Digital art performances are able to blur the lines between what is real and what is imaginary. In the 2010s, a new form of art installation is bubbling up, including in Indonesia, called Video Mapping.

While video projection art is not shocking news, Video Mapping has become much more ambitious thanks to recent advancement in 3-dimensional-projection mapping. This technology helps create an illusion of multidimensional movement across or around the contours of any surface, regardless of its shape.

Making light as a medium of art, the possibility of Video Mapping is endless. In Indonesia, there were already several digital art shows that people still talk about until this day. Some of the most viral Video Mapping shows are the ‘crumbling’ of the Fatahillah Museum. The artists used VJ-ing (video jockeying) method where the monumental building were augmented by projections and pre-programmed combinations of effect overlays.

Historical buildings are often being used as a ‘canvas’ for Video Mapping artist, as they are perfect for an augmented reality exposure. In Jakarta, the National Museum of Indonesia and the National Monument are some of the historical establishments that were used as Video Mapping’s medium of creativity. There were also performances in Bandung’s landmark Gedung Sate, and also in West Java’s popular tourist attractions CandiPrambanan, TuguJogja and LawangSewu. Each show had made people astounded with how magnificent their reality can be distorted.

Several digital artists in Indonesia are currently seeking for further development of Video Mapping. Especially, they are encouraging young artists to dwell into this art for the future deeper for its limitless creativity platform. One of Indonesia’s Video Mapping artists, Sembilan Matahari, has even won an international competition in Moscow, Russia, among others prestigious winnings.

PHOTOS Kementerian Pendidikan dan Budaya, Sembilan Matahari & Pixabay

Get other stories of digital art development in Asian countries like Hong Kong, Republic Korea, and many others on our current Art Issue, out this November in your nearest bookstores.