Description

Powder coated steel substructure with Balinese Bronze Gongs (10 Trompong, 2 Reyong, Kempur 60cm, Gong 80cm, kempli and klentong tuned to Pelog Nem Kebyar), anodized aluminum and wood robotic mallets with physical computing system.

Previously Exhibited: Palazzo Grimani Museum Venice, Art Central Hong Kong, Governers Island Art Fair

Within this work there is a direct correlation with the mythology of the Phoenix. The gongs themselves are born from the ashes as they are smelt and pounded into shape from the fire. The Gamelatron project in its own way gives new life from the pyre – a rebirth, a re-imagined future to the tradition of gamelan and its social context. Many historians trace the Phoenix or the Brahminy kite bird (which is a red winged and often found in Java) to the Garuda, a mythic bird of destruction in the Hindu diaspora. Kebangkitan (Resurrection): The Red Birds shows how birth (or rebirth) and destruction are intertwined.