Houses in Javanese culture are often called omah, "Om" which means Space Father (male) and "Mah" or "Lemah" which means Earth Mother (female). From this term, the word omah was born, which is a representation of the complementary relationship between heaven and earth. The house is also called "nDalem" which means the essence of the self.
As a place of refuge, the house is designed and built as best as possible to provide maximum shelter and protection for its occupants. For some people who still adhere to old traditions, in this case Javanese, building a good residence is not only focused on the physical realm, but also covers the metaphysical realm.
The concept of "spiritual mitigation" becomes a rite that is not negotiable. Living side by side with the non-physical world means that a sense of security must be realized in its entirety, right down to the spiritual realm. Guarding against non-physical disturbances and bad things, manifested in traditional devices such as installing mori (shrouds that have been tattooed, along with other objects) on the Molo (roof), planting jugs in the center of the house, and other sacred objects in areas around the house .
The house is a place where the small universe (micro-cosmos), namely humans, unites with the big universe (macro-cosmos), namely the universe and the supernatural forces that control it. For Javanese, the house is the axis of the world (axis-mundi). As an axis that lives and supports its residents. Built with many things that are embedded as creating safety, so that it feels "Pomah", the occupants of the house feel at home in their home.
In three small houses hanging by Lintang, we find walking texts that are a form of caraka walik, a way of reading Javanese script backwards, which according to belief has been passed down from one generation to the next. There is a belief that Caraka Walik is the most powerful mantra or reading. So the concept of hanacaraka is actually the most basic human concept (sangkan paraning dumadi). The concept of home that Lintang came up with looks at the fundamental philosophy in Javanese culture: father, mother, mother, earth. The house is a manifestation of humans who "exist". Because of this, houses in Java are also called dalem/ndalem, which means us as humans. On top of the house, Lintang installed a loudspeaker that echoed Javanese mantras to ask for safety, namely Papat Kiblat Lima Pancer and Rumeksa ing Wengi/Wedha Mantra from Sunan Kalijaga.
Lintang's work is interesting because of the juxtaposition of very local Javanese symbols and philosophy, with the appearance of minimal visual forms or metaphors and more based on new media, through sound and D-I-Y technology games. There is a transformation of form from tradition-based philosophy to a more modern medium, which can then be read as a way of juxtaposing the local and the global, or the visible and the invisible.
