'Monkey Astronaut' refers to the monkeys and chimpanzees sent into space in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as to popular science fiction movies such as 'Planet of the Apes' that predict a future world ruled by non-human primates. 
Dono's distinctive style came out of an exploration of Javanese puppet theatre. Drawing on traditional aspects of Indonesian culture and art marketing, his immersive multi-media installations and paintings speak to the plurality in global contemporary art. Beneath a playful approach through combining storytelling, mythology, machines, and animation, there is a poignant socio-political comment on the situation in Indonesia, as well as the fraught interrelationship between the local and the global   

In this sense, this work can be read as a criticism of the big promises made by scientists and politicians in the 50's and 60s about man's ability to conquer space, and the little progress than seems to have been made in this field. In these sensitive times in which we live, when it is known that we are gradually destroying the delicate balance of nature on earth, it is particularly important to invest in preserving what we have while continuing the search for an alternative.