Since forming in 2006 in Bandung, Tromarama has produced video, installation, and algorithmic works exploring how digital technologies reshape perception, blur the boundaries between labour and leisure, and turn everyday actions into data and economic value. Moderated by Özge ERSOY, this conversation examines agency, algorithmic control, and the possibilities for more equitable digital futures in the Global South.

Introduction to Tromarama’s Digital Explorations

Forming in Bandung, Indonesia in 2006, the artist collective Tromarama has spent nearly two decades examining the intersection of technology, society, and daily routines. Moderated by Özge Ersoy, the Executive Director of Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong, this conversation featuring collective member Ruddy Hatumena delved into the group’s evolution from analog creation to algorithmic control. The discussion highlighted how Tromarama uses art to expose the contradictions of digital platforms, particularly focusing on the blurring boundaries between labor and leisure, and the transformation of everyday actions into economic value.

From Stop-Motion to Generative Systems

Tromarama’s early practice relied heavily on laborious, handmade stop-motion animations utilizing everyday materials and printmaking techniques. A pivotal shift occurred in 2015 when a family member mistook a screen recording of the video game Counter-Strike for real news, prompting the collective to critically examine screen culture and the fragility of constructed realities. This realization led them to transition from producing fixed images to building interactive systems, developing custom software that abstracts live data feeds—such as translating Twitter hashtags into binary code to trigger physical installations of light and poetry.

The Collision of Leisure and Digital Labor

Central to Tromarama’s recent work is the recognition that seemingly passive leisure activities, like scrolling through social media, actually function as unpaid data labor that generates immense capital for tech platforms. Artworks like Contract and Debit physically manifest this dynamic by using culturally loaded objects—such as instant ramen cups and energy drink cans—to broadcast the audio of twitching human muscles, triggered directly by extracted online data. By translating digital extraction into visceral, mechanical fatigue, the collective transforms the invisible digital economy into a stark, physical diagnosis of human exhaustion and exploitation.

AI, Intuition, and the Act of Play

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly omnipresent, Tromarama’s recent projects, such as Upon a Machine, introduce AI as both a collaborator and a rigid instructor. By having live human performers navigate and improvise against strict algorithmic light cues driven by AI-generated content, the collective questions the balance between human autonomy, intuition, and machine instruction. Ultimately, Tromarama employs the concept of “play” to maintain a critical distance from pervasive technologies, encouraging audiences to slow down, dismantle the black box of digital systems, and uncover the latent power structures shaping everyday life.