'€˜Afghan Box Camera'€™: By Austrian Lukas Birk and Irishman Sean Foley.

Technology is an inseparable part of people'€™s lives and our interaction with high technology '€” with some tricks added '€” can be seen at the OK. Video Jakarta International Video Festival.

The sixth iteration of the biannual event was given the theme muslihat, which means deception, and will feature 91 videos and artworks from 29 countries, including Argentina, China, Brazil, France, Israel, Japan , Lithuania, the Netherlands, the US, and, of course, Indonesia.

The festival, organized by arts community Ruangrupa (RuRu), will run until Sept. 15 at the National Gallery in Central Jakarta, with side events at the Goethe Institute in Menteng and the RuRu Gallery in Tebet, South Jakarta.

Festival director Mahardika Yudha said that since the event'€™s bow in 2003, OK. Video has provided a place for videos and artworks that focus on society and culture in Indonesia and around the world.

With this year'€™s theme, Mahardika said that the festival tried to capture and make deeper observations about deceptive practices across the globe in the application of technology.

'€œWith some tricks or tactics, a product of technology that is produced with a certain shape and limited function can work well, just as desired by users,'€ Mahardika said at a press conference for the festival'€™s launch.

'€˜Fulgurator'€™: By German video artist Julius von Bismarck.
The interaction of technology and digital media over the past decade had significantly changed the way people looked at reality, he added.

All videos and artwork displayed at the festival were chosen by curators Irma Chantily, Julia Sarisetiati and Rizki Lazuardi.

Rizki said the curators had dug deep to find videos evoking '€œdeception'€, choosing some that have made the rounds at other festivals and some from OK. Video'€™s open call for submissions.

'€œIn the end, we found videos that touch on many parts of life, such as the economy, politics and even religious issues,'€ he said.

Irma said the videos to be screened would be divided into five categories, focusing on playful explorations of technology as a medium, questioning reality, technology modification, comments on visual arts conventions and, most interestingly, reflections on consumer tricks used in the application of technology.

'€œBut we don'€™t display the works in accordance with the categories that we have; we will just let the audience judge it by themselves,'€ she said.

For the festival, Ruangrupa is working with the Japan Foundation to present Media/Art Kitchen, displaying artwork from artists from Japan and countries in Southeast Asia.

The works for chapter were curated by Ade Darmawan and M. Sigit Budi, together with Okamuka Keiko, Aida Daiya and Hattori Hiroyuki from Japan.

'€˜The Choir'€™: By Italian video artist Marcantanio Lunardi.
Okamura said that Media/Art was held to commemorate the 40-year relationship between Japan and Southeast Asian countries. After Jakarta, Media/Art will go on the road to Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Bangkok.

Ade said that Media/Art was presented under the theme '€œConsumer vs. the Power of Industry: Society that Criticizes Technology'€.

'€œMedia/Art'€™s theme is similar to OK. Video'€™s, so that'€™s why it'€™s perfect to combine it together,'€ he said.

Ade said that Media/Art would display moving images and feature installations, three-dimensional works, photography and many performances.

Okamura said that through the event the organizers also wanted to invite visitors to understand arts and technology better by attending workshops about wireless MIDI and D.I.Y. microscopic cameras.

In addition, she said, the event would also have talks with the participating artists from Japan and Jakarta and a lab for artists who wanted to have space to express their creative ideas.

'€” Images courtesy OK. Video Festival

A full list of venues, descriptions of the programs and a schedule of performances is available at
okvideofestival.org.