(from left) Aqila Ramadhani and Dima Noor Virgiani, two DKV ITS students showing their work which was successfully contested in Jeju, Korea

ITS Campus, ITS News – Studying on a campus based on science and technology does not mean that it discourages students from expressing their creative spirit in the arts. As shown by two students of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) who won awards at the 2022 International Ocean Arts Festival (IOAF) and exhibited their work at an international scale exhibition event in Jeju, Korea, some time ago.

The two are Aqila Ramadhani and Dima Noor Virgiani. The two students from the Department of Visual Communication Design (DKV) won awards in the International College Students Starfish Award category. Aqila Ramadhani won a Silver Award, and Dima Noor Virgiani won a Bronze Award.

Dima managed to attract the jury’s attention with his work entitled To Be Honest, To Be Yourself. Different from the others, Dima uses vectors in the works he makes. “Because design activists are now abandoning vectors,” he said.

Even though using vectors requires a long and complex process, the bespectacled student is confident with her work. He added aside from the use of vectors, the ideas he put into his works also deserve thumbs up.

The work of ITS DKV student Aqila Ramadhani entitled Not Born To Be Perform, when displayed at an international exhibition in Jeju, Korea.

In her digital work, this class of 2020 student describes the philosophy that is told through vector strokes in her work. Through him, Dima expressed his desire to invite people to be themselves. “I want other people to accept themselves, regardless of what they honestly have,” he explained.

Dima also added, besides inviting others to accept himself, the acceptance process must also be accompanied by the awareness of nature and the surrounding environment. Because whatever humans do will have an impact on the surrounding environment. “For that, I hope this work can persuade people to respect the environment more,” he said.

Therefore, Dima added many elements as implied messages to his work. He explained that the human object in his work describes humans who accept themselves. Then, various ornaments are contained in his careers, such as fish, bubbles, and water waves, to illustrate that humans and other living things always live together.

The work of ITS DKV student Dima Noor Virgiani entitled To Be Honest, To Be Yourself, was also displayed at an international exhibition in Jeju, Korea.

Unlike Dima, Aqila does his work manually. His work entitled Not Born to Perform combines realist techniques with pencil strokes and his brilliant ideas about the exploitation of marine animals as a shared urgency. “My work depicts the irony of the exploitation of orcas, often employed in amusement parks,” he says.

He said orca whales are caught, killed, and separated from their habitat to be used as “dummy shows” by humans. Ironically, catching orca whales usually targets young whales. “Orca whales were born not to be human entertainers but to enjoy life in the wild,” he reminded.

To illustrate her concern about this act of exploitation, Aqila describes a whale entangled in threads from human hands. The thread is depicted as it binds and traps the whale due to human greed. “Even though the technique I use is simple, I believe this message is what has succeeded in getting me to win an award,” he concluded confidently. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Hibar Buana Puspa