The atmosphere on Friday afternoon (12/11) at the Jogja National Museum (JNM) Block was as if suddenly thrown in the middle of a rain forest. The electronic humming mingled with the sound of nature enchants listeners with a strange melody.
The sound was played through the speakers in the Pendapa Ajiyasa. This live performance is Radio Isolasido’s artwork which is carried out using digital audio elements.
The smell of wet soil, plus the air that was still humid after the rain seemed to agree with the music being played.
This show was actually not planned, said Wowok, also known as Wok The Rock, one of the initiators of the Radio Isolasido Collective. Initially, this music was going to be played using a speaker funnel mounted on a banyan tree, but due to technical problems, they eventually used additional speakers.
Radio Isolasido itself is a temporary radio program that’s part of the main exhibition of the Biennale Jogja XVI Equator #6 2021. Their work is presented in parallel in two spaces: FM radio network and online, as well as spatial radio installed in the backyard of the Jogja National Museum.
When asked how he composed the music, Wok The Rock explained that the performance was almost entirely improvised. “Because we use live coding music. So the device uses a computer code using the internet network,” he said.
Meanwhile, the music itself is played by four operators from the Indonesian Algorafe Association. “Here we use different computer OS, some use Linux, Windows, and macOS, and Raspberry Pi,” explained Rangga Purnama Aji, one of the Live Coders.
He further explained that their performance project was a sound experiment with an internet network connection as a response to the Wok The Rock audio installation. “It can be said that live coding is a virtualized time-based art,” added Rangga.
According to one of the visitors to JNM Block, Gregorius Pandu Wijaya, the music he listens to suggests something static and repetitive but provokes concentration, “it’s like there is an ethnic style too. Then with the atmosphere after the rain, which is usually relaxed, listening to this music makes a little sense of mystery rise.”
The longer it went, the melody becomes more rhythmic and fast. The music ended coinciding with the sound of the Maghrib call to prayer.
