M. Irfan studied metal craft at the Institut Seni Indonesia in Yogyakarta, where he still works. He made his name on large, dark canvases of trains and industrial structures, and what interests him in them is decay: he paints metal for the way it rusts, stone for the way it erodes. His real subject is time wearing down the things we assume will last. The title is the old memento mori formula: vivere disce, cogita mori, learn to live and remember death. The Latin phrases scattered up the steps are worth looking into, because Irfan mixes two registers on purpose. Some are scripture and classical philosophy: nihil sub sole novum ("nothing new under the sun" from Ecclesiastes), homo homini lupus ("man is a wolf to man"). Others are the Latin of tattoos and film posters: libera te ex inferis ("save yourself from hell" known to many from the film Event Horizon), domus dulcis domus ("home sweet home"). Gathered together, they read as a wall of borrowed wisdom about how to live and die. The light and shadow effect as well as the depth is well executed with his impeccable skill.