I am not me. This map is not mine
“I am not me, this map is not mine.”
a exhibition at GIVE ART Gallery, Singapore on 13 October 2011
65 Spottiswoode Park Road, Singapore, Singapore 088654
Phone +6590054850
http://www.giveart.net/
“How we’re aligned”, Silkscreen Ultra Violet Ink (monoprint)
50 x 70 cm, 2011
Advertisement
Like this:
One blogger likes this post.
MEDIA RELEASE
SINGAPORE, 5 September 2011— Give Art will host Thai graphic artist, Santi Lawrachawee’s first solo exhibition in Singapore, opening on Thursday, 13 October 2011.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Lawrachawee is a Thai graphic artist and founder of design collective, Practical Studio. He nimbly crosses from the commercial world of graphic design to fine art and back again.
“When I speak with another person’s voice, I am a graphic designer. When I speak in my own voice, I am an artist.” [anon]
The Exhibition – I am not me. This map is not mine It is difficult for some of us to say with conviction that we are “Thai”, “American” or “Singaporean” when we are influenced and inspired by a global narrative. Many speak of being a “global citizen”. Lawrachawee’s works capture his internal debate to decide where he fits in terms of nationality in an increasingly small, flat world.
Lawrachawee will be showing 16 new works at Give Art Space, comprising original prints on paper and acrylic. He will also be showing a paper book work created by his collective, Practical Studio and first shown in an exhibition titled Paper Matter at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre alongside works by Nipan Oranwesana, Farmgroup and Likaybindery (2010).
His works speak of the difficulty in knowing and hearing yourself in a communication saturated world. He appears bewildered by the overwhelming rush of information from the internet, politicians, news channels, bloggers and wonders whether we are losing the ability to process it all and distinguish good from bad, and the truth from the trash. He wonders what it means to be Thai in 2011 and reflects on the concept of nationality in a globalised world. The title suggests that geographical boundaries are becoming so blurred as to be meaningless. In Lawrachawee’s words, as the world becomes faster and flatter “In that world…I am not sure about anything at all.”
“My pieces of work put “the virtual world” and “me myself” into an unfamiliar context and diverse positions by switching my visions: left-right, front-back, above-below as well as outside-inside.” The works themselves are beautiful, at times abstract and light-hearted but cleverly capture a hot, flat and crowded world. This series sees Lawrachawee using UV coated colour for the first time. The hot, UV colours add a flat shimmer to the reconstructed cartographical works.
The works reconstruct global and regional cartography, at times, intertwined with the artist’s portrait. The images give the Southeast Asia wings as it appears to take flight. Ambiguities abound in the images leading some to comment that they are cartographical displays masquerading as Rorschach tests*. So come and test your perceptions of these works which can be viewed on many levels and may reveal something about you or to you…
Background
Lawracahwee had his first solo show at the Bangkok University Gallery in 2008 titled Yes, I am Not, an installation constructed by using a hydraulic cutting machine to cut layers and layers of newsprint into a text puzzle. He has since participated in a number of group exhibitions using printmaking, paper sculpture and large scale site-specific installations.
Alongside commercial projects at the Practical Design Studio his team initiate and organise design exhibitions and activities. Lawrachawee organises forums and a nationwide discussions on the Thai-ness in Thai graphic design. It was titled, “Somewhere Thai” and included 50 speakers representing “Thainess” in their design work.
Lawrachawee is also a lecturer in the Fine Arts programme at Bangkok University and Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
* Using interpretation of “ambiguous designs” to assess an individual’s personality is an idea that goes back to Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. Interpretation of inkblots was central to a game from the late 19th century. Rorschach’s, however, was the first systematic approach of this kind