Testimony (2021)'30 Philemon Mukarno Performance Art

The Nexus of Art and Critique

Philemon Mukarno is recognized as a unique figure in Contemporary Art.

His performance Testimony offers an extraordinarily powerful spiritual critique. The work deeply reflects on the intense indoctrination of religion during his childhood. Furthermore, it publicly stages the artist’s compelling desire to achieve profound spiritual freedom. This challenging goal is executed by employing the naked body as the primary, most vulnerable medium. The intimate performance was presented at the Tictac Art Centre in Brussels. This center specifically supports spontaneous performance and radical dance improvisation. This specialized setting reinforces the work as authentic, immediate “Live Art”.

Philemon Mukarno: From Composition to Canvas

Mukarno, an Asian performance artist, is currently based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Notably, his distinguished career initially focused on musical composition. He studied at the prestigious Royal Conservatory and Codarts, University of the Arts. He excelled academically, graduating Cum Laude with top honors. Moreover, Mukarno was awarded the esteemed Prize for Composition. His music often utilizes rough, unpolished sounds but maintains a strict control of Form. A defining characteristic of his aesthetic is the complete “absence of irony”. This sincerity permeates his entire artistic output, imbuing it with “total belief”.

Rigor and Sincerity in Performance

The aesthetic success of Testimony derives from Mukarno’s rigorous compositional background. His body art inherits this precise, non-referential intensity. The performance, involving stamping, lying down, and washing, is a highly controlled sequence. This structure demonstrates the same “strict control of Form” seen in his music. The work is clearly conceptual, not merely a raw emotional outburst. His intense expressiveness makes the personal journey universal. The noted absence of irony is crucial when addressing sensitive themes like religious trauma via nudity. This absolute sincerity establishes credibility and authority in the critique.

The Grammar of the Naked Body

The artist insists that nudity is a natural, honest state of being. This choice is essential for stripping away all social masks and pretenses. Mukarno uses his performances to investigate his body and address the subconscious. This journey began after his specialization in Japanese Butoh Dance. He found a powerful new dimension within himself, expressed through Body Art. His physical vocabulary explores energy, thought, and the naked body itself. Therefore, vulnerability is purposefully utilized to invite necessary audience empathy.

Confronting Shame: A Necessary Reversal

Historically, the Christian tradition often deemed the body a source of shame. Mukarno intentionally utilizes this culturally charged vulnerability in Testimony. He exposes his body to articulate an inherent personal truth. Importantly, his stated goal is to “destroy frameworks that have warped my body and self-image”. Institutional religion often imposes these standards of modesty and shame. Consequently, the act of performing naked immediately rejects these limitations. The exposed body thus serves as the essential first step toward spiritual liberation.

The Influence of Visceral Expression

Mukarno’s training in Butoh Dance profoundly shapes his performance aesthetic.

Butoh is an art form known for its dark, visceral exploration of the body’s internal processes. This background explains why his work is often “deliberately dark, vulnerable, and often sensual”. He deliberately uses performance to push himself outside of his “comfort zone”. Furthermore, Mukarno seeks to uncover his connection to the environment and his ancestors. This goal implies the religious critique addresses not only personal trauma but also inherited generational legacies.

The Black Ink of Institutional Faith

Testimony commences by dramatizing the trauma of enforced belief systems. Mukarno uses dense black ink to stamp numerous religious symbols onto his naked skin. The ink thoroughly covers his body with varying signs of institutional faith. This heavy, sticky ink represents the rigidity and imposed weight of external doctrine. The stamping symbolizes the forceful nature of indoctrination itself. This process actively transforms the natural body into a marked, conceptually constrained object. The imposed ink functions as an unwanted, materialized substance. It externalizes the pain, making the abstract concept of dogma physically visible and, therefore, washable.

The Grounding of the Burden: Creating the Imprint

Following the marking process, Mukarno lies prone on the floor. This is a critical step within the self-initiated ritual. His inked, naked body transfers the imposed symbols directly onto the ground. This action creates a literal, physical imprint of his current spiritual state. The resulting ink pattern functions as a formal archive of the past dogma and trauma. Lying down may symbolize submission to the overwhelming weight of the past. However, it crucially signals the moment of externalizing this spiritual burden. Creating the imprint is a necessary intermediate step. It fully registers the history of constraint before any act of physical cleansing can begin.

The Rites of Passage and Spiritual Divorce

The climax of Testimony involves Mukarno washing the black ink from his skin. He specifically uses holy water for this crucial, sacred action. Holy water traditionally signifies blessing and purification within religious contexts. Mukarno subversively co-opts this holy element for his own spiritual divorce. The cleansing physically removes all traces of the religious inscription. Consequently, this signifies profound catharsis, purifying both body and soul. The washing is a personal, mystical rite performed outside institutional control. By utilizing the institution’s tool of sanctification, he achieves his own sovereign self-sanctification.

A New Beginning: Repairing the Self-Image

This final transformative stage directly enables the repair of his self-image. It successfully destroys the conceptual frameworks that previously warped his core identity. The performance ultimately concludes by sparking reflection and demanding dialogue. It is a forceful celebration of human freedom and diversity.  The work transcends specific beliefs, inviting contemplation on universal experience. The physical act of washing the skin directly facilitates a psychological liberation. This dynamic demonstrates the profound, inseparable connection between body and spirit. The formerly marked body is restored to a state of pure, neutral potential.

Structural Components of the Ritual
Element

Action in Ritual
Symbolic Interpretation
Naked Body
Exposed on stage, receptive to marking.
Vulnerability, authenticity, rejection of religious shame.
Black Ink & Symbols
Stamped onto the skin, covering the surface.
Imposed doctrine, institutional control, manifestation of indoctrination.
Floor Imprint
The body lies down, transferring the symbols.
Externalization of burden, archive of trauma, submission prior to defiance.
Holy Water
Used to wash away the ink/symbols.
Purification, spiritual divorce, catharsis, and rite of passage toward a new self.

The Shamanic Role of the Performer

Through intense, physical action, the performer can assume a shamanic role. Mukarno establishes his artistic authority through these challenging, visceral rites. His powerful expressiveness aligns him with other figures who embrace physical extremity in art. The performance creates a synthesis of differing life experiences, shared publicly. His deep pursuit of spirituality fundamentally guides this unique approach to performance art. The dramatic imagery ensures the action is recognized as a profound work of art by the public. The combination of nudity and charged symbols serves as an inescapable confrontation for the audience.

Economy of Means, Intensity of Expression

The conceptual rigor in Mukarno’s body of work is apparent. His works are praised for their defining “economy of Means”. This compositional principle dictates that simple elements must generate powerful conceptual meaning. Testimony achieves this, utilizing only the naked body, ink, floor, and water. This severe restriction focuses all conceptual energy directly onto the ritual’s process.6 This artistic rigor ensures the work avoids superficial sensationalism. Instead, the limited elements compel the audience to focus on the immense conceptual weight of the purification. This disciplined approach distinguishes the piece from mere provocation.

The Survival of Spirit

Mukarno’s philosophy maintains that art and spirit survive, even as material objects decay. In Testimony, the ink, the symbols, and the physical imprint are all rendered ephemeral. The resultant spiritual liberation, however, is what remains as enduring art. The successful completion of the ritual proves his philosophy through physical performance. Furthermore, Mukarno’s mastery spans multiple disciplines, including Butoh and electronic composition.1 This interdisciplinary foundation ensures Testimony is viewed as a holistic, sophisticated, intellectual endeavor.

The Legacy of Naked Truth

Mukarno employs his body to project complex shapes and feelings from within his consciousness. Testimony is recognized as a physical, powerful articulation of internal, spiritual conflict. His unwavering refusal of irony validates the depth of the spiritual critique. Through the highly structured ritual, the performance achieves a necessary, profound spiritual liberation. The integrity and control applied to the entire process establish Mukarno’s unique authority within the Live Art genre.

A Necessity of the Flesh

The concluding act of self-cleansing is a crucial, visual declaration of personal autonomy. Testimony confirms the potent capacity of Live Art to facilitate deep, internal transformation. The work stands as a strong testament to Mukarno’s singular commitment to authentic expression. It remains an essential marker in the genre of naked, ritual performance art. Mukarno’s unflinching work challenges viewers to reflect on their own internalized social frameworks. Ultimately, Testimony demands profound acknowledgment of the body as a sacred vessel for personal conviction.