We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
TROMARAMA / Indonesia est.2004 / Wattt?! (still) 2010 / Single-channel stop motion video animation: 5:48 minutes, colour, sound / Purchased 2011 through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists
TROMARAMAWattt?! 2010
Not Currently on Display
Wattt?! 2010 was developed in response to TROMARAMA receiving an exorbitant electricity bill. The artists imagined what antics their household appliances could have been up to in warranting such excessive costs. The video captures lamps, torches and light bulbs sneaking through a house at night, congregating in the lounge room for a party.
The works of young Indonesian artist collective TROMARAMA are characterised by a playful use of stop-motion animation and video featuring everyday objects. TROMARAMA was formed in 2004 by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans Maruli and Ruddy Alexander Hatumena, while all were students at the Bandung Institute of Technology.
TROMARAMA seeks unconventional ways of making videos. Everyday objects, such as buttons, beads and domestic appliances, are painstakingly animated by hand so they may assume a new life beyond their original purpose. TROMARAMA’s practice is indicative of a flourishing DIY aesthetic in Indonesia, which has emerged from the necessity to ‘make do’ with the materials and technology at hand.