Timoteus Anggawan Kusno: Phantoms

The "Phantoms" video series is an artistic endeavor that comprises two complementary moving-image works, Reversal and Terra Incognita. Both of these works share the same Indonesian title, "Luka dan Bisa Kubawa Berlari." The videos are the outcome of Timoteus Anggawan Kusno winning the Han Nefkens Foundation - Loop Barcelona Video Art Production Grant 2021, in collaboration with Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing; MoCA Taipei; ILHAM Gallery, Kuala Lumpur; Centre d'Art Contemporain, Genève and Art Hub Copenhagen. Additionally, the series features a third part, After Colossus, an ongoing research project by the artist scheduled to conclude in 2024. Kusno created this series, in collaboration with the jathilan trance dancer community, to explore the circular perception of time and the organic cultural resistance to the idea of high culture primarily centered around the Javanese elite feudal circle. The trance state that the dancers' experience allows them to express and release the repressed experiences without the constraints of language and order. At the same time, jathilan serves as a space where the past and future briefly intersect. In this state of trance, the vision of the future can temporarily meet the ancestral spirit in a dancer's body. Through this project, Kusno aims to emphasize the significance of alternative cultural practices in resisting dominant cultural norms. The collaboration with the jathilan trance dancer community facilitates a more profound exploration of the complexities of cultural identity and resistance. The ongoing research project promises to expand on these themes and provide new insights into the relationship between culture, time, and resistance.