View of “Jompet Kuswidananto: Dream Express: Personalized History of Mysticism,” 2023. Foreground: Subterranean Thunder #1, 2023. Background: Far-Travelled Murmur #1, 2023. Photo: Benny Widyo.
“In the installation Subterranean Thunder #1 (all works 2023)—with its lupine figure lying prostrate atop a mound of glass shards, as if collapsed midway through a process of therianthropy—Kuswidananto transformed the gallery’s first room into a site of transcendence. The figure’s upper half was wrapped in a robe used in Jathilan, a Javanese folk dance that employs music and movement to channel spirits, while its lower half sported faded jeans. Opposite this hybrid humanoid stood a flat screen showing Far-Travelled Murmur #1, an animation of a digitally generated face of a Javanese deity mouthing tunes penned by the artist and inspired by “Dream Express,” a cassette compilation of international pop songs widely circulated in 1980s Indonesia. The collapsed figure, relinquishing his entranced ego to the hypnotic lyrics, embodied the potency of mysticism where old foundations are dissolved to pave ways for new alternatives.”
Artwork photo provided by Kohesi Initiaitves.
Read the full review on Artforum here.
