UNDRGRND ARTIST: SUTANSYAH MARAHAKIM
APRIL 14TH, 2023
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Art bridges the divide created between differences and language. The explosion of Indonesian art in the crypto art world has created a broad window into life in Indonesia. The more time Americans spend looking into this world, the more we see our kindred spirits.
Sutayah Marahakim creates glitch corporate-satire gifs that represent Indonesia and reflect a similar world many Americans also experience. Marahakim’s Corpomen series is inspired by their real-life experience in the corporate world, “my work deals a lot with businessmen, startups, and venture capitalists,” Stayah says, “(My art is) my bitter, satyrical commentaries for this money burning, soul-sucking, drunk with greed industry.”
Any individual dealing with the negative effects of a capitalist-driven society can relate to the soul-sucking nature Marahakim expresses in their work. But, these works extend beyond just the experience of our physical experiences.
Marahakim combines supernatural elements, along with overarching themes across multiple works. With the first three years spent as a playwright in their creative career, we can see the influence of fantasy, mythology, and story-telling coming out in every piece. Each one allows us to escape the corporate grind and see the truth hidden in the strive for financial success, and hopeful achieve a more idealistic future.
“There are always greater worlds out there,” Some exist because we imagine them. Some are hidden, and some are yet to be discovered. My art is a keyhole to peek into them.”
Perhaps there is more honesty than criticism in Marahakim’s work. Despite being critical of the corporate Indonesian world, Marahakim remains proud of who they are.
“I am, for better or worse, a proud Indonesian,” says Sutansyah, “I have within me several Indonesian worlds as the formation of my love. We are not as diligent as most Asians. We are not as physically gifted. We don’t win a lot of medals. We are loud, chaotic, thrashing around, breaking the law, bribing, and accepting bribes. But we are also warm and diverse. We respect (even love) foreigners. We are tolerant (not on the internet), cheesy, and love to live life but are always ready to laugh about it. We are a lovable mess.”
We all play a role in creating our surroundings. A lesson not lost on Marahakim, making the critiques of their world all the more important.
The more we explore these other words and peek through the keyhole artists like Sutayah Marahakim create, the more we see our similarities outweigh our differences.
