Galih Johar

Galih Johar has a background in ceramics. His exploration of clay as a medium leads to philosophical questions about the substance of the medium itself. Various substances found in soil such as calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, and silica are also found in the human body. Calcium, potassium and ferrum are important for the human body, but the same substances can also be found in sophisticated hardware such as computers. The same form, object and material - thus according to Galih - have infinite potential to transform into any form. Galih Johar's play and combination of artistic forms that seem mischievous and like "anything goes" obtain their 'political' statements through the shifting meanings of each object.

The work O-tosane Sulfonamide Ajidride is part of his art project series, Tosan Edgy which began in 2020. This work explores the reinterpretation of traditional heirloom forms, especially in the Javanese cultural environment called 'tosan aji' (tosan: iron; aji: sacred or powerful). Tosan Aji is a symbol of established identity, referring to metal heirlooms such as the keris, spear, or sword, which are seen as harboring historical, magical, symbolic, and even spiritual values. Galih twists the meaning and makes fun of the words, composing parodic expressions, and even irony, from 'tosan aji' to 'tosan edgy'. He transformed the forms of old heirlooms that are considered to inherit magical powers such as keris, spear, kujang, and trident in this exhibition space into the new forms of hard candy pop sticks. These objects look tempting, colorful, pop, with food-grade content that arouses the desire to be consumed. All the old things have lost their magic in the present.
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Galih Johar was born in Bantul, Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) in 1990. He graduated from the Department of Ceramics, Faculty of Fine Arts, Indonesia Institute of the Arts (ISI), Yogyakarta, 2017.