Artistic integrity in weapon-shaped hybrid musical instruments: the alutista project in Indonesian contemporary performance

Article Sidebar

Published: Dec 9, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33153/glr.v23i2.7813
Keywords:
Artistic Integrity, Hybrid Instruments, Music Videos, Performance Art, Weapon-Shaped Instruments

Main Article Content

Nanang Rahmat Hidayat
Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta

Abstract

The growth of contemporary music videos and performance art has encouraged the use of musical instruments as both sound sources and strong visual symbols. Existing studies on interdisciplinary performance discuss collaborations between musicians and visual artists, but rarely examine weapon-shaped hybrid instruments as integrated sound–visual media that must maintain artistic integrity. This article analyses how artistic creative integrity is achieved in the design and use of Alutista, a series of weapon-shaped hybrid musical instruments created by Nanang Garuda for Indonesian music videos and contemporary performances. The research adopts a qualitative descriptive approach combining visual observation, content analysis of 24 Alutista instruments documented on social media and performance videos, and thematic coding of form, sonic function, and performative role; in this study, artistic creative integrity is operationalized as the alignment between conceptual intention, visual design, and musical–performative function. The analysis identifies three main patterns of integrity: the symbolic transformation of weapons into instruments of peace; the interdependence between industrial visual aesthetics and metallic timbre; and the choreography of performers’ bodies with the instruments, which produces multisensory narratives that bind sound, image, and gesture into a single composition. Theoretically, the study extends debates on artistic integrity and experimental instrument design by proposing weapon-shaped hybrid instruments as cross-media objects that merge material ecology, symbolism, and performance; practically, it offers a design and staging model for artists and directors who seek to develop music videos and performances that balance visual spectacle with coherent sonic and conceptual expression.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 23 No. 2 (2025)
Section
Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright

Authors who publish with Gelar: Jurnal Seni Budaya agrees to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. 
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

References

[1] S. N. Hajja, F. Mustabsyiroh, Z. E. Rahayu, and H. K. Fikri, “Visual Perception and Artistic Stage Design: A Cognitive Perspective on Contemporary Indonesian Performing Arts,” International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, vol. 12, no. 11, 2025. doi: 10.18415/ijmuu.v12i11.7199.

[2] T. Olsson, “The Perceived Fit Between Music and Movement: A Multisensory Account of Dance as a Novel Feature Type,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 100–114, May 2024, doi: 10.1093/jaac/kpae001.

[3] L. Ritchie, “Multisensory Music Performance with Cymatic Images,” Music Sci (Lond), vol. 6, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1177/20592043231159065.

[4] M. Sorati and D. M. Behne, “Audiovisual Modulation in Music Perception for Musicians and Non-musicians,” Front Psychol, vol. 11, May 2020, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01094.

[5] J. Schacher, “Capture and express, question and understand: Gloves in gestural electronic music performance,” Wearable Technologies, vol. 3, p. e5, May 2022, doi: 10.1017/wtc.2022.3.

[6] E. Peris, A. Murillo, and J. Tejada, “Design and Implementation of a Musical System for the Development of Creative Activities Through Electroacoustics in Educational Contexts,” Signals, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 16, Apr. 2025, doi: 10.3390/signals6020016.

[7] S. Cunningham, I. McGregor, J. Weinel, J. Darby, and T. Stockman, “Towards a Framework of Aesthetics in Sonic Interaction,” in Proceedings of the 18th International Audio Mostly Conference, New York, NY, USA: ACM, Aug. 2023, pp. 109–115. doi: 10.1145/3616195.3616219.

[8] S. Papetti, H. Järveläinen, and F. Fontana, “Design and Assessment of Digital Musical Devices Yielding Vibrotactile Feedback,” Arts, vol. 12, no. 4, p. 143, Jul. 2023, doi: 10.3390/arts12040143.

[9] P. Rittibul, M. Boontonglek, A. Ngerndang, R. Orachun, and C. Nasom, “Nawat Phusa: Promoting innovation of natural banana fibers into product design to enhance cultural creative economy products through performing arts approach,” Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 2311–2323, Mar. 2025, doi: 10.55214/25768484.v9i3.5785.

[10] B. K. Bacon, L. Auri, and H. A. McKee, “Approaches to notation for embodied engagement with a novel neural network-based musical instrument,” Front Comput Sci, vol. 7, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.3389/fcomp.2025.1597806.

[11] M. P. Sari, N. Y. Damayanti, I. Irfansyah, and H. A. Ahmad, “The Dromology Trajectory of Digital Wayang: Cinematization and Visual Transformation,” Journal of Urban Society’s Arts, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 94–107, Jun. 2025, doi: 10.24821/jousa.v12i1.15162.

[12] J. Sullivan, M. M. Wanderley, and C. Guastavino, “From Fiction to Function: Imagining New Instruments through Design Workshops,” Computer Music Journal, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 26–47, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.1162/comj_a_00644.

[13] J. Palik and N. Marsh, “A Theory of the Symbolic role of Disarmament During Peace Processes: The Laying Down of FARC-EP’s Weapons in Colombia,” Secur Dialogue, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 58–75, Feb. 2025, doi: 10.1177/09670106241265640.

[14] C. Mills, “Artistic Integrity,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 9–20, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1111/jaac.12413.

[15] M. Carrasco-Barranco, “Artistic Aesthetic Value in Participatory Art,” Philosophies, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 29, Mar. 2025, doi: 10.3390/philosophies10020029.

[16] I. Choi, “An Introduction to Musical Interactions,” Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 4, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.3390/mti6010004.

[17] J. A. Hayward, “Art and Things: Narratives of Material Culture,” J Vis Art Pract, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 337–356, Jul. 2025, doi: 10.1080/14702029.2024.2393503.

[18] W. F. Thompson, P. Graham, and F. A. Russo, “Seeing Music Performance: Visual Influences on Perception and Experience,” Semiotica, vol. 2005, no. 156, Jan. 2005, doi: 10.1515/semi.2005.2005.156.203.

[19] L. Judijanto, S. Siminto, and R. Rahman, “The Influence of Religious Beliefs and Religious Practices on Social Cohesion in Modern Society in Indonesia,” The Eastasouth Journal of Social Science and Humanities, vol. 1, no. 03, pp. 139–150, 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.58812/esssh.v1i03.276.

[20] D. Cavdir and G. Wang, “Borrowed Gestures: The Body as an Extension of the Musical Instrument,” Computer Music Journal, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 58–80, Sep. 2021, doi: 10.1162/comj_a_00617.

[21] D. Cavdir and G. Wang, “Designing felt experiences with movement-based, wearable musical instruments: From inclusive practices toward participatory design,” Wearable Technologies, vol. 3, p. e19, Aug. 2022, doi: 10.1017/wtc.2022.15.

[22] S. McLaughlin, “On Material Indeterminacy,” Contemporary Music Review, vol. 41, no. 2–3, pp. 216–233, May 2022, doi: 10.1080/07494467.2022.2080456.

[23] L. Reymore, “Variations in Timbre Qualia with Register and Dynamics in the Oboe and French Horn,” Empirical Musicology Review, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 231–275, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.18061/emr.v16i2.8005.

[24] F. Roche, T. Hueber, M. Garnier, S. Limier, and L. Girin, “Make That Sound More Metallic: Towards a Perceptually Relevant Control of the Timbre of Synthesizer Sounds Using a Variational Autoencoder,” Transactions of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 52–66, May 2021, doi: 10.5334/tismir.76.

[25] L. Reymore, E. Beauvais-Lacasse, B. K. Smith, and S. McAdams, “Modeling Noise-Related Timbre Semantic Categories of Orchestral Instrument Sounds With Audio Features, Pitch Register, and Instrument Family,” Front Psychol, vol. 13, Apr. 2022, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.796422.

[26] E. Buyken and K. Losleben, “How Do Cellists and Sounds ‘Become’ With Each Other? Exploring the Entanglements of Artistic Research and Agential Realism,” Music and Practice, vol. 11, no. 11, pp. 1–18, 2024. doi: 10.32063/1101.

[27] S. Benford, G. McGarry, A. Hazzard, A. Chamberlain, R. Gibson, and J. P. Martinez Avila, “Augmenting musical instruments with digital identities,” J New Music Res, vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 436–455, Oct. 2023, doi: 10.1080/09298215.2024.2423613.

[28] Ernawati, S. Margana, and M. D. Marianto, “Hybrid Aesthetics in Contemporary Crafts: The Presence of Sustainable Art and Craft and Vernacular Themes in the Wayang Performances in Indonesia,” International Society for the Study of Vernacular Settlements, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 22–43, Jun. 2024, doi: 10.61275/ISVSej-2024-11-06-03.

[29] L. Lutfianto and J. Junaidi, “Form, Materiality, and Symbolism in Non-Arabic Muslim Arts: A Case Study from Indonesian Wayang Performance,” ESENSIA: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Ushuluddin, vol. 23, no. 2, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.14421/esensia.v23i2.3212.

[30] A. S. Nugroho and S. Widiastuti, “Wayang-Inspired Modern Character Design for Visual Communication,” International Journal of Graphic Design, vol. 2, no. 2, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.51903/ijgd.v2i2.2094.

[31] M.-A. Deiana, “Dance as a register of war: following unruly bodies, affects, and sounds in conflict,” Crit Mil Stud, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 462–484, Jul. 2023, doi: 10.1080/23337486.2022.2134139.

[32] I. P. W. Andika and I. K. Muryana, “Introduction to Experimental Music Nyelah Ngunjar,” Ghurnita: Jurnal Seni Karawitan, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 9–16, 2022, doi: 10.59997/jurnalsenikarawitan.v2i1.379.

[33] P. J. Woods, “The abject pleasures of militarised noise,” Culture, Theory and Critique, vol. 64, no. 1–2, pp. 196–211, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1080/14735784.2023.2265085.

[34] J. P. Correa, “Cross-Modal Musical Expectancy in Complex Sound Music: A Grounded Theory,” J Cogn, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 33, Jul. 2023, doi: 10.5334/joc.281.

[35] S. Canazza, G. De Poli, and A. Vidolin, “Gesture, Music and Computer: The Centro di Sonologia Computazionale at Padova University, a 50-Year History,” Sensors, vol. 22, no. 9, p. 3465, May 2022, doi: 10.3390/s22093465.