Te - Thesis First Chapter

Te Steve Suggests give me luck

GIVE ME LUCK. FEED ME HOPE.

THESIS DRAFT

GIVE ME LUCK. FEED ME HOPE

Thesis submitted to: Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the final examination for the degree of: Master of Arts in Fine Art & Design: Lens-Based.

Adviser: Steve Rushton

Second Reader: **

2023-24

Contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1: Previous Works (A Quest for The Meaningful Practice)

Chapter 2: Thai Superstitious Beliefs (Haunted Ghosts and a Glimmer of Hope)

Chapter 3: Graduation Project (Welcome To My Motherland)

Conclusion

Introduction

This thesis is composed of three chapters which seek to deepen my understanding of my practice, the power of humor and mockumentary, and the political connotation behind Thailand's deep-rooted superstitious beliefs. These issues have a direct relation to the work I make. In Give Me Luck. Feed Me Hope I investigate the role of mockumentary film through the figure of the unreliable narrator and consider how this connects to my fascination with superstitious beliefs. This is a curious fascination, because I am not superstitious in my everyday life. I want to ask: What does the audience gain from experiencing the convolution provoked by blending truth and lies? and, how can humor be a powerful tool in addressing serious social issues?

Chapter 1: Previous Works (A Quest for The Meaningful Practice)

In the first chapter, I will discuss the journey of my practice and theoretical framework, reflecting on the processes and working methods involved in my previous works created before and during this Master's program. I will explain how they have more or less affected my practice in developing “Welcome to My Motherland”, my graduation project.

“Haunt signifies both the dwelling-place, the domestic scene and that which invades or disturbs it.” (Fisher, 2014, p.125)

Since I was young, I have wondered how far I could go from my hometown, from my family, and from being my current self. I grew up in a typical family in Songkhla, a small city in southern Thailand. Both my parents work for the government and don't know much about the art world. Fortunately, they were open-minded enough to allow me to seek my unknown path. I moved to Bangkok, the central hub of prosperity, to pursue my bachelor's in communication design, just like testing water to see if I should continue. Right after that, I got a job as a junior video editor. Simultaneously, I worked as a freelance photographer. Like many new graduates, I shifted from pursuing art to diving into the commercial world, striving to sustain myself and working hard to produce massive work with a tight deadline for clients who wanted things fast. The first year of full-time work is extremely tough for me, mentally and practically. The money I earned didn't match my effort, mainly due to an unfair social structure. The work I did also didn’t satisfy me regarding its value. I realize this path isn't sustainable for me, as my work doesn’t fulfill me mentally in terms of its value. The question that feels like it requires a lifetime to answer keeps haunting me. “What kind of work do I want to do?” “What is my place in the art world?” “What is the meaning of life?” Well (this one might just be a trick question).

I felt frustrated with the lack of progress and fulfillment in the commercial world, so I decided to give the art world another try. My odyssey began in September last year when I moved from Thailand to the Netherlands for this master’s program. It’s pretty far this time. Predictably, I have traversed great physical and cultural distances. Everything seemed new except the massive tree in front of the school. It would probably not have caught my attention if colored meshes didn’t wrap it.

Though uncertain of the person's intent behind wrapping this mesh around the tree, it immediately reminded me of something familiar in my country.

In Thailand, people believe that it is a symbol indicating that there is a guardian spirit inside. People worship these trees by praying and offering food and beverages to the guardian spirits. I don’t know exactly who is the first person that rubs the tree bark with their fingers. But it is broadly known in our country that the lucky numbers would appear on the bark by doing so —a shortcut to get rich through lottery winnings. This superstition serves as a glimmer of hope, particularly for people in rural areas, offering a chance to secure their livelihoods since government support is inadequate. However, I’ve never personally performed this ritual in Thailand. Still, the idea of trying it here is intriguing, isn't it?

Moving to another country doesn't erase my Thai roots or what I've learned growing up. On the other hand, it makes me realize how deeply ingrained those notions are in me. In a Guardian interview, Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul said, 'My country is run by superstition.' It sparked my quest to explore superstitious myths and various experiments to connect with my motherland spiritually

i. The Holy Sponge (2023)

The Holy Sponge is a 3’47” mockumentary film I made in 2023. It features a fictional exhibition trailer for "Keep Worshipping" at the EYE Filmmuseum. The exhibition highlights the holy qualities of items that the King Sponge owned and used to develop the Coconut Shell Planet. The items shown in the film are influenced by the iconic belongings of the previous King of Thailand released by official Thai media to reflect the King's philosophy of the sufficiency economy. As well as the stories behind them also inspired the script, such as his limited use of twelve pencils per year and his ability to squeeze toothbrush tubes to their fullest potential effectively. To parody the cliché idea of the King of Thailand as a god, I add aspects of the fairy tale and surrealism into the script's narration. For instance, any texts, plans, or wishes written by The Holy pencil will become real, and the Holy Money can automatically duplicate itself at midnight.

The production process involved filming selected objects on a shiny silver stand against a moving golden-yellow fabric background, utilizing a high frame rate to achieve a surreal and magnificent effect. The filming approach was intended to blend commercial packshot and exhibition elements to elevate the value of mundane objects.

In the post-production process, the items were edited into golden frames to convey their high value and displayed with museum-style labeling to enhance the exhibition concept. I used particle animation in some shots to create a luxurious feel and added cartoon sound effects to inject a sense of humor. The narration was done by a Thai voiceover using an AI voice generator to create the effect of propaganda and the overwhelming amount of information frequently distributed to the public.

Propaganda, Politics and Attempt to Subvert Power.

As I developed the project, under the theme 'Displacement, Retranslation, and Value Elevation,' the concept of The Holy Sponge sparked when I stumbled upon the cheapest sponges on a supermarket shelf. Their color mirrored the meshes wrapping around a tree. This discovery ignited my recognition of the potential to elevate mundane objects into something exceptional, prompting a shift in my focus toward politics and propaganda.

During a thematic seminar, "Is it possible to talk about power and violence without showing their depictions?" led by Cihad, I read an article by Nermin Saybasili, who proposed the idea of visibility as a complex system of permission and prohibition of presence and absence, which always contains apparitions and often obligates blindness" (Saybasili, 2008, p. 302). This encouraged me to create artwork addressing the Thai monarchy's role and power dynamics, using the concept of visibility to explore how the monarchy controls and shapes public perception.

King Rama IX, the former monarch of Thailand, was depicted as a god-like figure and the father of all Thai citizens. This portrayal was reinforced through official media channels, frequently featuring images of the King's humble possessions and dedication to the country. The purpose of this propaganda was to promote the values of hard work and patriotism. Although the current King has been unable to establish a positive public image since his father's reign almost seven years ago, Thai citizens are still obligated to respect the monarchy and its members. The Thai government has used the Lèse-majesté law, also known as Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, as a political weapon to suppress the freedom of speech and expression of Thai citizens. They have jailed many activists for criticizing the monarchy. This mirrors the problematic nature of power in the monarchical state, as Foucault (1995, p. 80) highlighted, "This dysfunction of power was related to a central excess: what might be called the monarchical 'super-power', which identified the right to punish with the personal power of the sovereign." Despite this happening in Thai society, some hyper-royalists still hold unwavering faith in the monarchy's impartiality, prompting the question, "Does it make sense to believe and revere something blindly?"

I am fascinated by the media's ability to manipulate object perception and Marcel Duchamp's 'Readymade' art, which presents mass-produced objects as art. This has led me to explore the concept of offering mundane objects with a sense of holiness, which requires a shift in mindset to appreciate.

If anything could be art, why can't the cheap sponge? I chose the sponge as the primary object due to its symbolic association with labor jobs, and its yellow color corresponded to the Thai King's iconic color.

Poor Kitchen Sponge

In response to Laura Huertas Millan's Decoloniality and Film seminar, I wrote this piece:

Now, I am a kitchen sponge.  

My body is soft, porous and yellow, it looks somewhat like cheese. I have 9 siblings from the same pack. Although we share last names, we have different skin colors. Some of us are red, some are blue, and some are green. However, all of us have short and stiff dark green hair. Sometimes, I want to try dying my hair to different colors but I am too busy being used in a human's cleaning job.

I have the ability to absorb (not knowledge but) liquid.

But I wish I could dry myself too.

Everyday, I am soaked in water.

Over 8 hours a day.

So cold that I cannot stop shivering.

I sleep in the same sink again.

It takes the whole night to recover and get dry again.

When the sun comes, I’m soaked again.

People in the kitchen use me to remove stubborn dirt. It always hurts when their rough hands squeeze my body. I get new bruises every day I lose my hair every time they scrape me into dirty pans. Maybe I need to buy vanishing cream and anti-hair fall shampoo.  

Unfortunately, I was born poor. I cannot afford any pricey products.

My life is cheap. My siblings and I were sold for less than two euros.

I am hungry. People never feed me, they only force me to work. But thankfully, I can secretly eat leftovers while people rub me on dishes.  

I worked until my back got crooked.

I worked until my body was full of bacteria.

I guess I will have to work until the last second of my life.  

My lifespan is so short. I experienced being a witness to the death of my siblings.

We, as the working-class kitchen sponges, couldn't access any treatment and we don't have any health insurance.

We don't leave any letters because we cannot write.

We don't have a funeral like people do.

Before I was thrown away.

I wonder what it's like being held gently by rich people's soft hands.

Would rich people feed me with a golden spoon?

Would they tell me a bedtime story and send me to bed?

Would other people respect me if I'm wealthy and live in a rich house?

If yes, would I become more valuable?

This short text embodies shapeshifting into the cheapest sponge on the shelf. This idea sparked from observing a society that emphasizes maximizing production within tight schedules, where numerous workers endure repression and are forced to work tirelessly despite receiving inadequate compensation.

In my previous project, I solely focused on creating work without dialogue or experimental storytelling methods; I had never ventured into script writing. I don’t feel very confident in using my writing as the foundation for creating video work, even in my mother tongue. This exercise prompted me contemplate using a script as the structure for The Holy Sponge to create a virtual universe where ordinary groups humbly claim their powers and special abilities.

Fake Exhibition: Unreliable Universe

Stories, myths, and folklore passed down from generation to generation create a space that feels like entering another world—a realm that embraces and preserves these enduring notions.

I'm intrigued by the tales that objects carry and how they travel through time. Sometimes, the ordinary becomes fascinating when tied to someone special—like a flattened toothpaste tube or worn-out pencils once owned by King Rama IX, a prosperous monarch known for his economically sufficient lifestyle. Objects gain attention, possibly ending up in museums or media, only because of their famous associations.

I created The Holy Sponge using the concept of a fake exhibition to reflect an imaginary world where mundane objects have unique abilities and lies exist as a form of logic. Inspired by overwhelming propaganda, people are invited linearly into this spatial notion and are restricted from leaving it.

Oscar Wilde proposed, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” (quoted in Otway, 2015, p.3).

Propaganda emerges to substitute the yet-unpleasant reality. In our media-saturated world, becoming entangled in a web of deceitful narratives is effortless.

Within The Holy Sponge, I utilize the unreliable narrator as one of the personas or masks. The narrative perspective is centered around the clown who playfully manipulates the truth and the reader's expectations for entertainment, employing irony, varied meanings, and reversals in narration. The naïf is employed in the script to echo the propaganda theme. This inexperienced narrator sees events solely from their own limited and often ignorant perspective, making them unreliable in conveying a complete or accurate story.

I wrote this script to serve as the voiceover structure for the video:

King Sponge of the Coconut Shell Planet is known as a talented and hardworking role model. He never leaves his people, just as a father would never abandon his children.

In the exhibition Keep Worshipping, we honor this humble man and trace the various holy items that King Sponge used to help develop the Coconut Shell Planet.

Welcome to the exhibition. These holy items were once scattered around the Coconut Shell Planet. It has been a delight to see them brought together and to witness how humble they look, despite their holy qualities.

At the very beginning of the exhibition, you will see The Holy Pencil.

Any texts, plans, or wishes written by The Holy Pencil will be realized.

King Sponge writes many decrees with the Holy Pencils.

However, he only utilized twelve Holy Pencils per year due to the philosophy of sufficient economy which focuses on development based on moderation and prudence.

“The Holy Toothpaste”

This holds the secret behind King Sponge’s charming smile.

Anyone who sees his smile will fall magically under his spell.

The well-squeezed Holy Toothpaste tube seems to be used up, but it will last for more than a year.

"The Holy Shoes”

They might seem like a normal pair of boots but every step they land makes the earth flourish.

It urges Caption Sponge forward, to step toward faraway places.

“The Holy Globe”

In collaboration with the Holy Pencil, any city drawn on The Holy Globe will be well-renown, rich and civilized.

“The Holy Glasses"

While wearing The Holy Glasses, King Sponge was able to see the future. It is an important item in the decision-making process. His diary notes that his IQ increased by 200% when wearing them.

“The Holy Camera”

Unlike normal cameras, everyone captured by the Holy Camera will be immortal as their souls will be protected in the heavenly space.

“The Holy Yellow Shirt”

This is the uniform that King Sponge designed for his people on the Coconut Shell Planet.

He believed yellow to be the planet’s lucky and spiritual color.

Every Holy Yellow Shirt will make the wearer a good person with high moral values, no matter how bad their behavior.

"The Holy Money”

Another great invention from King Sponge.

If people spend this Holy Money on the lottery, there is a higher chance of winning. Furthermore, the Holy Money automatically duplicates itself at midnight. That means the more the owner saves, the richer he becomes.

At the end of our exhibition, we’ve installed a very important item,

“The Holy Sponge”

King Sponge designed the innovative Sponge as a tool for poor people on the Coconut Shell Planet to make money from cleaning jobs.

According to historical records, the Holy Sponge can spotlessly clean anything, even someone’s mistakes, memories, or even histories.

Come and experience the real Holy Collection with your own eyes at the exhibition Keep Worshipping this April.

Even if you don’t believe it, do not disrespect it.

The Holy Sponge is also the first audio-visual work in which I employ a humorous and sarcastic voice in storytelling. Infusing The Holy Sponge with parody, humor, and satire makes it a vivid and unforgettable experience. These elements engage the audience and offer a unique perspective, making the narrative entertaining and thought-provoking.

Initially, I wrote an English script for the voiceover due to concerns about the excessive number of text that the audience would have to read on the screen alongside the museum-style labels next to the objects in the frame. Thus, I aimed to avoid burdening the audience with additional subtitles. However, in the end, opting for a Thai voiceover with English subtitles proved valuable. This approach offered more context for the intended message I sought to convey.

ii. Turning Tide and Cataract (2017)

My bachelor's thesis project in 2017 was an 8'41'' experimental film called Turning Tide and Cataract. The film is dialogue-free and follows a senior female student who spends her day editing a project at home, only to be interrupted by a man who pursues and threatens her. It is divided into three parts, exploring the concepts of 'Continuity,' 'Disturbance,' and 'Exaggeration' respectively, in an ironic and subversive manner through the use of various filmmaking techniques, including mise-en-scene, editing, and sound.

Film Editing and Cinematography Techniques

My curiosity about filmmaking began after watching Birdman (2014), directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The entire film is seamless, and each scene appears to have no cuts between them. Later, I discovered that some other notable movies, such as Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) and Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil, also use the invisible cut. It prompted me to scrutinize the editing and cinematography techniques ever since.

My working process involved analyzing award-winning and recommended films, followed by conducting analytical research on film editing and cinematography techniques derived from those films. After extracting terms from this research, I visualized them through a time-based medium. Subsequently, I analyzed my video works to identify more terms. Employing back-and-forth methods, I explored variable terms before incorporating them into the final film. Eventually, I selected 'Continuity,' 'Disturbance,' and 'Exaggeration' as fundamental filmmaking techniques, pervasive in every movie. Additionally, I created a mind map to document the terms that inspired me as a starting point and expanded upon them.

Meta-Cinema

Like The Holy Sponge, Turning Tide and Cataract aim to blur the line between reality and fiction.

The film often depicted a protagonist editing the footage on a timeline, manipulating scenes of herself within the same setting visible on the screen. The film utilizes the concept of "meta-cinema" to make the audience aware that they are watching a representation of reality rather than reality itself. By embracing this idea, the audience is invited to question their perception of reality and the influence of the media on it.

Female Victim Trope / Maiden Archetype

The protagonist in this film was inspired by my experience while working on my bachelor's thesis. Initially, she led a mundane life, mirroring my routine. The plot turned mysterious when she discovered a suspicious suitcase at her door. As in many clichéd stories, the innocent female protagonist met her demise at the hands of a mysterious antagonist. It wasn't until I had to analyze my previous work in this master’s program that I realized I had employed the idea of the 'female victim trope,' drawing inspiration from numerous American movies.

iii. Personal Odyssey (2019)

Personal Odyssey is an experimental color film with a duration of 5’06”. The film utilized a collage of voiceovers from various people constructed as one storyline presented in an essayistic narrative. It consists of four chapters: ‘Why are we born into this world?’, ‘The flame burning in one’s chest’, ‘Fuck it’, and ‘Constantly Changing,’ which revolve around the existential question of human existence and explore the theme of life's uncertainty and the enigmatic nature of life as the longest journey. The mashup visuals accompanying this narrative depict my expedition along the Trans-Siberian Railway, recognized as the world's longest railway line.

Existentialism.

In late 2017, as a recent graduate from Fine Art school, I found it very challenging to adapt to the commercial world, where fast-paced production is the priority. Even I learned much about technical video aspects from my low-paid first job, but it wasn’t well trading with the struggle and effort I paid. I have many self-doubts and feel desperate to make a living while making the work I find meaningful. At some point, I quit that job and used my savings to join two friends on the Trans-Siberian Railway trip. Spending one month and a half on this voyage, covering a total distance of over 9,000 km, creates a mindscape large enough to contemplate the meaning of life, experience the unknown, and explore a deeper understanding of existence.

Make a Collage from Reality.

I collected a lot of footage from the Trans-Siberian trip and didn’t have a chance to start editing until two years later when I got a better-paid contract job requiring six working days a week as a casting video editor for a reality show.  Every day at work, I must listen to each candidate’s struggles and dream-chasing stories through the interviews. As I listened, I found myself wandering through their self-passage toward their quest. I’ve come to realize that life is the longest journey. An expedition full of surprises, doubts, and uncertainties. I resonated with fragments of each candidate's challenges and journey, leading me to embark on my own odyssey of self-discovery. I reconstructed the script by rearranging verbal bits from 13 candidates to reflect my perspective and interpretation of life, which resembles a rollercoaster, and constantly changes as one grows up. Once I shaped the storyline, I asked my friends to dub the script due to copyright conditions. I edit the voiceovers with the footage of my path through the Trans-Siberian route to convey the idea of life as the ultimate odyssey.

A spiritual quest exists in the inner self; its mystery is intriguing and impossible to unweave. Personal Odyssey, playing the role of an explorer, wanders through the journey of life.

So you may ask, ‘How does one live through such a journey?’

The answer is simple, ‘By not giving a fuck and living it to the fullest.’

iv. Something that (2023)

There is always something that I don’t understand, something that needs some time to realize, something that keeps me awake at night, and something that I still want to figure out.

I admit I don't have all the answers. Life, and even my own captured images, sometimes elude my understanding.

Ritual

Something that is a year-long series capturing daily photos and videos, resulting in a collection of 365 images that portray everyday moments through lens-based media.

This project was born as a challenge to myself living in a foreign country for more than one year for the first time. The anxiety of not being productive resurfaced, prompting me to question if I could create the ritual to sustain a year-long creative output. Each day, I captured subjects aligned with a monthly theme, drawing inspiration from the game "Exquisite Corpse," where people take turns adding to a piece of paper without viewing what others have added, which inspired me to abandon complete control over selecting subjects. For instance, one of the rules I follow is to capture a photo of something that I got from a second-hand shop on the second day of each month. In January, I focused on photographing trash, resulting in a photoshoot where I combined an object from a second-hand shop with garbage.

Capitalism

Through this series of still-life images. I transformed everyday objects into my visual diary. No new props were purchased specifically for this project. Instead, I explored alternative methods of image-making within defined rules and limitations, challenging the conventional approach of quick and polished commercial photography.

By subverting the familiarity of mundane and mass-produced objects, "Something That" invites you to reconsider the ordinary and contemplate our shared human experiences. Pause and reflect on the process behind the images we consume. The project reflects the passage of time and the ever-evolving world we inhabit. Through this journey of relocating space, reinterpreting perceptions, and unraveling the complexities of existence, I aim to gain a better understanding of both my practice and the capitalist world that surrounds me.

Here is the rule I've established for each photo, along with the results from the first six months.

RULE/PROMT

Chapter 2: Thai Superstitious Beliefs (Haunted Ghosts and a Glimmer of Hope)

If you want to get lucky numbers for the lottery, rub tree bark with your fingers.

If you want to control the rain, ask the virgin woman to plant the lemongrass upside down to the ground.

If you want to be safe, wear the fortune amulet.

If you want to be unbeatable, get the immortal pattern tattoo.

If you want to offer a beverage to the guardian spirit, it's preferable to use a red-colored drink.

Do not sing in the kitchen if you don’t want to have an old husband.

Do not wear black to visit the patients in the hospital if you don’t want to shorten their time in the world.

Do not cut your nails at night if you don’t want the spirits of your ancestors to rest unpeacefully.

Do not whistle at night if you don’t want to attract or dissatisfy ghosts.

Do not respond to an unknown voice calling you at night if you don’t want to invite the strange spirit to your house.

Do not cut your hair on Wednesday if you don’t want to bring bad luck.

Do not keep a broken comb if you don’t want bad things to happen.

Do not tap a plate if you don’t wish to share your meal with ghosts.

Do not sleep with your head facing west if you don’t want to have nightmares.

Do not pick flowers to offer to the Buddha at the temple during your period if you want the tree from which you picked the flower to die quickly.

Do not enter the temple during your period if you want to avoid unfortunate events.

Do not call newborn babies cute if you don’t want to make ghosts jealous and cause them to kidnap the babies.

Do not attend a funeral while pregnant if you don’t want your baby to be born weak with disabilities.

Do not look down between your legs when attending a funeral if you don’t want to see ghosts.

Do not sweep your house at night if you don’t want to remove the money energy from your home.

Do not go to the funeral when you are pregnant if you don’t want to

Do not look down between your legs when attending a funeral if you don’t want to see ghosts.

Do not fight with your parents if you don’t want to become a Pret, a hungry and suffering ghost.

Do not walk across books if you don’t want to be stupid.

Do not walk under the clothesline while wearing the amulet if you don’t want to diminish its power or effectiveness.

Do not point at the rainbow if you don’t want to end up fingerless.

Do not lie down while eating if you don’t want to be born as a snake in your next life.

Do not leave your house if a bird has pooped on your head if you don’t want to receive bad news from your close ones.

Do not leave your house when a house gecko greets you if you don’t want to get into trouble.

Maybe you don’t believe in any superstition. Me neither, not until I stepped out of my room after hearing a soft chirping sound from a house gecko.

On that day, I had to move into a long-term house after subletting a temporary room for almost two months in Rotterdam. On the way to my new home, I got into a bike accident in front of our school, and a scar on my knee is still visible and itchy ever since.

Moving from one place to another can be risky. Imagine being a sailor on the open ocean, surrounded by deep, mysterious waters. How would you feel?

As I sat on my new couch sipping hot green tea, a memory of a chirping gecko- a warning I had completely ignored- flooded my mind.

Come closer. Let me tell you a story about the house gecko. It is a common belief in Thailand that if a house gecko greets you at the door just before you leave home, it's a sign to rethink your plans to go out.

So, next time, checking for chirping sounds before leaving my house shouldn't be much trouble.

Steve Suggests Transclusion 2

here I have made small suggested changes in bold and made some notes using  tags. Earlier transclusions are linked below. 

Link to Steve's previous transclusions (and references)

Te Steve Suggests Transclusion 2 Te Steve Suggests give me luck