the authorities’ negative features and de-emphasize their positive features. Principally, the aim of urban arts here is considered as a means of self-expression to respond directly about social and political issues. The way how the artists create the artworks can express their perspectives during COVID-19 pandemic and position themselves and the others in certain manners.

Based on the visual resources, there are four aspects that can be organized in line with the intention or the mood of the artist. First, the represented participants in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 11 are portrayed in the form of offer images due to the absence of gaze with the viewers. It is implicitly suggested that the artists present the represented participants as items of information and phenomenon for the viewers. There is no engagement for both participants to create relationship. The artists invite the viewers to observe anything in the participants which illustrates their frustration. There are the artists’ strategy to highlight the negative sides of the authorities, i.e. (1) the inability of represented participants in Figures 1 and 2 to see the ongoing situation in society is hinted by the use of word and object covering the eyes, (2) giving a picture of the pandemic victims’ sadness is to portray a crying and depressed girl.

Second, the shot choice of the represented participants indicates the familiarity created between the represented participants and the viewers by the artists. Long shot in Figure 10 allows the authorities to imaginarily perceive her in the impersonal distance. The artists probably emphasize the ignorance of the government for implementing the restriction policy that can badly impact for workers. Then, the use of close shot for the represented participants in Figures 1 and 2 does not coherent with the meaning of its photography technique. While close shot denotes intimacy relationship, ironically, both represented participants are in the unseeable state. Those barriers on the eyes imply that the resembling participants of the President cannot see the struggle of Indonesians in pandemic.

Third, the choice of presenting participants in the photographs is dominantly individualization where the artists draw a single person made to be salient in the walls. On the other hand, the represented participants can be connotatively referred to a group of people—the government in Figures 1 and 2 and Indonesians in Figure 10—and they are symbolized for other representation. Fourth, the choice of colors can possibly evoke mood and feeling. For instances, the background of Figure 1 is highlighted by two combinations of saturated colors (black, red) to enhance emotional temperature for a whole of artwork. Meanwhile, the black color of the texts in Figure 3 conveys the potential meaning about unpleasant moods for supporting the grief meaning of the artwork. Then, the vibrant or hybrid color in Figure 5, Figure 7 and Figure 8 to illustrate liveness and playfulness can refer to a satire. Connotatively, it can communicate other meanings when understanding the meaning of the verbal modes. Furthermore, the use of less saturated colors such as grey or black for the background of Figures 6, 9 , and 10 as in Figure 1 evoke the negative emotions like sadness, mystery and silence and emphasize the topic of famine.

On the other hand, the choice of verbal resources from the artists illustrates their resentment, sadness, desperate and satire toward the persecution acts of urban arts and the government shortcoming in managing the outbreak. The results of transitivity analysis show the artists’ choice of material, relational, and behavioral process to represent their response and perspective. The authorities are negatively portrayed by the use of criminalizing verbs, their role as Actors who commit repression and forbid not to articulate speech freedom, their role as the cause of being imprisoned, their unresponsiveness in handling the outbreak, direct response.

First, the artist uses certain code as in Figure 1 and the viewers are demanded to interpret the meaning by themselves. It is simple yet powerful. However, passive agent deletion is favored mostly by the artists for some possible reasons. First, it excludes the involved participants. Second, it is purposely constructed in a simple way by choosing active verbs. However, this short form has powerful impacts as it can be read and understood quickly by the passerby and the viewers on the transportation.

Second, the authorities are mostly positioned as the Actors who perform criminalizing verbs “bungkam” (prohibited) in Figures 3 and 4 and “represi” (repress) in Figure 3 for the persecution of urban arts and “penjara” (prison) for the effect of restriction policy in Figure 9. The Goal whom receive those actions are collectivized as parts of groups explicitly in Figure 4 by using pronoun “kami” (we) and implicitly in Figure 3. The groups refer connotatively to the urban artists. Even though the law perspectives for the clampdown of the street paintings are the destruction of public or private properties or facilities, another perspective is believed that the provocative messages and the choice of represented participant as in Figure 1 are possibly the main reasons leading to the prohibition of speech freedom. Hence, the authorities are represented negatively through the choice of criminalizing verbs and position the Goal as the victims of those verbs.

Third, the artists state their needs for some actions to be carried out, i.e., to be heard as in Figure 3 and to express their responses—not being repressed—as in Figure 4. The choice of behavioral process “butuh” and “stop” signify certain psychological behaviors felt by the artists as Behaver. The one who can fulfill their needs is the authorities. Oppositely, the authorities cannot realize the chance of speech freedom in the artworks and show repressive action instead.

Fourth, the other way is explaining the poor and hopeless state of pandemic in Indonesia through relational process as in Figures 7 and 8. Both employ similar words. Famine (“kelaparan”) is selected by the artists as Identifier to explain “the real plague of pandemic” (wabah sebenarnya) experienced by Indonesians. Similarly in Figure 6, the artists express the word which illustrate the state of desperation or anger toward the God. The attribute “hunger” signifies the impact of social quarantine on economic life and inability of the government to organize the food supply and stability leading to food crisis.

Fifth, direct responses are depicted in Figure 5 by using imperative form and Figure 10 by using satire. In the imperative form of Figure 5, the artists rebuke the authorities to concern with the scandal of corrupting social assistance for the outbreak by the former Minister of Social Affairs instead of prosecuting the urban arts. On the other side, the artists in Figure 10 satirize the authorities’ panic of the messages in the urban arts.

According to Oktar (2001), it seems that ingroup members will prefer their own group to other groups, because of the human need for positive self-esteem. To put it another way, people usually tend to have favorable ideas concerning the group to which they belong. This will encourage them to reflect group characteristics positively and stress positive characters as traits of their own group, but to portray stereotyped group traits negatively and negative characters as traits of outgroups. The attitude is considered to be determined by ideology, because the attitude is considered to reflect a social conflict or problem.

From the explanation above, it can be concluded that there is a symbiotic relationship between ideology and language with the purpose of demonstration how social groups (we vs. they or us vs. them). Matu and Lubbe (2007) emphasized that in social identity theory, there is a hierarchical arrangement of society into different social groups that stand in unequal power relations with each other. The attitude of holding a group for good or bad is determined by ideology. They state that representation makes intergroup polarization between social groups which shows the outgroup as a representative who is involved in social conflict.

Ideologically, the polarization scheme defined by the opposition between us and them indicates that social groups construct ideological images of themselves and others in such a way that generally we are served positively, whereas they are reflected negatively. In the urban arts, text producers always show themselves positively and portray others negatively (Irawan, 2017). Even though urban arts artists have benefited positively from the murals they made, the government still has power (authority) such as the artists were hunted and arrested for being considered provocative and their work considered an act of vandalism. It shows that the feudal system still exists in a democracy like Indonesia (Hidayati, 2014, p. 14). Inherited feudal traditions are to provide space for power or access to economic resources based on primordial, emotional ties and certain elite groups. In this case, the government is the one who has full power. Bukhory (2021) argues that in a feudal culture, they occupy a more powerful position over all actions and often prioritize personal benefits for themselves, not for others. Elite groups become people who must be respected, adored, respected, and upheld. This culture has certainly killed human rights as humans, such as in the case above.

4. Conclusion

When the world is still struggling with the pandemic, the street artists have taken over the public spaces to express their resentments. In Indonesia’s cases, these street paintings are direct responses to the COVID-19 outbreak and the shortcoming of the government in handling the situation from the artists’ perspectives. They are eagerly utilized to announce the misery of humanity in the current situation from the view of society. Additionally, the government policy promotes “Large-Scale Social Restriction” (known as Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar/PSBB) and “Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities” (known as Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat/PPKM), in spite of lockdown. Hence, this policy has limited the activities of all communities on economic life urging the decrease in economic growth and the increase of the poverty rate, especially in relation to the food security.

The urban arts are powerful mediums of voicing and criticism publicly about social, political, and humanity issues during pandemic. Since the urban artists may position themselves as the representative of the public, they are depicted in the miserable states as the victims of the unresponsiveness and incapability of the government in handling the pandemic. The chaotic reflection and public discontent are expressed through the choice of verbal and visual modes to purposely signal the public’s despair state and emphasize the shortcomings of the government and symbolically evoke emotions like sadness, unhappiness and unfairness. Instead of carrying propaganda or provocative acts, they are powerful visual landscape in the present day to urge people to see, feel, and evaluate the world from different sides. They simply offer the matters or the critiques to the public. However, the presence of urban arts is not entirely accepted as social form of communication. Lack of appreciation and official public spaces always put the urban arts on the edge of vandalism. Power and political elements even come into play to restrain the freedom of speech. It is noticed that the urban arts which portray the negative representation of the authorities may be considered as provocative acts. The culture of feudalism is still maintained.

At the end, this study attempts to provide useful description and interpretation of urban arts and how the artists position themselves, their resentments and the authorities in the artworks. However, this study has acknowledged the social constraints and the removal of certain street paintings, as well as the dependence of secondary sources for the data. In the analysis, this study has limited only evaluating the meaning-making process of verbal and visual resources and how the artists, their resentment and the authorities are represented in the urban arts within linguistic study. In the future study, it is suggested to use any theoretical frameworks that can enhance the meaning and the ideology embedded in the urban arts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

We would like to thank Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP/The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education) and Pusat Layanan Pembiayaan Pendidikan (Puslapdik) for granting the scholarship and supporting this research.

Notes on contributors

Astri Dwi Floranti

Astri Dwi Floranti is a Ph.D. candidate at Indonesia University of Education, Bandung, Indonesia. She is also a lecturer at Invada Institute of Education and Language. Her research interests are within critical discourse analysis, multimodality and gender issues.

Yasir Mubarok

Yasir Mubarok is a Ph.D. candidate at Indonesia University of Education, Bandung, Indonesia. He is a lecturer at Pamulang University. His research interests are critical discourse analysis, multimodality and gender issues.

Aceng Ruhendi Saifullah

Aceng Ruhendi Saifullah is a Professor of Forensic Linguistic at Indonesia University of Education, Bandung, Indonesia. His research interests are focused on forensic linguistics, semiotics and pragmatics.

Wawan Gunawan

Wawan Gunawan is a lecturer at Indonesia University of Education, Bandung, Indonesia. His research interests are focused on systemic functional linguistics, educational linguistics, critical discourse analysis and multimodality.