ROH is pleased to present our inaugural presentation in Art Basel in Basel Statements, a solo presentation of Julian Abraham “Togar” (b. 1987, Indonesia) a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and pseudo-scientist, with his site-specific project An OK_space To Rest, a space designated for rest containing a sonic installation. An OK_space To Rest is itself derived from Togar’s continuing OK Studio (2020-ongoing), emphasizing an integral aspect of how a studio may act as a site of rest in lieu of a site of production.
Begun during the global pandemic, OK Studio was initiated as an ongoing/research project for the purpose of creating a space to co-exercise, co-experiment, co-instigate, co-investigate, co-practice, co-produce, co-distribute various ways and forms of listening in an active position to navigate different sounds as well as where they come from, as well as in relation to everyday life.
For Statements, Togar’s aim is to create a resting space accompanied with installations containing musical instruments, audio works, kinetic sculptures, which express the "ongoing-ness" of his expansive art making form, in conversation with each other upon a newly commissioned carpet made by the artist in homage to the writer, artist and mystical realist Danarto, whose lifework contributed significantly to the field of visual acoustic poetry in Indonesia. References to Danarto’s poetry book, Habis Tak Sudah (Over Yet Undone), can be traced within the visual elements of the carpets, hereafter acting as a temporary space for congregation and respite. An OK_space To Rest incorporates an open, self-playing composition, with an instrumental system containing an ocean drum, shruti box, a gong, and megaphone, inviting the audience to lay down on a carpet and become immersed by sounds surrounding them through active listening and observation. These percussive sounds will be complemented by a video of fermenting juices, another critical aspect to his practice. Togar is also presenting his ongoing Signage series that include text paintings drawn from sonic culture—sign-like bearing slogans such as "Butterflies Inside the Belly of the Beast" and “An Ounce Of Luck A Pound Of Wisdom A Ton Of Money And Lots Of Friends"
ROH
Art Basel in Basel Statements 2024
Hall 2.1 Booth M18
Messe Basel
Messeplatz 10
4058 Basel
Switzerland
Artist
Julian Abraham “Togar” engages in extensive research resulting in analytically focused artworks that often combine installation, sound, music, programming, and science. Most, if not all, of his transdisciplinary practice derives from rhythms and systems, which, depending
on the context of engagement, may consist of preserving, initiating, intervening, supporting, negotiating, hacking or questioning. He is often considering how to function within surrounding realities, and is constantly fascinated by the fact that even small interventions can bring forth changes geared towards the formation of new, sustainable support structures.
Togar's most recent solo presentation was An OK_space To Rest with ROH at Art Basel in Basel, Messe Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2024). He has held numerous solo exhibitions at various institutions around the globe such as REꓘONCILIATION at Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2024); Too Good to be OK at SculptureCenter, New York, USA (2023); Ulah Tanah (Mischievous Earth) at Ruci Art Space, Jakarta, Indonesia (2019); Melintas Bunyi (Tracking Sound) at Rubanah Underground Hub, Jakarta, Indonesia (2019); ~IIINNNGGG~ at Cemeti - Institute for Art and Society, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2018); Sebelum Gendang (Before the Drum) at Kedai Kebun Forum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2017); Museum of Takeshi Bonsai at Calamari Inc. & Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (2016); Alami Tanah (Experiencing Earth) at Jatiwangi art Factory Gallery, Majalengka, Indonesia (2015); Pekak Badak at GEDEGAP, Medan, Indonesia (2015). His group exhibition include 13th Taipei Biennial: Small World at Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (2023); Shifting Center at EMPAC, Troy, New York, USA (2023); 58th Carnegie International: Is it morning for you yet? at Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, USA (2022); documenta fifteen: Meydan #03 at Sanderhaus, Kassel, Germany (2022); Rijksakademie Open Studios 2021, Studio A28, Rijksakademie building, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2021); Viral Self-Portrait, online exhibition by Moderna Galerija/Museum of Modern Art, Ljublana, Slovenia (2020); Pekan Komponis Indonesia at Teater Kecil Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, Indonesia (2019) and Unorganised Response at Auto Italia South East, London, UK (2019).
Copyright belongs to The Artist
Photography and videography by Andrea Rossetti
Documentation Courtesy of The Artist and ROH