Work title: Scape[Ghost]
Medium : mixed media installation
Dimension : whole room intervention
Exhibition : Scape[Ghost] , The Morgue, Chelsea college of art and design, March 11th-14th 2013.
Statement :
This work deals with the notion of marginalisation and space in relation to personal identity. The sense of not really belonging to a particular part of society caught in between home and imposed cultures or even lost between the two.
The parallels between this is the ghost status of existent and non-existent, material and immaterial the then and now, being haunted by the past/ remaining present/ never truly being a future.
The portrayal of ghost in this context is not simply an implication of horror or a spooky presence as a manifestation of the living, but as a parable for Identity. A specific culture such as Thai. Where such a thing is bonded to a belief, a way of living. This can be witnessed through the spirit houses easily located or the vision of coloured fabric wrapped around a tree or part of building highlighting the presence of a spectre.
Also the radio play and the rise of ghost haunting reality TV shows, the exploration of abandoned haunted buildings, which have a rumour about ghosts, led to the roaming those places that somehow never fully allowed you to experience actual ghosts, but only the deserted and ruined architecture and atmosphere.
However the actual cause of these abandoned buildings probably has to do with some other crisis [such as] the economy? Politics? This highlights that in Thailand when people see these derelict buildings they usually assume, imbue their meanings with haunted ghost stories. Yet we can never know for certain; but one thing is that in this sense 'Ghost' itself signifies derelict places and problems. Then could we say Ghost here are being blamed? Victimised? Scapegoated? The Scape[Ghost].