Manycuts Artspace l Ari marks its opening with "Priceless", an exhibition that will help viewers evaluate losses caused by the country's latest coup d'etat, until Dec 5.
Artworks by Surajate Tongchua. (Photo courtesy of Manycuts Artspace l Ari)
On display are 17 abstract-like artworks by Surajate Tongchua, an emerging artist from Chiang Mai, who started creating this series in May 2014, when the junta took over the country. It took him seven years to complete the collection.
On the day of the coup, Surajate began collecting receipts of his personal and family's daily expenses. Through a shredder, they were transformed into pieces of paper. The values, either high or low, that were once recorded on paper are all deconstructed and destroyed completely.
However, the artist assembled those shredded pieces of paper and pasted them on canvas. He also created sculptures, using pieces of primary school textbook paper and Chinese newspapers.
The exhibition doesn't only present economic evaluation in our daily lives but also touches on the opportunities, rights, and freedoms that have been deprived from Thai people since the coup.
The artist connects his personal experiences to Thai politics and social context in order to portray his perspectives as a Thai citizen. At the same time, such personal experiences are contextually woven into collective experiences which everyone has shared in the past seven years.
Not only do his artworks invite audiences to think about the economic values to which we and our country have lost along with democracy but also encourage us to ponder on our deprived costs, values, opportunities, rights, freedom and lives that are incalculable by any economic index.
Manycuts Artspace l Ari is a new branch of Manycuts Artspace in Chachoengsao province, located on Ari 3, Phahon Yothin Road and open Friday to Sunday from noon to 6pm and by appointment on Wednesday and Thursday.
Visit facebook.com/manycuts.ari or call 084-388-1488.
