Javanese performance of Wayang Kulit (shadow puppets)

Gamelan often accompanies traditional performances of Wayang Kulit, or shadow puppets, which tell elaborate stories drawn from Hindu texts, Indonesian myth, current politics and folk tales.

"Encountering Resonance: Aaron Taylor Kuffner’s Gamelatron" is on view at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum through May 23, 2021. A Gamelatron is a sound-producing kinetic sculpture presented as site-specific installations and stand-alone artworks. They are made from bronze and iron instruments derivative of Indonesia’s thousand-year-old sonic tradition Gamelan, retrofitted with mechanical mallets on sculptural mounts. The pieces are connected to a physical computing system that transcribes digital compositions into an array of electrical pulsations that results in a ghostly musical automaton.