Kawita Vatanajyankur and Pat Pataranutaporn
Kawita Vatanajyankur
Born 1987, Bangkok, Thailand
Lives and works in Bangkok
Pat Pataranutaporn
Born 1995, Boston, United States
Lives and works in Boston
Kawita Vatanajyankur’s durational performances explore principles of labour and social equity to reveal the exploitation underlying our consumer society, and how it objectifies and dehumanises its citizens. The artist often personifies a tool, implement or machine in her meticulously researched and physically demanding performances, which require intensive training to endure. While her works always commence with live performance, Vatanajyankurhas become known for video documentations that deploy a captivating aesthetic of saturated colours.
Alongside works from her ‘Field work’, ‘Tools’ and ‘Performing textiles’ series, the Triennial features a new commission — The machine ghost in the human shell 2024, the third work in her recent ‘Cyber labour’ series. A collaboration with AI researcher Pat Pataranutaporn, this fascinating and compelling installation employs AI and a holographic ghost to engineer a choreographed dialogue between human and machine, and to propose alternative scenarios regarding the future of the human race.