Commonwealth and Council presents Ghost strokes, Julian Abraham “Togar”’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles. Comprising an immersive bioskop with two films, a set of photographs, and several signage-paintings, the installation invites one to play with and become part of the auditory and visual scenography. Evincing the artist’s multifaceted, trans-disciplinary practice, Ghost strokes highlights several connections to the underlying themes of his work: the interplay of invisible systems, subtle interventions, and layered realities.

In drumming, ghost strokes refer to the controlled motion where the drummer adjusts stick height and wrist movement to create a quiet note, barely perceptible yet crucial to the rhythm. The “ghost” element—the intangibility or ephemerality—resonates with Togar’s focus on micro and macro systems—whether social, environmental, or technological—that are often unseen but nonetheless shape the world around us. Meanwhile, the “strokes” speak to his interest in small interventions, where even the slightest shift can create ripple effects across larger contexts.

The show Ghost strokes is anti-acousmatic in the sense that all sources of sound—in the films as well—are present and laid bare. The main installation BIOSPOKE (since 2024) converts the gallery’s physical space to a bioskop, or a cinema, and exhorts one to spend time and become immersed in the installation. Togar’s practice is indeed spatial. In 2019, Togar held two solo exhibitions that transformed their respective spaces: Ulah tanah (Mischievous earth) at RUCI Art Space, which turned the gallery into a gym with ceramic roof tile weights, and Melintas bunyi (Trackings sound) at RUBANAH Underground Hub, an automated concert exploring artists’ engagement with sound in exhibition histories in Indonesia since the seventies.

One has two options upon entering the space. To view the screen or to step behind it. The first option is not necessarily a passive role with a fixed gaze onto a single screen. Signages scattered across the room demand attention. A carousel of black and white photographs showing various horn-speaker-installations against the sky surround the screen. Two horn speakers and a stereo sound system also frame the screen, subtly echoed in the film’s projected imagery. At moments, shadows of the percussive installation Acoustic Analogue Digitally Composed #15 (AADC #15), 2024 emerge on the screen. Its sound is acoustic, grounding the imagery in the material presence of sound. Much like wayang (shadow puppet theatre), the automated percussive installation AADC #15 is actually present behind the screen on which a film, That is not still (2024), is being projected upon.

The alternative option to encounter the work—to be behind the screen—reveals the mechanics of the installation: the controller program, the AADC #15 percussive instrument, and its lighting source. While the installation is automated, a set of drum sticks is present as if beckoning one to pick them up and beat the drums. And one may, contributing to BIOSPOKE’s sonic landscape. Togar’s practice is one that involves as he has practiced through various iterations of OK Studio (since 2020)—an evolving platform featuring sound installations, instruments, and a communal space for creative exchange. It began with a message taped to the window—I take no pleasure in saying it but I think life is good—visible in reverse from inside. Over two years, it became a hub for jam sessions, album production, radio broadcasts, screenings, and discussions.

First presented in the 15th Gwangju Biennale in 2024, this iteration of BIOSPOKE involves more imagery and sounds. Two works remain in this iteration. The first, the percussive installation AADC #15, is another exploration of ‘the physicality of sound’ which, according to the curator and critic June Yap, appears both in its emergence and embodiment. Without any special prescriptive directions or restrictions, one may watch, play with, or ignore it. The second, the film That is not still (2024), dwells on how sound is being recorded, amplified, perceived, and distributed throughout the history of politics, military, cinema, as well as folk tales. Propagandas by the military are told in a manner akin to folk tales. Both modes of storytelling have a tenuous relationship to facts or data and communicate on a more mythical, mystical, or urban-legends register. And they both also can touch on and shape people’s fear—for benign and nefarious purposes—as is suggested in the film.

Two new additions to BIOSPOKE are: 1) a film That must follow (2025), shot in the factory that manufactures horn speakers and megaphones, the two oldest known electronic amplifiers of human voices; and 2) a carousel of photographs depicting the installation as staged in Java, That mentioned above (2025). Both works, along with the signage-paintings across the gallery, trails Togar’s investigation of sound as matter, whether sound matters, and potentialities of synesthesia.

After a decade of working with, alongside, and for each other, Ghost strokes, for me, conjures the active, attentive, and playful roles Togar engages with in his practice, constantly intertwining with and reshaping the systems he encounters.

—Grace Samboh

Julian Abraham “Togar” (b. 1987, Medan; lives and works in Yogyakarta) is an artist whose practice spans multiple disciplines, engaging with sound/music, DIY engineering, research, biohacking, activism, and more. Solo exhibitions have been held at Nottingham Contemporary (2024); RUBANAH Underground Hub, Jakarta (2024, 2019); SculptureCenter, Queens (2023); and Cemeti-Institute for Art and Society, Yogyakarta (2018). Selected group exhibitions and performances have been held at PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv (2024); 15th Gwangju Biennale (2024); Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta (2024); 13th Taipei Biennial (2023); EMPAC, Troy (2023); 58th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (2022); documenta fifteen, Kassel (2022); 17th Istanbul Biennial (2022); National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta (2022); National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2019); and ROH Projects, Jakarta (2016).

Togar’s work is in the collections of Cc Foundation, Shanghai; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum; Kadist Foundation; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; and Singapore Art Museum.

Grace Samboh (b. 1984, Jakarta; lives and works in Yogyakarta) questions too many things at once and believes that everybody needs three copies of themselves. Through curatorial work, research, and writings, Samboh unravels social realities in the past and situates them in contemporary practices. Samboh is attached to the research group Hyphen— (since 2011) and affiliated with RUBANAH Underground Hub (since 2019).

Acknowledgments:

RUBANAH Underground Hub, Andi Iswanto, Budi Laksono, Iqbal “Encik” Marekan, Jumaldi Alfi, Jeong Heon Ki, Leo Prima, M. Yaser Arafat, Nyak Ina Raseuki (Ubiet), Rachel K. Surijata, Riyan Tri Wardoyo, SaRang Building, Sophia Park, Tafsir (Nasir), Warsito