MAIELIE cordially invites you to "A Trace of Thunder," an exhibition by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Mek’ Krung Fah, their first exhibition in Khon Kaen. A continuation of "A Minor History," accompanied by live poetry reading "Unsubjected Verses," at the 100 Tonson Foundation, Bangkok, this collaboration serves as an act of piecing together the same issues arising from different perspectives.

In "A Trace of Thunder," Apichatpong presents a series of photographs titled, "Almost Fiction," previously exhibited at Gallery Seescape, Chiang Mai, with the aim of evoking the artist’s flash of memories and desire to capture the night. The photographic display consists of two works: Soldier Series and Insomnia Series. Soldier Series depicts a group of nameless soldiers in uniform. Their faces are illuminated with unbalanced exposure in an obscure atmosphere, which can be interpreted in various ways. "Insomnia," a series of pairs of small photographs, depicts characters being swallowed by the darkness or flames. They form a frame from an imaginary film, reflecting the flickering light from a decrepit movie projector and a looping abyss of being half-asleep and half-awake. Both works are reminiscent of this country's political scene, seeming to have been catapulted far beyond the realm of logic, so much so that it is hard for any rational person to wrap their heads around. It is not a reach to say that the actual events in this country are so surreal that they are almost fictional.

In this collaboration, Apichatpong serves as an art director, creating a new experience in viewing the poems of Mek’ Krung Fah, both in the form of sound installation art, collaborating with sound designer, Akritchalerm Kalayanamit, and other installation art pieces. One of them is the broadcast room of “counterREaction,” an online talk show hosted by Mek’ Krung Fah and Donut Sananook. They discuss and exchange ideas on social phenomena of the powerless, who rise to fight and exercise their civil rights, but are threatened by state power. Furthermore, the presentation of Mek’ Krung Fah's installations in this exhibition renders his poems more into concrete poetry. The words are thoroughly and deliberately misspelled, for the correct ones are outlawed in a totalitarian state.

 

A Trace of Thunder is thus an expression of two artists with extremely disparate creative working methods and gestures of expression. They share a common interest in the unyielding spirit and the narration of stories about social phenomena in their own ways, one like a raging storm, while the other like a ray of light flashing in the darkness.