Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook

Inaow, an ancient Thai text on the theme of female desire, is the narrative that Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook reads to the corpse of a woman in this video of a performance. The woman died in anonymity leaving no family members to perform death rituals or to offer prayers to comfort her in her transition from life to death, which Rasdjarmrearnsook believes is within the power of art. Over the past several years, she has taken it upon herself to sing songs, recite poetry, and tell stories to comfort those who died alone. The textures, lighting, and visual patterns captured in the video have an elegance and spiritual simplicity, but the artist does not consider the video to be her artwork. Rather, it is merely a convenient device with which to document the act of consoling and communing with the souls of the deceased. The artwork itself exists in the action and in the connection made between the artist and the spirits of the dead. No evidence is given for the success of this connection; its existence is a matter of faith on the part of the artist as well as the viewer.

Selected Bibliography:

Cooke, Lynne. "New York: Contemporary Art in Asia." Burlington Magazine, 139 (March 1997): 223–24.

Heartney, Eleanor. "Asia Now." Art in America 35 (February 1997): 70–75.

Poshyanade, Apinan. "Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook." Art Asia Pacific 3, no. 3 (1995).

Rasdjarmrearnsook, Araya. Lament. Bangkok: Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company Limited, 1999.

–––. Why Is It Poetry Rather Than Awareness? Bangkok: Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company Limited, 2000–2002.

Links:

Rama IX Art Museum

Studio International