ROH is delighted to share Bagus Pandega participation at Poets of Physics, a group exhibition at MCAD, Manila. The exhibition, features the works of Aki Sasamoto, Bagus Pandega, David Medalla, Fischli and Weiss, and Ian Carlo Jaucian, as part of the Benilde Open Design + Art with its theme “Extension of Nature.”
In 1964, David Medalla presented the first iconic bubble machine, an auto-creative work he called “Cloud Canyons,” which continuously generates foam or bubbles to produce ever-changing sculptural forms that exist only temporarily before dissolving and reforming. Medalla would later refer to himself as “a poet who celebrates physics”; after several iterations of the bubble machines, he expanded his exploration of these biokinetic works using sand and mud as active materials.
Drawing its title from Medalla’s quote, “Poets of Physics” explores how contemporary artists have continued this radical proposition of art machines that examine natural conditions while exploring their capacity for transcendence. By working with scientific phenomena not as subjects to be illustrated, but as ”collaborators” in the creation of experiences and understanding, the exhibition becomes an opportunity to remind us that wonder itself is a form of knowledge, and that deep insights about our world emerge when art and science converge in the spirit of poetic discovery.
Bagus Pandega
Poets of Physics
12 February–12 April 2026
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD)
Ground Floor, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
1004 Manila
The exhibition shows works of Aki Sasamoto, Bagus Pandega, David Medalla, Fischli and Weiss, and Ian Carlo Jaucian.
Photos by Jake Verzosa. Courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila.
ARTIST
Born 1985, Jakarta, Indonesia
Lives and works in Bandung, Indonesia
Working primarily through the medium of installation, Bagus Pandega often challenges pre-conditioned relationships between objects and its viewer. In his works, Pandega assembles various electronic systems as ‘modules’ and explores objects such as voice recorders, cassette and record players, lamps and electronic circuit boards— among others— to construct his works. Many of his artworks become activated through the interaction of movement, sound and light.
Pandega received his Bachelor of Arts, majoring in sculpture and his Master of Fine Arts from the Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia in 2008 and 2015 respectively. Pandega’s selected solo exhibitions include Daya Benda at Swiss Institute, New York, US (2025); Sumber Alam at Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2025); 〇 at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2024); Stomata at Esplanade Concourse, Singapore (2024-25); A Pervasive Rhythm at Yamamoto Gendai, Tokyo, Japan (2018); Random Black at ROH Projects, Jakarta, Indonesia (2016); and A Monument That Tells Anything at Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2015). Selected group exhibitions include Still There at 69 ART CAMPUS 艺术中心, Beijing, Republic of China (2024); Bangkok Art Biennale: Nurture Gaia at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Bangkok, Thailand (2024); Frieze Seoul, COEX Convention & Exhibition Center, Seoul, South Korea (2022); WAGIWAGI at documenta fifteen, Hübner areal, Kassel, Germany (2022); Declaring Distance: Bandung — Leiden at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia (2022); AAAAHHH!!! Paris Internationale in Paris, France (2018), all featuring her collaborative work with Kei Imazu; Art Basel Hong Kong with ROH, Hong Kong (2023); The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial at QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia (2021-22); Tiger Orchid presented at Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach (2020); Condo London at Project Native Informant, London, UK (2020); Ripples: Continuity in Indonesian Contemporary Art at Taipei Dangdai, Taipei, Taiwan (2019); Distorted Alteration at Project Fulfill, Taipei, Taiwan (2018); Amsterdam Light Festival, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2017); and Clandestine Transgression at Art Basel Hong Kong: Discoveries with ROH Projects, Hong Kong (2015). After winning third place at Bandung Contemporary Art Awards #2, Pandega completed his first residency at Le Centre Intermondes, La Rochelle, France in 2012. A nominee of the 2016 Sovereign Art Prize, Pandega had also collaborated with Adi Purnomo and Irwan Ahmett in presenting Freedome, Indonesia Pavilion at the London Design Biennale: Utopia by Design in 2016.
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