Bio
'Each piece has a strong economy of Means and a strict control of Form. Means and Form are use by Mukarno in an elementary and powerful way'
‘his performances demonstrate in their own way his original ideas and his strife for intense expressiveness’
Mukarno is a unique figure in the art world. The use of his body is one of his trademarks. The works demonstrate in their own way his original ideas and his strife for intense expressiveness, in a language that does not refer to tradition. Each work has a strong economy of Means and strict control of Form. Means and Form are used by Mukarno in an elementary and powerful way.
Philemon Mukarno: The Sacred Architecture of Nakedness
The Cartographer of the Soul
Philemon Mukarno, born in Jakarta and based in Rotterdam, is a visionary performance artist who bridges Eastern mysticism with European avant-garde thought. His art maps consciousness itself. With profound courage, he transforms the body into a living architecture of truth. Through every performance, he seeks not spectacle but awakening — the moment where skin becomes scripture, and silence becomes prayer.
The Roots of Mastery
Educated at Codarts University of the Arts in the Netherlands, Mukarno graduated Cum Laude, receiving both the Prize for Composition and the Prize for Art. His rigorous training in electronic music established a foundation of precision and form. Yet, even within technical mastery, a spiritual hunger pulsed underneath — a need to transmute academic rigor into raw, corporeal experience.
Performance as Spiritual Inquiry
Mukarno’s performances are meditations disguised as rituals. He investigates the body as a sacred vessel, confronting subconscious silence through movement and exposure. Each gesture unveils the hidden architecture of being — subconscious thought, emotional residue, ancestral memory. As the body moves, the soul begins to speak. For Mukarno, art is not external creation but inner excavation.
Nakedness as Radical Truth
To Mukarno, nakedness is not vulnerability but illumination. It is a spiritual state — the full unveiling of the self before the universe. In a time obsessed with concealment, his bare body stands as a prayer for authenticity. This raw presence rejects spectacle and instead seeks transcendence. Through the naked form, he reveals that truth has no costume, and soul has no armor.
The Shadowbody and Catharsis
Mukarno’s concept of the “Shadowbody” lies at the core of his practice. It represents our hidden, unprocessed energies — the dark mirror of existence. His performances merge sound, flesh, and ritual to cleanse this inner density. Blood, water, breath, and silence become catalysts of catharsis. Every act of exposure becomes both wound and healing — a ceremony of transformation through the flesh.
Spiritual Destruction and Rebirth
In one of his defining works at WORM, Mukarno destroyed his own computer — the repository of his compositions. This act symbolized spiritual detachment and rebirth. By annihilating his past medium, he declared his body as his sole enduring instrument. In destruction, he found resurrection — in silence, he found sound again.
Global Recognition and Enduring Legacy
Mukarno’s works have been showcased internationally, across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. His radical vision earned institutional support from the Mondriaan Fonds and Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten. Critics hail him as a pioneering figure whose uncompromising art redefines spirituality and corporeality. Through his performances, audiences encounter the sacred within the self — the fragile unity of flesh and spirit.
The Sacred Vessel of Existence
Philemon Mukarno’s art invites us to undress not our bodies, but our illusions. His performances are sacred mirrors where humanity confronts its truest reflection. As he dismantles societal masks, he reveals a universal truth: the body, in its naked purity, is the temple where the divine breathes.
‘The complete absence of irony [e.g. in the form of quotation, reference, or comment] is remarkable. It is especially this lack of distance that put his works in the total belief in what the pieces are, which puts Mukarno in his unique place among his contemporaries.’
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