Participatory Art “Burnt and Disappeared”: The Dematerialization of Zhizha Rituals and an Existential Critique of Twenty-First-Century Capitalism

Abstract

This study examines how participatory art can function as a medium of social critique and as a means of restoring the function of ritual amid the dominance of twenty-first-century capitalism, characterized by accelerated life rhythms, productivity-oriented logics, and hyper-individuality. The study proceeds from the assumption that capitalism shapes not only economic practices but also intervenes in lived experiences of time, social relations, and ritual materiality, as reflected in the transformation of the Cheng Beng ritual and zhizha offerings. Employing a qualitative research design with a phenomenological–artistic approach, this study draws on data collected through participatory observation, visual documentation, and reflective field notes involving eight participants engaged in experimental enactments of the participatory artwork Burnt and Disappeared. The artistic process consisted of crafting suit replicas from joss paper, phases of waiting, and the subsequent burning of the objects. Data were analyzed using a thematic–phenomenological approach to capture participants’ temporal, affective, and relational experiences. The findings reveal three central insights. First, the dematerialization of zhizha operates as an embodied critique of capitalist logics of status and productivity by shifting value orientations away from material outcomes toward process and the experience of loss. Second, the experience of slowness is not perceived as an objectively extended duration but as a qualitative transformation of temporal consciousness that enables reflection and full presence. Third, participatory art mediates a transition from individual experience to collective awareness through shared and witnessed experiences of loss. The implications of this study underscore the potential of participatory art as an alternative space for restoring ritual functions, social relations, and existential reflection in contemporary society. The originality of this research lies in its integration of participatory art practice, phenomenological analysis of temporal experience, and a critique of capitalism through ritual dematerialization—an approach that remains empirically underexplored within studies of art and ritual in the Indonesian context.