Transitional State
Curated by Wuttin Chansataboot
(with curatorial support from Wiwat Lertwiwatwongsa)
Here is a compilation of experimental films from a country that has been through extraordinary changes in different eras. The screening programme is a collection of artworks that thoroughly explore and investigate the fine details in the minuscule void that widen the space and make the divergence between two boundaries; black and white, lightness and darkness, good and evil, truth and lie, life and death, past and future, absence and present, existence and inanimateness. Sometimes, it is just a thin line that divides those territories apart. At some point, we could only straddle the borderline between the two distinct areas examining the mechanisms of evolution which sometimes could develop gradually. Occasionally it goes in a flash.
For some reasons, we cannot only focus on how the outcome look like, but it is the way things evolved that matter. The progress hidden behind the mystique of change is what we should concentrate on and it should be contemplated intimately without bias. The aftermath of some evolution could make a significant change in various aspects. It could completely change they way we look at the world around us forever. Heads or tails? It depends on how you flip it.
Memories (2015)
15:31 mins
Wachara Kanha
MEMORIES is a video about some beliefs in human lives, and it reproduces images of human lives in the form of images of feelings which are connected to political events or connected to some beliefs which we are forced to live under or abide until these beliefs become a part of our daily lives. The events are represented by a story of a planet which resembles the earth, and the exploration of a new world by an explorer who is travelling deep down into his own subconsciousness. These events are told via the memories of my mother, who is suffering from cancer. Her pain is represented by images of our present society and by words the order of which is connected to the numbers of fragments of a second. The structure of the sentences is transformed by using the technique of a collage in order to make a new story, asking the questions whether we are ruled by the language or by ourselves, and what rules over us. It is like images of unconnected memories, representing our real living conditions that are hard to communicate or grasp or even talk about. “Don’t believe in what you see or hear from me.”
Lucid Reminiscence (2014)
14:48 mins
Wattanapume Laisuwanchai
30 years ago, when there were no many options for leisure, there were 140 stand- alone movie theaters in Bangkok, and hundreds of them across Thailand. Cinema was a popular form of entertainment. Teenagers, couples, families, all of them went to enjoy their favorite films screened on the very big silver screen. It was the heyday of cinema. Later, when new kind of movie theaters were small ones, built inside the department stores, stand alone movie theaters became less and less popular. Nowadays almost all of stand alone movie theaters in Bangkok went out of business. Not only the movie theater is the place that brought happiness to filmgoers, but the building itself is also the recorder of history. Architecture, history, movies, stars, film culture, all of these can be seen through the structure. The film is made as a memory of forgotten movie theaters hidden in various parts of Bangkok by connecting stories and memories of the film fans, in order to revive these old movie theaters again.
ABORTION CYCLE: 1 + 1 = 1 (2014)
5:21 mins
Chompunutt Mayta
If we regard a country as one’s “motherland”, we can anthropomorphize a country as a woman. In 1932, Thailand abolished absolute monarchy and cautiously maneuvered towards democracy. The military has since launched numerous military coups, twelve of them successful. I am interested in correlating the course of action of a coup within a country to the idea of abortion. A woman becomes a metaphor for a country that must purge of all law, justice and democracy. The video aims to weave together passion and anger by referencing the Buddhist’s prohibition of the five alliaceous vegetables; onions, garlic, scallions, leeks, and chives. If these vegetables are eaten raw they cause animosity and if they are cooked they act as an aphrodisiac. The idea is that in any action, whether abortion or coup, has unforeseen consequences.
Ghost Rabbit & The Casket Sales (2015)
6:40 mins
Arnont Nongyao
By the way this route there is light at the end of the tunnel. When a rabbits becoming to ghost and the casket sales prepare the celebration. Finally the musician will be playing a funeral song for nothing.
Lives But Speed (2014)
3:40 mins
Komson Nookiew
There are several colors and tangible objects around us. In the condition of our everyday life, we have been concerning about those vehicles which are complicated and variously appear everywhere.
Back to Life (2015)
3:34 mins
Anukul Chueamon
Some particular places are conserved as monuments for deceased ones. The existing frozen images emerge from the past and overlay present moment that make it onerous to obliterate. The recollection of beloved ones is still everywhere as if it had never been faded away. It dwells there for eternity.
Arb-Nam-Mon [Holy Water Bathing] (2015)
1:26 mins (silent)
Oraporn Jirachonlamark
As an individual who grew up in Thai Buddhist society, I have a strange feeling when the spooky atmosphere and the elegance of Thai culture coming up simultaneously during the time that people are practicing the religious rituals. At times, there is also an awkward moment when they are trying so hard to concentrate on what they are doing to express their faith and belief. To me, it looks as if those individuals have entered into their private zones completely. In order to convey this concept via video medium, I used editing technique to play around with motion and stillness creating the bizarre repetitive image of a group of people participating a holy water bathing rite.
Shadow and a bit of light (2015)
2:29 mins
Thunyathorn Amornlertvit
I was about to sleep with a bit of light in my bedroom. Staring around my individual space, I saw furnitures and things casted shadows everywhere. At a particular moment, I started to imagine and think it moves a little bit.
Silhouette (2015)
2:15 mins
Pataimas Nuanchan
The silhouette of human being procreating violence.
Night Watch (2014)
9:30 mins
Danaya Chulphuthiphong
Watching through an ordinary night, under the “situation normal”, during the coup d’etat. An ordinary night during the coup d’état. The 2014 Thai coup d’état on May 22, which was declared after months of anti-government protests, is warmly welcomed by the middle class in Bangkok but seriously reduces the rights and the freedom of expresssion.
Curator:
Graduated from Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London in 2011. Wuttin Chansataboot is a Bangkok-based freelance director and media artist working across disciplines from filmmaking to multi-media installation. His shortfilms had been shown at film festivals and art events internationally, including International Film Festival Rotterdam(The Netherlands), Berlin International Directors Lounge (Germany), Kuala Lumpur Experimental film and Video Festival (Malaysia), Hamburg International Short Film Festival (Germany), International Festival Signes de Nuit (Paris, France), KOSMA International Film Festival (South Korea), Videoart Center Tokyo (Japan), WNDX Festival of Moving Image (Winnipeg, Canada), ARKIPEL Jakarta International Documentary & Experimental Film Festival (Indonesia), Asian Film & Video Art Forum at MMCA (South Korea). As a part-time lecturer, he is currently teaching at School of Digital Media, Sripatum University. Alongside his creative practice and teaching job, he is doing a research as part of Ph.D. in Visual Art programme at Silpakorn University in Bangkok.
For more information please visit: http://wuttinchansataboot.com/