«Imposter»

show by Theo Nugraha in collaboration with aldooinkA collaboration with Arcolabs (Jakarta, Indonesia)

Imposter (2025) is a digital exhibition by Indonesian artist Theo Nugraha, created in collaboration with artist aldooink. It is presented through the KUNSTSURFER browser extension as part of a partnership with ARCOLABS, a Jakarta-based curatorial initiative focusing on contemporary and new media art.

Based on months of online fieldwork, Imposter investigates the visual language of digital advertising on the internet in Indonesia. It examines a precarious visual economy where manipulation, deception, and seduction operate across the blurry boundaries of legality –-particularly in areas of unregulated online gambling, predatory lending, and semi-erotic content. Nugraha collected 50 advertisements from various Indonesian websites, both legal and illicit, focusing on online gambling, payday loans, and sexualized modeling or adult-themed content.

What emerges is a study of visual tactics designed to exploit economic anxiety, masculine desire, and a culture of digital risk-taking. What may initially seem like low-quality or unsophisticated design is in fact a highly contextual, calculated aesthetic. Nugraha refers to this aesthetic in his own words as "sangat ngejreng, norak, berlebihan, dan kampungan," which loosely translates as flashy, tacky, excessive, and kitsch. He emphasizes that this loud and garish style carries distinct local meaning and appeal. It reflects not just a design choice, but a culturally-specific strategy of attraction for those seeking quick relief and/or adrenaline.

In Indonesia, this visual culture is set against a landscape of economic instability shaped by both global and domestic pressures. Current international trade tensions, weakening public trust in the government’s credibility, and widespread layoffs have all contributed to a general atmosphere of uncertainty and financial strain. Many Indonesians find themselves in need of quick economic relief and thus become even better preys for expanding scamming networks. In this context, these advertisements are not simply nuisances but symptoms of deeper systemic socio-economic precarity.

Overcoming the loneliness of surfing experiences, illicit platforms interestingly leverage peer-to-peer sharing and referral schemes to expand their reach. This seems an especially effective strategy in Indonesia’s collectivist and risk-prone society, where risk-taking behaviors are more culturally acceptable –what cultural theorist Geert Hofstede terms low “uncertainty avoidance”. Thus, high-risk, high-reward betting strategies, such as parlay tournaments, may sound especially appealing and draw even more individuals into cycles of debt and digital criminality.

Together with aldooink, Nugraha transformed the collected ad materials into a series of audiovisual compositions that mimic how real ads capture user attention and exaggerate the original ads’ flashing, blinking, and spinning effects. They created three series of works respectively focused on online gambling (ID: judi online = judol), online lending (pinjam online = pinjol) and sexualised content. Each series includes ten distinct ad formats, each based on the most common digital advertising sizes. Nugraha also extracted audio data from the visuals to create soundscapes that sonically translate the digital environments he investigated. The resulting works are short moving images that subvert the appeal of the original content by introducing sonic tension and visual overload.

Rather than occupying a physical or static online gallery, Imposter unfolds within the fluid and unpredictable landscape of the internet itself, using the KUNSTSURFER browser extension as both exhibition platform and conceptual frame. The artworks are neither fixed in one location nor shown in a linear sequence; rather, they appear randomly as users navigate the web, which resonates the very algorithmic unpredictability of the ad environments that Nugraha investigates. This curatorial gesture transforms the internet itself into an exhibition space—not controlled by curators, but driven by the logic of online advertising and algorithmic decision on what to show. Imposter resists the traditional control of the gallery, by embedding itself directly into the spaces where digital manipulation thrives.

Through the KUNSTSURFER extension, Nugraha’s moving image of digital collages are embedded into the user's everyday browsing experience. Just like regular ads, Imposter appears unexpectedly, during moments when users might be distracted or casually browsing.This moment of disruption, seduction or surprise becomes an artistic experience, turning ordinary internet activity into a space of reflection. Imposter uses the same techniques as online ads to get viewers’ attention—but instead of trying to sell something, it prompts viewers to think.

Imposter functions both as a mirror and as a lens. It reflects how flashy and deceptive visuals are actually key tools in digital capitalism. By turning these visuals into exaggerated, chaotic sound and image, Nugraha and aldooink break their seductive power and make us think about how we are being influenced online. More than a critique, the project creates a space for viewers to look more closely at how these visual tricks shape the way we experience the internet in Southeast Asia.

Curated by Jeong Ok Jeon (Arcolabs) with Chiara Giardi

Theo Nugraha (born 1992 in Samarinda, Indonesia) is an artist, curator, and cultural organizer. A pioneering figure in the Indonesian experimental sound scene, he launched the first noise project in his hometown and has been active since 2013, with a discography of nearly 200 releases. His multidisciplinary practice spans audio, visual, and performance-based media. He is a member of the Milisifilem Collective, which explores experimental visual languages, an artist at the 69 Performance Club, and a co-initiator of the Situationist Under-Record Project. He also co-founded the HEX Foundation and Extended.Asia, a regional platform for sound and visual artists. Currently, he serves as curator at Rumah Adat Budaya Daerah Kota Samarinda and is part of the editorial team at Visual Jalanan, a platform dedicated to socially engaged visual culture.

Aldo Nugraha, also known as aldooink, is an audio-visual artist whose journey began after attending the "Kehidupan" workshop led by Oomleo in mid-2012 at Jakarta 32°C. With a hypnotic style that blends sound and visuals, aldooink mixes pleasure with recklessness in his creative approach. He currently works at RCTI+ as a motion and graphic designer, while also performing as a visual and disc jockey. He is an active member of Underadar Record.