Derived from readings on Javanese mysticism, Olah Rasa is a meditation on the human endeavour to train the rasa or inner feeling to reach reunification with our origin.

‘The experience of life itself is described as a journey from origin to destination, from conception to reabsorption with the all. In the Kebatinan view this self training should move from the outside to the inside, from the mastery of the lair to the cultivation of the bathin, from being fully aware of one’s social surroundings to becoming sensitised to the presence of life and the realisation of it in one’s inner being; it means coordinating the self with higher truth until one fuses with it.’

N. Mulder, Mysticism in Java – Ideology in Indonesia, Amsterdam, Pepin Press 1998

Also meaning ‘vehicle of life,’ Wanda took Olah Rasa into her considerations of present day Indonesia that bustled around her. She was particularly intrigued by the number of people that could successfully fit on one motorbike – a practice that would be a striking sight and a gross traffic infringement in the West. Aware that her interpretation of Javanese mysticism is grounded in her own foreign perspective, she allowed for any misinformation as part of the process. Taking the image of the Vespa – ‘the vehicle of life’ – she created an offbeat performance-based interpretation of Olah Rasa. A sportsground was used as a major location to tie in with the ‘self training’ concept while red traffic cones reinforce the idea by mirroring practical drivers licence tests. Sport-like uniforms were introduced to develop this exercise or instruction and to further the individuals on their common goal of attaining the next stage of existence.