Innocent Rehearsal: Ball, Paper, Blade
Group show
HU Yinping, Jaffa LAM, Peter LIVERSIDGE, Moe SATT, Tromarama, Meng ZHANG
Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing
14 March – 30 April 2026
Group show
HU Yinping, Jaffa LAM, Peter LIVERSIDGE, Moe SATT, Tromarama, Meng ZHANG
Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing
14 March – 30 April 2026
Interview with Tromarama
The following interview is conducted by curator Dr. Penny Dan Xu and artist collective Tromarama as part of the group exhibition Innocent Rehearsal: Ball, Paper, Blade held at Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing.
Penny Dan Xu
It’s a pleasure to sit down with Febie, Herbert, and Ruddy to discuss your nearly twenty years of practice. To give our audience a systematic overview, I’ve categorized your journey into three main phases: the early period of high-intensity manual stop-motion; the shift around 2015 toward exploring reality and representation in digital media; and since 2022, a focus on social media as a "new economy model". Does this summary capture your evolution accurately?
Penny Dan Xu
How did you move from the physical labor of animation to focusing on digital screens and social media?
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Quandary, Two channel video, sync, sound, 3 min 47 sec, 2016
Penny Dan Xu
I see. Was this reflection the background for Quandary (2016), which is in this exhibition?
Penny Dan Xu
Moving forward to 2022, your focus shifted toward studying social media as an economic system. How does PICNIC fit into this stage?
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Penny Dan Xu
You’ve mentioned that the "frontend" of global systems pushes us toward a "single global experience," while the "backend" remains local. How is this "local reality" activated in your work?
Penny Dan Xu
What inspired you to bring real human performers so directly into your mechanical systems?
Penny Dan Xu
Many artists are making work about AI. Why did you wait until now to start?
Penny Dan Xu
How does the performance work within this AI environment?
Penny Dan Xu
As a collective that has worked together for nearly twenty years, how do you stay in sync? Do you ever vote if you disagree?
Penny Dan Xu
Thank you all for sharing these insights. We look forward to seeing your new work.
Interview Tromarama
Click here to download Interview
Image courtesy of the artist and Tabula Rasa Gallery.
ABOUT THE ARTIST COLLECTIVE
Tromarama is an artist collective based in Indonesia, founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. Their work plays with the connections between technology, society, and daily routines. Using video, installations, and interventions with everyday objects, their projects often explore the thin line between labor and leisure within online platforms. They are interested in how digital platforms reshape social behaviors and economic practices, exposing the tensions and contradictions inherent in this evolving landscape. They live and work between Bandung and Jakarta. Major solo exhibitions include Ping Inside Noisy Giraffe, SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation, Seoul (2025); Auto Ally, Document, Chicago (2024); Deep Pressure, Document, Paris+ (2023); Contraflow, Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong (2023); MOTHERTHUMB, ROH, Liste Art Fair, Basel (2023); Personalia, ROH, Jakarta (2022); and The Lost Jungle, Museum MACAN, Jakarta (2021). Earlier solo projects include OTW, Ark Galerie, Jakarta (2013); KIDULT, Tembi Contemporary, Jogjakarta (2011); and MAM PROJECT 012, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010).
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Dr. Penny Dan XU is a London-based independent curator with over 13 years of experience across the globe’s major cultural hubs, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, and Brussels. Holding a PhD in Art History, she is the founder of Across Platform, a non-profit community dedicated to scholarly research and independent knowledge production. In addition to her curatorial practice, she serves as an advisor to the art organization Baopu FELT. Her curatorial practice champions multi-layered collaborations between researchers, artists, and curators, fostering a dynamic synergy of diverse intellectual backgrounds. By navigating the intersections of disparate media and geographies, she seeks to ignite profound dialogues that transcend boundaries. She is the recipient of the 2025 Hyundai Blue Prize.
The following interview is conducted by curator Dr. Penny Dan Xu and artist collective Tromarama as part of the group exhibition Innocent Rehearsal: Ball, Paper, Blade held at Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing.
Penny Dan Xu
It’s a pleasure to sit down with Febie, Herbert, and Ruddy to discuss your nearly twenty years of practice. To give our audience a systematic overview, I’ve categorized your journey into three main phases: the early period of high-intensity manual stop-motion; the shift around 2015 toward exploring reality and representation in digital media; and since 2022, a focus on social media as a "new economy model". Does this summary capture your evolution accurately?
Tromarama
Yes, that is largely correct, as we were indeed obsessed with stop-motion animation from our founding in 2006 until around 2015. At that critical turning point, we began to question what "animation" actually meant in an age where we increasingly experience the world through its representations rather than direct encounters.
Yes, that is largely correct, as we were indeed obsessed with stop-motion animation from our founding in 2006 until around 2015. At that critical turning point, we began to question what "animation" actually meant in an age where we increasingly experience the world through its representations rather than direct encounters.
Penny Dan Xu
How did you move from the physical labor of animation to focusing on digital screens and social media?
Tromarama
The shift was triggered by the changing social environment in Indonesia around 2015, when smartphones and the internet became ubiquitous. A specific catalyst was a conversation between Febie and her mother, who was deeply shocked by a hyper-realistic computer-generated image of a war on WhatsApp, believing it was a real photograph. This made us realize that people have become used to perceiving whatever pops up on their screens as the absolute truth. We wanted to use our work to create a gap or distance between people and their screens to disturb this relationship.
Quandary, Two channel video, sync, sound, 3 min 47 sec, 2016
I see. Was this reflection the background for Quandary (2016), which is in this exhibition?
Tromarama
Exactly, as Quandary is a two-channel video installation that explores cause and effect through visual logic. On the left screen, an object slides off a table, and on the right screen, it lands on the ground. While it appears to follow the linear logic of gravity, there is no real-time physical connection between the screens, making the sequence fabricated. This disruption creates an "unsatisfying feeling" for the viewer, which we use to invite people to slow down and reflect on how digital media manipulates our perception of time, space, and causality.
Exactly, as Quandary is a two-channel video installation that explores cause and effect through visual logic. On the left screen, an object slides off a table, and on the right screen, it lands on the ground. While it appears to follow the linear logic of gravity, there is no real-time physical connection between the screens, making the sequence fabricated. This disruption creates an "unsatisfying feeling" for the viewer, which we use to invite people to slow down and reflect on how digital media manipulates our perception of time, space, and causality.
Penny Dan Xu
Moving forward to 2022, your focus shifted toward studying social media as an economic system. How does PICNIC fit into this stage?
Tromarama
PICNIC (2022) focuses on the blurred lines between labor and leisure in the digital economy. The title is a common programmer's acronym for "Problem in Chair, Not in Computer," which suggests that the core issue lies with user consciousness rather than technical failure. In this system, acts of leisure like swiping or liking are actually forms of "digital labor" that provide capital to platforms. The overlapping images of 3D-scanned thumbs in the work serve as a literal portrait of this 24-hour digital workforce.
PICNIC (2022) focuses on the blurred lines between labor and leisure in the digital economy. The title is a common programmer's acronym for "Problem in Chair, Not in Computer," which suggests that the core issue lies with user consciousness rather than technical failure. In this system, acts of leisure like swiping or liking are actually forms of "digital labor" that provide capital to platforms. The overlapping images of 3D-scanned thumbs in the work serve as a literal portrait of this 24-hour digital workforce.
PICNIC #2, Lenticular print mounting on aluminium dibond, 150 x 150 cm, 2024
Penny Dan Xu
You’ve mentioned that the "frontend" of global systems pushes us toward a "single global experience," while the "backend" remains local. How is this "local reality" activated in your work?
Tromarama
We activate it through the unpredictable chemical reaction between performers. In our recent experimentation “Studio Session”,we invite performers who do not know each other to interact within our system of instructions. While the logic of the system is universal, the energy and raw emotions that emerge when these individuals try to find common ground are completely unique and impossible to replicate. This fleeting interaction represents the "backend" locality that breaks the system's attempt to unify our experience.
We activate it through the unpredictable chemical reaction between performers. In our recent experimentation “Studio Session”,we invite performers who do not know each other to interact within our system of instructions. While the logic of the system is universal, the energy and raw emotions that emerge when these individuals try to find common ground are completely unique and impossible to replicate. This fleeting interaction represents the "backend" locality that breaks the system's attempt to unify our experience.
Penny Dan Xu
What inspired you to bring real human performers so directly into your mechanical systems?
Tromarama
It originated from a casual visit by an artist friend to our residency in Paris. While watching our automated recorder installation, he naturally walked up and started interfering with the machine by pressing the holes of the flute to change the notes. This gesture was a huge stimulus for us, as it revealed a deep human instinct to touch and participate in cold systems. This experience directly led to our new ideas about bringing performers into the work to "contest" or "interfere" with machine instructions.
It originated from a casual visit by an artist friend to our residency in Paris. While watching our automated recorder installation, he naturally walked up and started interfering with the machine by pressing the holes of the flute to change the notes. This gesture was a huge stimulus for us, as it revealed a deep human instinct to touch and participate in cold systems. This experience directly led to our new ideas about bringing performers into the work to "contest" or "interfere" with machine instructions.
Penny Dan Xu
Many artists are making work about AI. Why did you wait until now to start?
Tromarama
We waited because we hadn't found the right question until we began reflecting on where human agency exists within AI-generated landscapes. For our 2026 premiere at The Kitchen in New York, we used AI to reinterpret the text of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa, a comic we read as children. These AI-generated lyrics are converted into binary code to activate 32 physical instruments, specifically soprano recorders and pianikas, which were the mandatory instruments we had to master in elementary school to graduate.
We waited because we hadn't found the right question until we began reflecting on where human agency exists within AI-generated landscapes. For our 2026 premiere at The Kitchen in New York, we used AI to reinterpret the text of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa, a comic we read as children. These AI-generated lyrics are converted into binary code to activate 32 physical instruments, specifically soprano recorders and pianikas, which were the mandatory instruments we had to master in elementary school to graduate.
Penny Dan Xu
How does the performance work within this AI environment?
Tromarama
The performers have only one rule: whenever their lamp turns on, they must perform. While their movements are spontaneous, the timing is absolutely locked by the instructions. Seeing professional musicians struggle with these minimal, mechanical commands creates a tension that reveals raw, human emotions. Seeing them navigate that struggle was so intense that it gave us goosebumps during the sessions.
The performers have only one rule: whenever their lamp turns on, they must perform. While their movements are spontaneous, the timing is absolutely locked by the instructions. Seeing professional musicians struggle with these minimal, mechanical commands creates a tension that reveals raw, human emotions. Seeing them navigate that struggle was so intense that it gave us goosebumps during the sessions.
Penny Dan Xu
As a collective that has worked together for nearly twenty years, how do you stay in sync? Do you ever vote if you disagree?
Tromarama
We vote occasionally, but it is mostly about objective discussion to ensure everyone understands the logic of an idea. We describe our dynamic through two analogies. The first imagines Tromarama as a single body: Febie as the tongue, Ruddy as the eyes, and Herbert as the hands. The second is a soccer metaphor, where roles like playmaker, goalkeeper, or striker shift organically throughout the process to keep the ball moving. We view fighting as a healthy sign because it means everyone cares deeply about the work. Ultimately, we embrace creation as a fluid, ongoing process rather than sticking rigidly to an initial idea.
We vote occasionally, but it is mostly about objective discussion to ensure everyone understands the logic of an idea. We describe our dynamic through two analogies. The first imagines Tromarama as a single body: Febie as the tongue, Ruddy as the eyes, and Herbert as the hands. The second is a soccer metaphor, where roles like playmaker, goalkeeper, or striker shift organically throughout the process to keep the ball moving. We view fighting as a healthy sign because it means everyone cares deeply about the work. Ultimately, we embrace creation as a fluid, ongoing process rather than sticking rigidly to an initial idea.
Penny Dan Xu
Thank you all for sharing these insights. We look forward to seeing your new work.
Tromarama
Thank you!
Thank you!
Interview Tromarama
Click here to download Interview
Image courtesy of the artist and Tabula Rasa Gallery.
ABOUT THE ARTIST COLLECTIVE
Tromarama is an artist collective based in Indonesia, founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. Their work plays with the connections between technology, society, and daily routines. Using video, installations, and interventions with everyday objects, their projects often explore the thin line between labor and leisure within online platforms. They are interested in how digital platforms reshape social behaviors and economic practices, exposing the tensions and contradictions inherent in this evolving landscape. They live and work between Bandung and Jakarta. Major solo exhibitions include Ping Inside Noisy Giraffe, SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation, Seoul (2025); Auto Ally, Document, Chicago (2024); Deep Pressure, Document, Paris+ (2023); Contraflow, Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong (2023); MOTHERTHUMB, ROH, Liste Art Fair, Basel (2023); Personalia, ROH, Jakarta (2022); and The Lost Jungle, Museum MACAN, Jakarta (2021). Earlier solo projects include OTW, Ark Galerie, Jakarta (2013); KIDULT, Tembi Contemporary, Jogjakarta (2011); and MAM PROJECT 012, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010).
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Dr. Penny Dan XU is a London-based independent curator with over 13 years of experience across the globe’s major cultural hubs, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, and Brussels. Holding a PhD in Art History, she is the founder of Across Platform, a non-profit community dedicated to scholarly research and independent knowledge production. In addition to her curatorial practice, she serves as an advisor to the art organization Baopu FELT. Her curatorial practice champions multi-layered collaborations between researchers, artists, and curators, fostering a dynamic synergy of diverse intellectual backgrounds. By navigating the intersections of disparate media and geographies, she seeks to ignite profound dialogues that transcend boundaries. She is the recipient of the 2025 Hyundai Blue Prize.
Tabula Rasa Gallery (London)
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Hoxton, London
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