Syukrillah
2019 - Photography (Photography)
100 x 100 cm
Julian Abraham
In 2015, while in residence at the Jatiwangi Art Factory (JaF) located in the village of Jatisura in Jatiwangi, West Java, Indonesia, Togar initiated the Jatiwangi Cup in which the artist, together with communities in the area, established an annual bodybuilding contest. The area is renowned for its roof tile factories, and the cup aims to celebrate the factory worker’s physiques, sculpted by intense, daily, physical labor. Togar based the idea of the cup on the simple notion of collectivity. Inspired by the modularity of the roof tiles–each tile looks the same and can only function with other tiles, their destiny can only be fulfilled in their togetherness while having no function alone. The competition, which is still held annually today, aims to create a culture of solidarity between factory workers, the factories, and family businesses. By creating a platform to evoke a sense of pride about their industry bound to physical labor, and relationship with the earth (the roof tiles are sourced entirely locally–from the soil that is cultivated to the glaze and the kilns that have been used for decades). By finding new collective models of working, the cup brings attention to the complexity, skill, and livelihoods tethered to this ailing traditional economy. This photograph, titled Syukrillah , was produced for Togar’s solo exhibition Ulah Tanah (Mischievous Earth) in 2019, and takes the cultural and political points of the Jatiwangi roof tile industry and centers it on ideas of the self, and the community giving way to an exploration of the rural and the cosmopolitan. In the cosmopolitan world, the physiques of these factory workers could only be obtained by following a strict workout regime in the gym. But in the world of these men, their bodies are simply a consequence of cultivating the earth and making tiles. The cup takes the concept of the bodybuilding competition, traditionally associated with machismo, superficiality, and individualism, and turns it into an annual ritual to celebrate humility, togetherness, and tradition.
Julian Abraham “Togar” is an artist, musician, and pseudo-scientist. His work often leaves room for interpretation or to be processed by the audience,—transforming core issues into seemingly easy-to-digest concepts as a tool to educate and engage both society and creative workers—the exterior or the function of the space holds more than what merely meets the eye. He engages in extensive research resulting in analytically focused artworks that often combine installation, sound, music, programming, and science. Togar’s projects regularly foster social engagement through community participation in workshops and instructional programs. The artist is concerned with the relationships and connections between art, the environment, science, and technology. Key outcomes of Togar’s projects are education and the dissemination of specialist scientific knowledge to the broader community.
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