ROH is pleased to return to the 2023 edition of Liste Art Fair Basel, its 28th edition so far, exhibiting a site-specificproject by Indonesian artists collective Tromarama, entitled MOTHERTHUMB. Teasing on the wordplay "mothertongue", the artists touch upon the increasing sense of nativity by which society is transitioning its collectiveconsciousness into the realm of operating systems and digital interfaces, as well as how the thumb is increasingly becoming the primary conduit to communicate in this new reality relative to one’s own tongue. The works engage with the blurring of labor and leisure in the digital world, in which Tromarama upends the function of objects associated with leisure to discuss notions of labor, and vice versa.
Two of the works in the presentation, Gala and Loaded contain algorithms generating binary codes that are in turn derived from live Twitter posts that contain different hashtags. The account holders generating these specific tweets, therefore, become unintended agents in the actual manifestation of the works themselves. In the case of Gala, an 8-channel video and sound installation depicting the artists themselves wearing different masks representing the notion of shape-shifting avatars and identities in the digital world is activated by the hashtag #compete. Whereas Loaded contains a small monitor screen that shows the backend of the algorithm and the livetweets being generated in real-time that contain the hashtag #force.
Liste Art Fair Basel
Booth 7
12 - 18 June 2023
Messe Basel, Hall 1.1
VIP Preview
12 June, 11:00 - 18:00
Public Opening
12 June, 18:00 - 20:00
Public Days:
13 - 17 June, 12:00 - 20:00
18 June, 11:00 - 16:00
Artist
Art collective formed in 2006
Tromarama is an art collective consisting of Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, and Ruddy Hatumena whose artistic interests include the notion of hyperreality and interrelationships between the virtual and the physical worlds. Their art often combines video, installation, and algorithmic based computer programming.
Tromarama has participated in major exhibitions at various notable institutions worldwide. Selected solo exhibitions namely Auto Ally at DOCUMENT Space, Chicago, USA (2024); Contraflow at Kiang Malingue, Tin Wan, Hong Kong (2023); PERSONALIA at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2022); Beta at DOCUMENT Space, Chicago, USA (2021) and at Paris Internationale with ROH Projects, Paris, France (2019); LLIMIIINALL at Edouard Malingue Gallery, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (2019); Amphibia at Centre A, Vancouver, Canada (2017); and Tromarama at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands (2015). Notable special projects include Tromarama: The Lost Jungle at the Children’s Art Space at Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia (2021-2022); Madakaripura with Edouard Malingue Gallery in Islington, London, UK (2020); and Private Riots at Encounters, Art Basel Hong Kong presented by Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong (2016). Tromarama’s selected group exhibitions include Digital Diaries at Julia Stoschek Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany (2024); Kunsthal Charlottenborg Biennale: Public Structures in Copenhagen, Denmark (2023); 84 Steps at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2023); CLOUD WALKERS at Leeum Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea (2022); NOT IN MY NAME at CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel (2022); 1 at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2022); The Turn of the Fifth Age at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia (2021); NGV Triennial at National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2020); Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia at National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia (2019); The Extra Extra Ordinary at Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, Philippines (2018); Cinerama at Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2017); Jakarta Biennale 2015: Neither Back nor Forward: Acting in the Present at Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem, Jakarta, Indonesia (2015); and the 11th Gwangju Biennale: The Eighth Climate (What Does Art Do?) in Gwangju, South Korea (2016); and more. Tromarama is the commissioned artist for the moving image work screened on the M+ Facade, M+ Museum, Hong Kong in the third quarter of 2023.
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Photography by The Artist
Courtesy of The Artist and ROH