When curator Mizuki Takahashi was selecting artists for the Japan Foundation-sponsored exhibition "Kita! Japanese Artists Meet Indonesia," held earlier this year in Indonesia, she deliberately chose ones "capable of involving local people and working in local environments."
So, when six-person artist group Chim ↑ Pom went to Bali, rented a helicopter and dropped rubbish from the sky onto a "garbage mountain" where a community of locals usually make a living scavenging trash, technically speaking, they were doing exactly what was expected of them.
Takahashi's recollection of the stunt — which the artists videotaped for a work displayed in the exhibition — was tinged less with shock or regret than with awe.