Yogyakarta, September 28, 2025 - The annual Yogyakomtek 2025 event was held again with the spirit of bringing together the world of art, design, and technology in one creative space. This year, one of the highlights of the event was a comic exhibition titled "Art of Sequential Drawing Showcase 2025" organized by Visual Communication Design (DKV) students of Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta. The exhibition took place at Gadjah Mada University's Innovation and Creativity Center (GIK UGM) from September 27 to October 1, 2025, becoming part of the celebration of cross-disciplinary creativity in Yogyakarta.
Themed "AI Now", the exhibition highlights the increasingly complex relationship between art and artificial intelligence. (Artificial Intelligence). The theme was chosen as a reflection of the current reality, where AI technology has begun to enter almost all areas of life, including the realm of fine arts and comics. DKV ISI Yogyakarta students who take the Sequential Drawing Art (Comics) course interpret this theme through a variety of works that combine visual experiments, reflective narratives, and exploration of artistic techniques that utilize, respond to, or even criticize the presence of AI.
The "Sequential Drawing Art Showcase 2025" exhibition not only showcases the students' technical and aesthetic abilities, but also presents deep conceptual ideas. Through the works displayed, the students attempt to answer important questions: What is the position of artists in the AI era? Can artificial intelligence truly "create", or only imitate human creations? And to what extent can AI be a collaborative partner without losing the human value behind the creation process?
Theme AI Now also inspires the public to think about ethics, originality and creativity in an increasingly digitized art world. The works presented in this exhibition show that technology is not always a threat, but can be a creative partner when approached with awareness and critical understanding. Through visualizations that are rich in symbols, emotions, and visual experiments, DKV ISI Yogyakarta students try to show that AI can be a medium to challenge conventional boundaries in comic making.
In addition to the main exhibition, Yogyakomtek 2025 also featured thematic seminars that expanded the discussion around comic art and its relevance in the digital era. Three DKV ISI Yogyakarta lecturers appeared as speakers in this series of seminars, each with a unique perspective on the role of comics as a contemporary art form.
The first session was presented by Dr. Sn. Indiria Maharsi, S.Sn., M.Sn., with the topic "Spirituality in Comics". According to her, comics can be a medium for self-reflection that brings together inner elements, personal experiences, and moral values, even when technology is involved in the creation process. The second session featured Terra Bajraghosa, M.Sn, who discussed "Comics and Identity". She reviewed how comics have become an important medium in building cultural awareness and visual identity, highlighted how AI has the potential to influence identity narratives through algorithms and data, and the importance of maintaining artists' creative autonomy so as not to be trapped in homogenization of machine-generated styles or thinking patterns. Meanwhile, Fia Royyana, M.Ds, in a session titled "The Role of AI in Comics", discussed the technical and conceptual sides of using AI, namely that AI can help artists in certain stages such as visual idea generation, coloring, or image composition. However, the role of humans remains crucial in determining the aesthetic direction, meaning, and narrative depth of a work.
Through this exhibition and seminar, students and lecturers of DKV ISI Yogyakarta attempt to show that the art of sequential drawing (comics) is not just visual entertainment, but also a medium for thinking and experimenting with contemporary issues. AI, in this context, is not just a digital tool, but an intellectual challenge that tests the extent to which humans understand themselves in the midst of technological advances.
Sequential Drawing Art Implementation Showcase 2025 in Yogyakomtek 2025 is clear evidence that art campuses have an important role in shaping critical discourse around the relationship between humans and machines. By combining artistic, ethical, and scientific approaches, the event not only showcased stunning visual works, but also opened a space for dialogue that is relevant to the times.
As part of Yogyakarta's creative ecosystem, this activity is expected to strengthen collaboration between the world of education, art practitioners, and the wider community. With the spirit of intelligent and ethical exploration, DKV ISI Yogyakarta students through the "AI Now" exhibition show that the future of Indonesian comics is a technology-aware future without losing humanity.
Author: Public Relations Team of DKV Study Program
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