Three artists, three exhibitions, three mediums, one message
'Did you enjoy Pee Mak?"
"Somebody in the cinema ruined my mood, she reacted to the screen all the time like crazy."
"Really? She must be a real fan."
"She swore all the time!"
"No more rice left, finish all dishes OK?"
"OK"
"She tried to predict how it was going to turn out, scene after scene."
"You'd better beat her down."
"She is an aggressive woman."
"Is the chilli paste tasty?"
"Yes"
"See that, the monks run away."
"This is a different film."
"Do you want more rice?"
The above conversation is between artist Nuttapon Sawasdee and his parents, Vichit and Soontaree, at dinnertime. In this video installation Family That Dines Together, artist Namfon Udomlertlak filmed 12 families at the dinner table. Curated by Soifa Saenkhamkon, this video documentation is part of group exhibition "The Air Of Familiarity", on view until Saturday at the three-levelled Cloud art space on Maitri Chit Road.
"With the use of camera as an investigative tool, what Namfon discovered from diverse discussions in each family were facts and stories from everyday life," says Soifa whose project is part of the "Run & Learn: New Curatorial Constellations", organised by the Japan Foundation and BACC.
Dinnertime conversation from other families are just as random and non-linear. The subjects range from a squirrel in the backyard, a mistress who got dumped and is visited by her lover's wife, the reason why a grandmother doesn't go to cinema any more and an academic who has taken a political stance simply to comment on food.
Even though the characters in Namfon's documentation are strangers and details of their conversation are personal, viewers, especially those growing up in a Thai household, can relate to the videos. The piece of work, exploring hidden significances in seemingly meaningless everyday incidents, is a good introduction to the exhibition.
"The Air Of Familiarity aims to explore different thoughts and attitudes in contemporary society by looking at these familiar aspects in everyday life," explains Soifa. "The exhibition doesn't intend to make judgement on any of the diverse attitudes and beliefs in society."
The three other artists have also exhibited works through video documentation, short film, photography and installation works. Soifa says the project is to observe surroundings — familiar things we see on a daily basis, friends, acquaintances — and "the little things that can raise awareness on common differences".
On the first floor, Chaiwat Wiansantia transports viewers to a place his family used to live with the sound installation titled Previous House. Along with a recording of the surroundings — the singing of birds and leaves rustled by the wind — two photos hang across each other; one of the empty agricultural land where the house used to stand and the other of a Google map of the house's location.
Chaiwat never lived in the house but grew up with stories of strange incidents occurring there. Living in the house, the family was never prosperous, some of the family members lost their lives and that's the reason they moved out. On the wall there's a little pencil sketch of his uncle, who looked like Chaiwat, and was among those who died. The exhibition room has a haunting blue hue and this contrast with the background sound of serene nature gives the warm nostalgic set of works an eerie feel.
On display, on the same floor, is the short film Dad by Tippawan Narintorn, which documents the daily life of her father, who suffers from chronic emphysema and uses a ventilator for 15 hours a day.
Apart from filming her father as a way of connecting with him, she experimented with the idea of familiarity by letting her father take hold of the camera in some parts. Her father's unsteady hand while filming the neighbourhood has given the film a sense of intimacy and wonder, of a man trying to discover his world through a new aspect.
Apichat Yimyong's photography and video installation series "Under The Bodhi Tree" takes over the entire second floor. Through a collage technique done in the dark room, the image of the Bodhi leaf is present in all his photographs. Into these collages, portraits of the artist and views of urban landscapes were incorporated. This explores the clash between the image of the tree in the past, which is a symbol of enlightenment in Buddhism, and of present day where this tree is often a "house" for old Buddha statues and forgotten spirit houses, a place where people dump garbage even.
All these works — Namfon's footage of families having dinner, Chaiwat's photo installation, Tippawan's short film and Apichat photography collage — would have been quite plain on their own. Clubbed together in a gallery space, Soifa has turned something personal into something public, these artists' familiar objects and experiences have become ours.
"The Air Of Familiarity" is on display at Cloud, a creative project space on Maitri Chit Road, until Saturday.
A scene from Namfon's video Family That Dines Together.
A scene from Tippawan Narintorn's short film Dad.
