DOCUMENT is thrilled to announce its debut at Paris+ by Art Basel with Deep Pressure, a solo exhibition by the Indonesian artist collective Tromarama. Established in 2006 in Bandung, Indonesia, Tromarama is formed by Febie Babyrose (b. 1985 Jakarta, Indonesia), Ruddy Hatumena (b. 1984, Manama, Bahrain), and Herbert Hans (b. 1984, Jakarta, Indonesia).
In line with their diverse practice, Deep Pressure is a new iteration of their multi-media and experimental work, showcasing recent and new pieces made exclusively for the fair. The work as a whole explores the interplay between the digital and physical worlds with an emphasis on the contemporary blurring between domestic and work spaces. Following their interest in creating immersive environments, included in the show is Personalia #3 (2023), a custom-made wallpaper that will cover the entirety of the booth’s wall surface, and Debit#2 (2023), an algorithmically-generated sound installation. Two series of holographic mixed-media prints are also included in the show, Dear Oh Dear (2023) and Erratic Feeding (2023), alongside a sculptural video piece, Deep Pressure (2023).
Exhibition Highlights:
Personalia #3 (2023): This custom wallpaper depicting a close-up of a scanned thumb repeating itself ad infinitum will cover the entire wall surface of the booth. Like the word “personnel” in English, the Indonesian term “personalia” is used to refer to the deployment and “management” of an organization’s “human resources.” Just as the word suggests a relationship to traditional corporate structures, it also hints at how it may be translated further into the ever-changing, dynamic realities of the digital world. This work also seeks to raise questions about identity and its evolution in the digital landscape.
Debit#2 (2023): In this installation, an algorithmically generated binary synthesizer breaks apart its sound into 16 speakers placed in individual juice boxes. The installation’s metallic sound is generated as it measures the use of the hashtag “#force” on social media platforms, and alludes to industrial and reconstituted forms of energy.
Deep Pressure (2023): This installation consists of a Thera Cane self-massager and two monitors: while one video captures a group of thumbs moving, the second shows first-person point of view footage of someone wandering around in a computer-generated domestic interior. The work highlights the contemporary collision between moments of leisure and labor, and private and work spaces.
Dear Oh Dear (2023): In these three large prints, images of orchids are screen printed with silver holographic pigment on now-obsolete vintage attendance punch cards. The punch cards reference a pre-digital era when labor productivity was measured via analog means, while the orchid motif points to Jakarta’s largest corporations’ use of orchids in office spaces. The orchids are replaced once they start withering and are no longer productive, just like human labor.
Erratic Feeding (2023): A comment of the blurring of labor and leisurely spaces in the contemporary digital world, these three smaller screen prints also make use of attendance punch cards and silver holographic pigment, this time to print images of doodles. While the punch cards reference obsolete productivity measures, doodles often signify free time and leisure.
About Tromarama:
Tromarama is a Bandung and Jakarta-based artist collective founded in 2006 by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, and Ruddy Hatumena. The three met while studying together at the Institute of Technology of Bandung, and shortly thereafter began creating works that combine video, installation, computer programming, and public participation. Underpinning their artmaking is their collective interest in the influence of digital media on society’s perception of its surroundings. Channeling language, text, wit, and interaction, Tromarama reflects on the cornerstones of Indonesia’s political and cultural environment, and on a form of perceptive engagement in our global hyperreality. A selection of solo exhibitions includes Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong (2023); ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2022); Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia (2021); DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL (2021); Amphibia, Centre A, Vancouver, Canada (2017); the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2015); and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2015).
