Widjaja’s use of the frottage technique to record the surfaces of the French medieval village, Caylus, particularly its stone walls, was described by himself as, “an automatic response to how I perceived the urban environment in Singapore from Caylus...The architecture (in Caylus) is defined by massive stone walls that have stood for centuries. I was compelled by their powerful physical presence, their unique surface textures, history and the sense of permanence - qualities that I find lacking in Singapore. Compared to the stone walls of Caylus, the buildings in Singapore felt paper thin, fragile and ephemeral.”
