Estetika Politemporal dalam Seni Kontemporer Jakarta: Arsip Digital, Memori Visual, dan Kritik atas Linearitas Sejarah Seni

Abstract

This article examines "polytemporal aesthetics" as an analytical framework for interpreting contemporary art practices in Jakarta—specifically those engaging with digital archives, visual memory, historical documentation, and curatorial work. It begins by critiquing the linear art-historical model that views artistic evolution as a progressive sequence moving from tradition to modernism, postmodernism, and finally contemporary art. This linear model proves inadequate for Jakarta, a city defined by overlapping temporal layers: colonial, national, New Order, post-Reformasi, urban, digital, and global. The study employs a critical-conceptual analysis method alongside a qualitative case study approach. Its material focus comprises archive-based contemporary art practices, visual memory, digital imagery, and curatorial work in Jakarta, while its formal focus is polytemporal aesthetics—defined here as the way artworks and curatorial practices configure relationships between the past, the present, and non-linear history. The article utilizes four international examples—Christian Marclay’s *The Clock*, The Atlas Group/Walid Raad, Hito Steyerl’s concept of the "poor image," and Okwui Enwezor’s *Documenta11*—as a theoretical comparative framework. Meanwhile, the primary analysis focuses on Jakarta’s contemporary art landscape, specifically the Jakarta Biennale, ruangrupa/Jakarta 32°C, Museum MACAN, the National Gallery of Indonesia, and archive-based curatorial practices. The article argues that contemporary art in Jakarta does not merely produce visual forms but also manages inter-temporal relationships. Artists, curators, communities, and art institutions can be understood as "temporal operators" who activate archives, urban memory, and digital imagery to re-examine unfinished histories.