OVERVIEW
“The Contemplation on Temporal Essence embedded in Physical and Virtual Detritus of Skinny Red” is a trans-regional cooperative multi-media art project, initiated by Wuttin Chansataboot, a Thai media artist. The word “Skinny Red” refers to a wiggly thin red line drawn from right to left on a grid-pattern paper on September, 9th 2020. Starting from 11:36:46 am, it took 5 minutes, 43 seconds and 12 frames (in 24 FPS mode) to complete the whole body of Skinny Red. Not long after its birth, Skinny Red was digitally scanned, then severed into 3 equal parts according to temporal dimension of its emergence. After the scanning and severance, the red line was partially burnt into ashes. By doing so, most of Skinny Red’s body no longer exists in physical realm but implanted forever in numeral system.
Inspired by innovative paradox of time travel depicted in “Dark“, German web television series as well as the reincarnation of “Hi no Tori” ( 火の鳥 / known as “Phoenix” in some cultures), a mythological bird who eternally obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor, this project utilizes cameras’ eyes as transfer portals conveying images of Skinny Red’s physical replicas, duplicated from its digital copy. The work consists of 3 components of installation located in 3 countries in different GMT time zones which symbolizes past, present and future. Each venue transmits image signals of the red line’s fragments which are then combined into a single image of its original form and appears again in a particular location.
The first version of Skinny Red Project, tailor made for the 7th Mediations Biennale in 2020 (theme : Events Horizon) is a cooperation between artists in 3 countries which are Poland (GMT+02:00), Thailand (GMT+07:00) and Malaysia (GMT+08:00), representing past, present and future, respectively.
For the part in Malaysia, in collaboration with RAW Art Space and KLEX, live-streamed videos are conducted and delivered daily from Kuala Lumpur by Tey Beng Tze, a Malaysian visual artist, with assistance of Kok Siew-Wai, KLEX’s festival director. The live-stream from Kuala Lumpur is then joined with another live-video signal sent from a room in Chiang Mai University, Thailand before the integration with another part of the red line in Cukry Praga in Warsaw, conducted by David Rodriguez Gimeno, a Spanish Artist. The entire process of duplication, exchange and transferring live streams through regions of Malaysia (future), Thailand (present) in different time zones, leads to the reincarnation of Skinny Red in Warsaw (past).
Due to the epidemic of COVID-19, this project would not have been done without mutual understanding, communication and collaboration between artists in different countries. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in realizing this project during the difficult time including Visual Arts Department, Chiang Mai University (CMU), RAW Art Space, KLEX, Tey Beng Tze, Kok Siew-Wai, David Rodriguez Gimeno, Misa Kuramoto and my colleagues in Sculpture Division, Faculty of Fine Arts, CMU. Last but not least, Tomasz Wendland, thank you again for inviting me to participate in the 7th Mediations Biennale.
For more information about Mediations Biennale and collaborators, please scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Installation View :
The Emergence of Skinny Red :
Scanned Image of Skinny Red :
Life and Afterlife of Skinny Red :
Installation Diagram :
image source : “World-Time-Zones.png” downloaded from >> https://wlanprofessionals.com/world-time-zones/
The Sketch of Skinny Red’s Crematorium and Cremation Plan :
Recorded video captured by the IP camera installed in Cukry Praga, Warsaw :
Recorded video captured by the IP camera installed in Chiang Mai University, Thailand :
Recorded video captured by the IP camera installed in RAW Art Space, KL :
Live Video from RAW Art Space, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia :
for more live videos of Skinny Red from KL , please click >> here
Live Video from Chiang Mai (CNX), Thailand :
for more live videos of Skinny Red from Chiang Mai , please click >> here
NOTE : some recorded live-stream might not be available to watch because streaming time exceeded Youtube limit.
About Mediations Biennale :
The Mediations Biennale draws on the tradition of the Inner Spaces Festival (initiated in 1993), as well as exhibitions organised in the countries of Asia, America and Europe. It also calls upon Asia -Europe Mediations (Poznań, 2007), an event which featured artists from 23 Asian and 21 European countries. The exhibitions were curated by: Huanghu Binghui, Shen Qibin, Biljana Ciric, Richard Birkett, Georg Elben, Harro Schmidt, Janos Sturcz and Sławomir Sobczak.
Mediations Biennale is a presentation of the latest achievements in art, concentrating on a dialogue between different cultures of the world and artistic explorations of creators from Central Europe. Through relating to the historical and cultural experience the Mediations Biennale wants to offer a different platform, different sensitivity, and a different perspective in the perception of global processes.
The first edition of Mediations Biennale took place in 2008 and featured over 240 artists. The event comprised 16 exhibitions shown in several exposition spaces in Poznań. The core of the programme consisted of three exhibitions curated by Yu Yeon Kim, Lóránd Hegyi and Gu Zhenqing.
Main idea of the Mediations Biennale is mediation, a dialogue between different cultures of the world, based on the experience and exploration of the culture and art of Central Europe.
website : http://www.mediations.pl/biennale/en/
About Collaborators :
RAW Art Space is an artist-run, independent venue & tattoo studio located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s historic Chinatown.
Born from the past experience of the collectively-run Findars Art Space, RAW Art Space pledges to keep moving along the same path and beyond. A hub for guest curators, visual artists, illustrators, graphic designers, musicians, film and video-makers, dancers and choreographers, RAW Art Space plays a vital role in Kuala Lumpur’s independent art community, providing a sanctuary for all sorts of challenging, experimental art forms.
Run by Malaysian visual artist Tey Beng Tze, RAW presents on a regular basis visual art exhibitions, improvised and experimental music concerts, soun(d)ance music + dance performances and screenings, collaborating with partners as diverse as KLEX (Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film, Video and Music Festival), SPIL (Serious Play Improv Lab), and AWAS! (A Weekend of Animation Shorts).
Tey Beng Tze is a Fine Art graduate from the Malaysian Institute of Art, who make paintings, drawings, and some silkscreen prints, based in Kuala Lumpur, currently work as tattoo artist, runs and manage RAW Art Space.
website : https://rawartspacekl.wixsite.com/rawartspacekl
KLEX – Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film, Video & Music Festival, is an independent, artist-run grassroots international festival of experimental film, video art and music founded in Malaysia in 2010 by a small group of cross-disciplinary group of artists. KLEX aims to serve as a platform to introduce contemporary experimental cinema and music from the region and worldwide to the Malaysian audience, as well as to introduce works from South East Asia and beyond to other parts of the world, to cultivate understanding, learning, friendship and exchange among local, regional and international experimental art communities.
website : http://www.klexfilmfest.com/
