Algorithms are becoming increasingly complex, its definition becoming vast in tandem and parallel to time. Utilizing the search engine as permutation of an algorithm then, Novali looks towards himself through this vast trove of information. Typing his own name into the tab results in interesting findings through various changes in inputs. Who is the Aditya Novali that exists on http:// and what does this generated information have to do in relation to reality?
In fact, what does identity even mean in relation to the truths, half-truths, non-truths that exist in the form of electronic memory?
Pastrana completed a short-residency in Bandung, Indonesia in June 2017, during which he met and consulted with Syaiful Garibaldi, resulting in one particular work that was presented in his solo exhibition clock map knife mirrors. In Conversation, playing at intervals on both screens are documentations of Pastrana’s search for earthworms at a certain yard in his own place of residency, images of texts of the artist’s personal musings or questions about his own process, as well images of texts that seem to be answers to his own questions.
These are interviews with the self, so to speak. What had started as a certain fascination on the image of conjoining and splitting worms have become a staged search for these agents of cohesion and divisibility.
Syaiful Garibaldi’s newer body of works provides a glimpse into a number of Garibaldi’s different aesthetic interests, with a particular concentration in this case to human flesh and its decomposition. The decomposition of human flesh is commonly associated with negative connotations, especially with notions related to death. It is these kinds of preconceived notions, however, that Garibaldi often looks back upon and re-contextualizes.
It is, in fact, through decomposition that Garibaldi instead observes a sense of reincarnation, or restoration of matter, into different forms of life.
Artists
Born 1978, Surakarta, Indonesia
Lives and works in Surakarta, Indonesia
Aditya Novali received his Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture from Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Bandung, Indonesia, in 2002; and an IM Master of Conceptual Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 2008. Novali works with a variety of materials, often first conceiving an idea and then finding the right medium to transcribe his vision. His background in architecture influences his sensitivity to structure, space, and knowledge of construction – key elements of his approach and aesthetic. Addressing themes such as boundaries, identities, materialism, and urban life, Novali’s work interacts with the viewer and transforms with each viewing.
Novali’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and institutions both locally and internationally. Some of his previous exhibitions include recent solo presentations New Obsolescence: ADITYAVOVALI at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2023); WHY at Tumurun Museum, Solo, Indonesia (2022); ME:DI:UM with ROH Projects at Liste Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland (2019); Significant Other at ShanghArt Gallery, Singapore (2019); Caprice with ROH Projects at Art Basel Hong Kong: Discoveries, Hong Kong (2018); and ACRYLIC at ROH Projects, Jakarta, Indonesia (2016); and notable group presentations Dhaka Art Summit: বন্যা/Bonna, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2023); On Muzharul Islam: Surfacing Intention at Dhaka Art Summit: Seismic Movements, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2020); The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia (2018); DIASPORA: Exit, Exile, Exodus of Southeast Asia, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand (2018); The 15th Asia Art Festival: Multiple Spectacle Art from Asia, Ningbo Art Museum, Ningbo, China (2017); Imaginary Synonym, Tokyo Wonder Site, Japan (2016); Aku Diponegoro, National Gallery of Indonesia, Indonesia (2015); Shout! Indonesian Contemporary Art, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (MACRO), Italy (2014); Little Water, Dojima River Biennale, Osaka, Japan (2013); South East Asia (SEA)+ Triennale, National Gallery of Indonesia, Indonesia (2013); Of Human Scale and Beyond: Experience and Transcendence, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2012). Novali was nominated for Best Emerging Artist Using Installation at the 2016 Prudential Eye Awards in Singapore; Finalist in the 2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize, and awarded Best Artwork in the Bandung Contemporary Art Awards (BaCAA) in the same year.
View ArtistCopyright belongs to The Artists
Photography by Charlie Wang and ROH
Courtesy of The Artists and ROH