A new exhibition “[-]1: ‘The Great Artist Of Tomorrow Will Go Underground’ — Marcel Duchamp” at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre doesn’t look like it’s ready for public viewing yet. At the opening reception last Friday, some space at the seventh floor gallery was still empty. In some corners, random objects such as tables, wooden panels, a fan and a fishing rod were lying about. I went back again on Sunday only to find a few artists sitting around, as if trying to “start” work on something. They looked almost as lost as I did.
Shinya Akutagawa is one of the artists in Henryandpartners’ ‘Autopilot’ project.
But all this, as I later learned from curator Pichaya Suphavanij, is what this exhibition is about.
“[The exhibition] presents the standpoint of the ‘underground’,” wrote Pichaya in a statement. “It regresses to fundamental points, raises open-ended questions for young art and young artists and explores a discourse for understanding different contexts.”
Duchamp’s quote in the exhibition title, taken from his article “Where Do We Go From Here?”, represents the spirit of young artists who are about to embark on their artistic careers. The prefix [-]1 is about these artists taking a step back even before they even begin. This experimental project, part of BACC’s Young Artist Network, comprises four main parts: space, artwork production, audience and art criticism.
For ‘Art Jockey’, Atikom records viewers’ responses to the exhibition and translates them into soundwaves
The almost-empty area mentioned above, where artists were just beginning to work from scratch as if the exhibition space was their studio, is the “Autopilot” project by Henryandpartners group, exploring the idea of space. Ten local and international artists with a variety of specialised mediums were invited to blur the boundaries between the artists’ studios and exhibition space.
“The [-]1 concept is to survey viewpoints of those who are considered young artists,” said project head Henry Tan. “In Autopilot, we try to present art in terms of activity, process and the management of space. We let viewers interact, question these ongoing changes and become part of what’s happening.”
Taiwanese artist Pohan Chang, one of the 10 artists, was drawing a hexagon shape in her notebook. With piles of wooden panels nearby, Chang said she was building a movable platform with a door. With this, viewers can move it around and stop to view other artists’ works through the door. She might even put a sofa on the platform so visitors can sit and relax.
Similarly, sound artist Kamonpond Wongchareonchai was still in a sketching phase for her project “Polka Dots In The Urban Maze”. She’s planning to have 12 musicians join and express their characters and life stories by improvising through their specialised instruments. After that she will combine everything, composing one long piece and inviting them to give a live performance.
Viewers’ observations and participation is an important factor, and this exhibition is not about visitors coming to see finished works.
Walking further in, the art criticism section features interview videos of Anand Kanjanapan, Gridthiya Gaweewong and Surasi Kusolwong who discuss the current state of Thai art and contemporary issues. As the exhibition continues, the space will host a series of talks with invited guests.
The mood was completely different over the other side of the space with setups from the Money Faketory group creating an artwork production zone. At times it felt like a temple fair with walls brightly painted, lottery drawing stations and an inflatable pool in the middle. The space also has an office-like feel, with messy-looking work stations with paperwork everywhere and a row of tables as if for visitors to fill in some official forms.
Money Faketory ‘currency’.
Money Faketory has invented a monetary unit and system of their own to explore the concept of art and money. After featuring in Taipei’s Kuandu Biennale earlier this year, Money Faketory has brought production to their hometown. The staff give blank paper notes to visitors and they are invited to draw a Money Faketory bill that can really be used in the exhibition, like buying lottery tickets which currently give out real money to winners every 15 days.
“The goal is to create a fund,” said Henry, who’s also part of the Money Faketory team. “We have also invited artists to design the lottery tickets or paintings on the walls. We are planning to use the money we’ve got to invest and then return it to these artists who have featured in the exhibitions.”
“Money Faketory’s production of art has an element of [-]1 in their processes of thought,” said Pichaya, the curator. “There is a DIY attitude to it. All this is to ask: How do we young artists survive in this era on our own without having to wait for help from other people?” On the way out, there’s a wooden stand which looks like a DJ set. This is where the last elements of the exhibition, the audience, comes in. From this stand, a seemingly endless roll of receipts continuously flow down from a machine. For the project “Art Jockey”, Atikom Mukdaprakorn set up microphones throughout the exhibition area to record viewers’ voices as they respond to the artwork. These voices are then translated into soundwaves on the receipt-like rolls of paper.
“I want to explore the culture of art viewing,” said Atikom. “Viewers not only take in but they can also create something. I want viewers to take the art home.”
“[-]1: ‘The Great Artist Of Tomorrow Will Go Underground’ — Marcel Duchamp” is on display at Bangkok Art And Culture Centre until Feb 1.
Money Faketory has invented a monetary unit and system of their own to explore the concept of art and money.
