Born in 1976 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Kuswidananto, also known as Jompet, studied broadcasting in Gadjah Mada University in 1999. He started his career as a musician, producing albums and directing performance art. His artistic approach is influenced by Teater Garasi, a Yogyakarta-based theatre group that bridges traditional and contemporary artforms. Jompet has exhibited in 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (2005), 3rd Yokohama Triennale (2008), Biennale Cuvee (2009) and 10th Lyon Biennale (2009).‘Java's Machine: Phantasmagoria’ gives visible expression to Indonesia’s inter-cultural relationships and is created using a combination of technology, fusing tradition with the contemporary. The phantom royal soldiers are clad in Western uniforms and wear Buddhist hats, while their weaponry are Javanese spears or Dutch rifles. The drum march that accompanies the installation is a Western percussion played with a Javanese rhythm. The dominant Javanese culture haunts Jompet’s installation: instead of preserving their folklore at all costs and turning it into a hermetic identity, the Javanese, over the centuries, appropriated all the nation’s different cultures, and in the process became creoles in their own land.
