equipment

EQUIPMENT
The equipment of a batiker, in particular the implements, has not changed overly much with time. Viewed from the aspect of implements and method. Batiking can be classified as work of a traditional nature. Therefore, batik work must process specific characteristics, as is the case with other traditional work. Thus, if the tools and the method modernized, the predicates batik and batiking are no longer valid. However, viewed from the point of production and state economy, batik implements and the batik process do require development in am modern way. Only, the production of such modern work should not be considered batik in its true context


BATIK    EQUIPMENT    CONSISTS    OF   :

Gawangan (frame)
The gawangan is an apparatus for holding and spreading the cotton cloth while batiking. The gawangan is made of wood or bamboo. It must be constructed in such a way that it can easily be moved about, but is strong and light.

Wajan (pan)
The wajan is an implement in which the wax used in batiking is melted. It can be made of iron or clay. The better pan has a handle, making it easier to lift from and put down on the brazier without the use of an auxiliary tool. Therefore, the wajan made of clay is better than that of metal, because its handle does not retain heat. On the other hand, it takes longer to heat the wax in a clay wajan.

DINGKLIK, linchak (stool)
The dingklik and the linchak are, in principle, the same, that is very low stools for the batiker to sit upon. However, the batiker may also sit on a mat.




SARINGAN MALAM (wax strainer)
The saringan is an implement for straining the hot wax, in as much as the wax is usually quite dirty. Straining the wax allows the scum to be discarded, so that it will not interfere with the fluent running of the wax through the spout of the canting while batiking.





TEPAS (fan)
The tepas is an implement made of bamboo to increase the fire as needed. Other than the tepas, the ilir may also be used. Basically, the tepas and the ilir are the same, differing only in shape. The tepas is rectangular and pointed on one of its long sides with the handle extending from that point. The ilir is square with the handle being an extension of one of the sides. The tepas and the ilir are fans for fanning the fire


Anglo (brazier)
The anglo can be made from clay or other material. It is a brazier, the heater of wax. The anglo uses charcoal for firing. Firewood is used with the keren, also a brazier: the keren is more commonly used than the anglo by the villagers. In principle, the keren is the same as the anglo, but is not split-levelled.

Bandul (weight)
The bandul is a peg of pocketed tin, wood or stone. Its primary function is to hold the newly batiked cloth so that it can not be blown about by the wind or accidentally displaced by the batiker. Therefore, without the bandul, the batik process can still take place.

CANTING
The canting is the primary utensil used in the batik process which determine whether the results of the work may be called by batik or not. The canting is used to write (draw with liquid wax), making the batik motifs desired. It is made of copper. Copper has the quality of lightness, is easily bent, and is strong, though thin.



PARTS OF THE CANTING
1.Gagang terong
The gagang terong is the tail end of the canting utensil, placed on the back, to be appended to the real handle. Gagang = stem;terong is the name of a plant of the trumpetflowered or Solanaceae species.

2.Nyamplungan
The Nyamplungan is the main part of canting, the body or basin. It is used to scoop the liquid was out of the wajan (pan) just before batiking. It is called nyamplungan because its form and size are reminiscent of the nyamplung, a small round fruit like a ball.
3.Carat or cucuk
The carat or cucuk is the part formed like a bent pipe which forms the channel through which the liquid wax in the basin passes into the cloth in the batik process. Cucuk actually means a bird’s beak and carat is a drinking vessel.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CANTING

1.By function, these are two types of canting
    .a. The Rengrengan Canting
This canting is used to draw the initial figurations or outlines. Performing this work                    is called ngrengreng. The pattern followed in this initial figurations is in copy of a    specimen. Rengrengan can also be interpreted as framework. Usually the rengrengan canting is used to make framework, while the isen (the fill in of the field is batik) with the isen canting in accordance with the details desired. The resultant batiked cloth shows the pattern in either outline or, when filled in, the entire motif. The rengrengan canting     has a medium sized, single spout.
     b. The Isen Canting
The isen canting is a stylus used in filling in the field with complementary motifs. It has a small spout and may have one or more spouts.

2.According to the size of the spout, these differentiations are made:
a)    Small spouted canting
b)    Medium spouted canting
c)    Large spouted canting

3.According to the number of spouts, the following differentiations are made:
a)    Cecekan canting
            The cecekan canting has one small spout, used to make small dots (cecek).
            Making small dots with this instrument is called “nyeceki”. The cecekan canting      
             may also be used to draw fine lines.
b)    Loron Canting
The word loron derives from “loro” which is the number 2. This stylus has, therefore, two spouts one on top of the other, used to make double lines.
c)    Telon Canting
The word telon derives from “telu” which is the number 3. This stylus has three spouts in triangular placement. When the telon canting has been used to batik, small triangles formed of three dots appear in the fill in.
d)    Prapatan Canting
The word prapatan derives from the word “papat” which is the number 4. Therefore, this canting has four spouts, used to make the four corners of a square to fill in the field.
e)    Liman Canting
The word liman derives from the word “lima”  which is the number 5. The stylus has fiye spouts, to make to make small squares formed of four corners dots with one dot in the centre.
f)    Byok Canting
The byok canting is a stylus which has 7 or more spouts, used to form small dotted ellipses, the number of dots determined by the number of spouts or the size of the ellipse. The spouts of the Byok canting are ordinarily uneven in number.
g)    Renteng or Galaran Canting
The word galaran derives from “galar” which is a sleeping mat made from bamboo split lengthwise. Renteng is a series of something placed parallely; a method of connecting through pricking. A Renteng or Galaran canting has always an even numberof spouts, four to six, laid from bottom to top.

It may be said that batik is an art from which developed in Java, specifically Central Java. This statement pertains to the method of batiking, the ornamentation itself developed as a harmonization of various influences exerted by other cultures. What is batik ? Batik is a drawing or a painting or a form of writing on cotton cloth, applied with the aid of a tool called canting. Drawing or painting or writing onto the cotton cloth by an artist or artisan is termed membatik, or in English batiking. Batiking produces batik in the form of various motifs which have specific characteristics which are passed onto the batik cloth. Through further deveploment, other tools have come into existence facilitating the batik process, for example the cap or printing batik. Such block-printing produces motifs identical to batik, but the resultant fabrics are, in reality, no longer batik. The quality of decorated with batik-like motifs cannot possibly be compared to that of a true batik. Nevertheless, today both are called batik by the public or large. To differentiate between the two, the designations “written” batik and “blocked” batik are used. Parallel to development in modern technology, the method of batiking has been streamlined. The new technique produces a cloth ornamented like batik. However, since the product is no longer batik, it is more appropriate to call it batik-motifed cloth. Finally, artists are incorporating batik ornamentation and batiking in their work. The results are called batik paintings. With this brief explanation, are should now be able to distinguish between batik and that which is not batik.