Delighted to share Tromarama’s Banting Tulang at ARTJOG. ARTJOG is an art event that acts as a melting pot for new ideas in art and creativity. It also functions as a space to share knowledge, aesthetic experiences, and the latest developments in art. Working under the auspices of the Hita Pranajiwa Mandaya Foundation, ARTJOG presents itself as a festival that facilitates the latest artistic and creative processes.

In this activation-based performance work, Tromarama illustrates the changing definitions and meanings of work in the present day. The digital economy era has given rise to a platform economy that differs from the pre-digital era, which relied more on physical labor, skills, and presence. This modern economic model has blurred the lines between leisure time and working hours, hobbies and professions, or fun and the drive to make money. People can work with various platforms on devices, anywhere and anytime. The devices themselves hold a dual meaning: work and tools.

This performance involves several activation participants. Each activation will last for sixty minutes. Participants wear haptic devices like smartwatches on their wrists. Haptics are software that transmits touch information to device users to provide feedback. These smart devices have software designed to connect and fetch tweets with the hashtag “pleasure.” Each tweet is converted into binary numbers that transform into haptic touches or vibrations.

These vibrations are felt by each activation participant holding a bekel seed and ball, which they will repeatedly throw, directed at the walls or floor. This throw-and-catch event in the exhibition space continues meaninglessly, without purpose, and irrationally, like idle behavior during leisure time. The expression “Banting Tulang” (literally “throwing bones”) originated from the Dutch game Bikkelspel or Bikkelen, which became “bekel” in Indonesian. In the Netherlands, this game initially used the talus bones of goats or sheep. Now, we interpret “Banting Tulang” to mean hard work.

This activation-based performance questions the meaning of an individual’s autonomy under the complete authority and control of smart technology, and how the platform economy impacts it. The activation shows the principle of repetition driven merely by motivation, not an individual’s ability. In the virtual world, it is clear that means become actions and vice versa, actions become the means.

— Courtesy of ARTJOG.