KAWITA VATANAJYANKUR
THE BANGKOK ART BIENNALE
2018
BEYOND BLISS
Theme "Beyond Bliss"
Under the theme of Beyond Bliss, the artists are invited to create the art works under the concept and interpret the seemingly unattainable happiness in different ways. Creating the art piece at the historical, cultural and spiritual landmarks, representing the pursuit for happiness, both physical and mental, or finding the end of suffering. They also reflect social, political and environmental issues through the art works that have great impact to human happiness.
"We live in a present state of fear, protest and delusion. We invite our selected artists to comment on this lack of bliss. Which has been created due to political clashes, disease, pollution and migration. Bliss is a temporary and ephemeral experience, our artists will seek to interpret and capture different variants and intensity." said Prof. Dr. Apinan Poshyananda, Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Bangkok Art Biennale.
Yayoi Kusama: Pumpkins Balloons
Curatorial team
Prof. Dr. Apinan Poshyananda
Bangkok Art Biennale Chief Executive & Artistic Director, and former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture (see the biography)
Luckana Kunavichayanont
Former Director of Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)
Prof. Patrick D. Flores
Professor of Art Studies at the Department of Art Studies, University of the Philippines, and Curator of the Vargas Museum in Manila
Dr. Adele Tan
Senior Curator, National Gallery Singapore
Sansern Milindasuta
Assistant to the President for Academic Affairs, Bangkok and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)
KNIT
1 HOUR LIVE PERFORMANCE
THE PENINSULA BANGKOK
Knit' is Vatanajyankur’s first live performance work. The performance component of this work is a part of her ongoing series of illuminating videos entitled ‘Performing Textiles’ which invokes a powerful sense of physicality, uncovering a world of often-invisible domestic labour by painfully testing the limits of her own body. Her dynamic video art is a springboard to explore the value and understanding of the performative body, and the role of gesture within that very performance.
As 'Performing Textiles' highlights the current world of consumption, consumerism and materialism; a world where we place higher value on objects rather than the workers and laborers behind the finished product -- the message of her work is clear. Human beings become undervalued and viewed as merely tools and even machines - that produce packages of food, clothes and other materials for us to consume. The work will bring together the ‘producer’ (the artist) and the ‘consumers’ (the audience) to present a microcosmic representation of society at large and will ask prescient questions about our complicity through inaction.