Upon a Machine is a new project by Tromarama, an Indonesian collective whose immersive environments merge video, installation, and algorithmic processes. The installation employs an AI model to remix The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (1992–94) through a postcolonial lens—a text steeped in capitalist themes that shaped the collective's upbringing. Sculptural elements activate musical instruments while live performers improvise in response to AI-generated prompts across gospel, opera, and tap. Drawing on their own literary and music archives, the artists examine how generative technologies reinterpret personal and social histories.
