Bangkok/Quebec Exchange

LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE inaugurated in very beautiful fashion the progressive opening of the international exchange Bangkok-Quebec. On a sunny winter Saturday on March 19, 2016 a wandering was kicked off with Jedsada Tangtrakulwong exhibition Adjust, which proved to be one of the highlights of the day, if not of the event.

crédit photo: Ivan Binet

To Adjust as an Attitude of Creation

To survive or perish in the cold of the winter? Such was assuredly the question at the basis of Jedsada Tangtrakulwong’s creativity (his work). Used like so many of his countryfolk to a climate bordering on 37 degrees above zero, what happens to humans, wildlife, flora and water during the northern winter when temperatures can reach 37 degrees below zero? Although he knows that such climates under other skies have created civilizations and environments that developed and adapted to the cold and snow, how would he live this experience in coming to Quebec City?

It can be said he will have had only one attitude in mind: to adjust himself. From a human posture he will bring on an attitude of art. It was during his initial contact, his walk in the neighborhood, that a single observation will have triggered his skills. The ever-smiling Tangtrakulwong experiences in an extraordinary manner, something that, to our urban wintery eyes, has probably become so familiar that we don’t pay it any mind, something that will be a formidable trigger for his work. I am talking about these small trees planted by the City and that the municipal employees “dress up” with blankets and support with tutors for the cold season. As we will see, Tangtrakulwong will apply several artistic variations of this procedure, but inside!

crédit photo: Ivan Binet

Sculpting the coatings

Looking at it as a whole, Jedsada Tangtrakulwong’s Adjust seems to have transformed the space of LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE in a luminous way.
The floor shines to better enhance the sculptural occupation on the premises. As so many islets, forms which will later prove to be shelters are scattered on the ground.

As we walk among them and get closer, our perception turns into singular discoveries from one work to another. These carved structures of variable sizes are wrapped up as so many domestic plants with a choice of coatings made from various materials with insulating properties. These coatings presented by the Thai artist appear as an undulating and fascinating architecture. Taking advantage of advanced technology combining computers and cutting tools program, the artist is inspired by shadows obtained by the lighting of potted plants to create the visible forms.

Each work is a discovery in itself. Sometimes, we must bend over to see the plant, or even to lift up a lid. Two shrubs, the biggest, stand out. Their branches are covered with felt blankets just like those the artist had found outside.

The adjustment as a survival mode here operates through inversion: from the outside to the inside, for the small outside trees, as a transplant, but also as a change in the function of the pot to that of a wrap protecting metaphorically from the cold, as we do with our coats and our homes.

crédit photo: Ivan Binet

Hearty exotic

Already remarkable for its layout, a warm exotic expressiveness emanates from Adjust devices. Having participated to the Thai side of the exchange¹, I found myself daydreaming of the complex and fluid architecture of the numerous Thai temples that structure the cities and villages. For instance, it is the case of the famous Wat Arun in Bangkok.

But already, the visitors were beginning to move around. I donned my coat, hat and mittens carrying in my mind the shelters for plants invented by Jedsada Tangtrakulwong. Walking in the snow and feeling the sting of the cold on my face, I understood that the extension of the idea of protection embraces all that is alive. This leitmotif would probably cross the exhibitions produced by other Thai artists in the Medusa cooperative building, at Le Lieu, centre en art actuel².