Artist Watoosiri Jansin, aka Artsaveworld, reflects on poor construction throughout Bangkok with her sculpture titled Maa Cherry Tid Tor Prapaa (Cherry The Dog Stuck In A Water Pipe). The long body of the dog reflects persistent issues.
Napatsakorn Nikornsaen, left, and Watoosiri Jansin. (Photos: Varuth Hirunyatheb)
Meanwhile, artist Napatsakorn Nikornsaen, aka Anxiety Storage, created a readymade installation in the form of Bangkok’s damaged sidewalks. There are puzzle pieces in the middle of the gap in the installation. The puzzle pieces sarcastically show that walking on Bangkok’s footpaths is similar to playing a game where people do not know what they will encounter.
Art pieces created by Watoosiri and Napatsakorn are displayed at the exhibition “We Will Pass Away Together: The Thai Art Of Surreal Survival”. Though these two artists are students at the Faculty of Decorative Arts, Silpakorn University, they had never worked together. They teamed up for this exhibition because the curator felt they share a similar humour.
Napatsakorn confessed that she was initially worried about showcasing together because their styles are totally different. While Watoosiri focuses on illustrations, Napatsakorn’s works are objects and installations. After working together, they became comfortable. They could express their own ideas and still maintain harmony between their works.
System 2.
Maa Cherry Tid Tor Prapaa (Cherry The Dog Stuck In A Water Pipe).
The exhibition “We Will Pass Away Together” was inspired by a meme during Covid-19.
“The exhibition title came about during the pandemic. At that time, people sent phrases to encourage each other such as ‘getting through this together’. However, someone came up with the phrase ‘we will pass away together’. This made us realise that even though we have to live in a country with structural flaws, Thai people still have a sense of humour for negative things they experience,” explained Napatsakorn.
“In this exhibition, we picked things that we found funny in everyday life. Actually, if everyone carefully looks at the root cause, we would not laugh. Instead, we would feel stressed every day. As citizens, we can only try to be optimistic. The exhibition curator Kristiya Chaisri also told us that on TikTok, foreigners call this kind of humour ‘Thai core’. For example, they were amazed at a clip of a man riding a motorcycle with a dog sitting on the back seat behind him.
“When we worked on the concept of Thai core, we thought that artwork does not have to be traditional or relate to temples. It should be contemporary and relevant to the daily lives of Thai people.”
The footpath installation by Napatsakorn Nikornsaen.
Life Is Easy 1.
Watoosiri Jansin, aka Artsaveworld, has gained recognition for using tua kak, which refers to human characters in traditional Thai paintings and literature. Unlike the main characters, tua kak do not appear in beautiful clothes since they represent ordinary people. Watoosiri makes her characters unique by painting them pink.
In “We Will Pass Away Together”, Watoosiri created illustrations and sculptures inspired by memes that she saw on the internet. Life Is Easy 1 and Life Is Easy 2 were inspired by floods.
Both illustrations depict local people enjoying their lives during the floods.
“I saw a meme of a man standing and watering plants in the middle of the flood. He seemed to have no idea what to do, so he came out to water the plants. Also during the floods, people used their motorcycles to surf and went out to drink. Another meme depicts two hairdressers washing a customer’s hair while everyone is chest-deep in the water,” Watoosiri explained.
System 1 was inspired by an odd experience when she once drove through a police checkpoint.
Animal game cards.
“That night I ate out, but did not drink any alcohol. I encountered a breathalyser checkpoint on Aksorn Road. When I pulled the car over, a police officer told me that the breathalyser mouthpieces had run out. He told me to blow directly on his face. I did so and he allowed me to go. I had no idea why they decided to do that, but it was a hilarious experience for me,” said Watoosiri.
Watoosiri felt inspired to illustrate System 2 which depicts a high-ranking military politician repeatedly saying “I don’t know” during his interview with reporters. Although the situation was serious and people felt stressed, that politician just responded “I don’t know” to all the questions.
The two artists also reflect the superstitious belief of Thais in the exhibition. Watoosiri’s Itsara Thaang Khwaam Chuea 1 (Freedom Of Faith 1) and Itsara Thaang Khwaam Chuea 2 (Freedom Of Faith 2) depict making offerings to fulfil one’s vows and making merit for a birthday. These two illustrations are displayed above zebra statues created by Napatsakorn to be used as offerings.
Napatsakorn is recognised for her solo exhibition “808080 Error Objects”, in which she designed everyday objects to look different, such as a knife with a sharp handle, crutches with wheels and a hairbrush with hard steel bristles. Napatsakorn explained that her concept was inspired by depression which was caused her to feel like an outsider among her family and society for years.
“If we cannot meet others’ expectations, will we become worthless? For example, if I am not a very nice friend, sibling or daughter, does it mean I am worthless? I created everyday objects with flaws, displayed them and let people judge whether these objects still have value,” explained Napatsakorn.
In this exhibition, Napatsakorn created a video which features a 3D model dog inspired by stray dogs at 7-Eleven stores.
“I created a video which looks like an online game. I am a dog lover who notices strays can be often found in front of convenience stores. If we take a look closer, stray dogs are another issue that have not been managed properly,” she said.
Sticker panels and postcards created by Napatsakorn hang on the wall to create an ambience like that of a local grocery store. One of the most interesting and hilarious stickers are of mosquitos.
Next to the sticker panels, there is a table displaying cards inspired by Pokémon. The cards feature several kinds of animal species in Thailand such as a city pigeon, a fat dog, a house lizard, a pooping cat, a cockroach egg and a worm.
Toilet Cube And The Mysterious Bugs is a sculpture inspired by public restrooms. On the white cube made from bathroom tiles, there are drain or moth flies often found in public restrooms. According to entomologists, these flies do not harm humans, but in large numbers they can be a nuisance and unsanitary.
“Going to public restrooms in Thailand is like trying your luck at a Japanese gachapon game. You do not know whether a tissue roll or a bidet spray will be available or not. I created this piece because I noticed many flies in public restrooms, but nobody mentions it, so I put them in the spotlight as the main character of the artwork.”
As an artist who creates sculptures and installations, Napatsakorn hopes that Thai people will appreciate other kinds of art rather than paintings. She believes everything is art depending on the perspective.
Watoosiri hopes that the exhibition will bring happiness to the viewers.
“If visitors smile, that will make me happy. They do not have to laugh at our artwork. I hope they can forget their stress and enjoy the art. That’s enough for me,” she said.