Larger than life

STANDING incongruously between the high-end Chanel and Dolce &Gabbana boutiques – a stone’s throw from Phrom Phong BTS station, a flock of sheep stand guard over DD the dog. Passers-by can’t seem to resist joining in to play and take hundreds of selfies.

A Thai mixed breed, DD and his woolly supervisors are not the only animals to have taken over the new EmQuartier mall. The garden zone too has been overrun by beasts – in this case, meerkats, the small mammals native to South Africa’s Kalahari desert though these particular meerkats are not the stars of the popular “Meerkat Manor” documentary but are much bigger and in colours that nature never intended. 

On show through next Sunday, these works are part of the Em District Art Festival 2015 organised by the EmQuartier and the Emporium malls to bring contemporary art by Thai and international artists to public spaces.

At seven metres tall and 10 metres long, DD – an abbreviation of dot dog – is ceramist Wasinburee Supanichvoraparch’s biggest and heaviest piece to date. Made entirely of fibreglass, the pooch weighs four tons and took three days to assemble. 

“We all know about sheepdogs guarding sheep on the farm. I’ve reversed that notion by having the life-size sheep guarding the oversized dog in a metropolis. I play with the principle of perception and rule and question so-called standardisation,” says Wasinburee, the third generation member of the family behind the Tao Hong Tai ceramics factory in Ratchaburi and the founder of the province’s first centre for contemporary art called Tao Hong Tai D Kunst.

“The structure of the dog is based on reality but the sheer size causes a rejection of that initial assumption. The sheep however are life-size but their patterns don’t conform to reality. I want to challenge the viewer’s perception of reality and illusion. In today’s contemporary society, we are inclined to settle for what is familiar and what is socially acceptable rather than being open to all possibilities and free from any limitation,” adds the artist who represented Thailand at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.

The dog sculpture is modelled on Wasinburee’s real dog, also called DD, a two-year-old stray he adopted from a temple. Six of his pals – Chalit Nakpawan, Thanachai Ujjin, Tachamapan Chanchamrassang, Nicha Thanalongkorn, Rachan Klomklieng and Eakatip Sangchaipengpen – painted the 12 sheep. After the show, Wasinburee 

 plans to hold an auction of the sheep to raise funds for foundations that improve welfare for homeless animals. 

The meerkats, which stand about 25 centimetres fully grown and are famous for standing on their rear legs and gazing alertly out over the southern African plains, have grown to one metre high for their appearance in downtown Bangkok. Made entirely from recyclable plastics, these 15 playful mammals are the creation of the international collective Cracking Art Group based in Milan.

Founded in 1993, the group – its name references the chemical process of cracking by which molecules of oils are transformed into the building blocks of synthetic materials – is made up of six artists – William Sweetlove, Renzo Nucara, Marco Veronese, Alex Angi, Carlo Rizetti and Kicco from Italy France and Belgium.

They’ve created public installations of larger-than-life snails, turtles, rabbits, crocodiles, birds, frogs, penguins and even bears from brightly coloured recyclable plastic to speak about the relationship 

 between humans and nature, and to remind us all of the importance of environmental awareness. The tallest sculpture they’ve ever made is the three-metre-tall rabbit.

“Meerkats are social mammals that work and live together in a large community. They share food and burrows to help others survive. Just like human beings: if we stay together, we’re stronger and better. This sort of creature represents teamwork and we think it is suitable to showcase in Bangkok,” says the group’s representative Italian artist Kicco.

Little wonder then visitors will see a sculpted meerkat with a sign reading “stronger togeth

 er” – a slogan that’s become popular in the last couple of weeks and which calls for Thai unity after the recent bombing in central Bangkok. Other signs also bear encouraging messages like “hug me”, “I am extraordinaire” and “No 1 in your heart”.

“We want to see you smile and bring you joy. You should never forget the little kid inside you,” adds Paolo Bettinardi, the group’s chief executive.

“These larger-than-life animal sculptures in vibrant hues allow you to take a break from work and your boring life. The rat race rarely allows us the chance to stop, look around and notice our surroundings. When you pause, you will then start to investigate the messages we try to communicate.” 

The Cracking Art Group has brought social and environmental awareness message to numerous exhibitions and site-specific installations worldwide. They created an installation of blue turtles for the 2009 G8 Summit in Italy, an invasion of the pink snails during Art Basel Miami 2010 and an army of blue snails at the 2011 Venice Biennale. Two years ago, they installed 50 blue snail sculptures on the roof of the cathedral Duomo in Milan to draw attention to much-needed repairs and restoration.

From the first to third floors of the mall’s Glass Building, American artist Gary Gagliano, who has divided his time between Thailand and the US for the last 20 years, presents three, large-scale abstract enamels on canvas – part of his recent solo show at Yen Akart Villa. Working spontaneously, the large scale of the works allows him to move freely and map out his ideas while the shine and luxurious feel of enamel gives him a substance that he finds more alive than any other medium. 

“The work engages a thought of what we see as a complete universe from our micro being to our farthest reaches into space; as if our interior being of cells and neurons and our vast universe are both colliding with energy to create a whole being,” he writes in his website.

And the art doesn’t stop there. The fifth floor of the outdoor garden at the mall’s Helix Building is home to eight sculptures by upcoming artists curated by the Art Centre of Silpakorn University.

 

WALK TALL

“The Em District Art Festival 2015” continues until September 13 at the EmQuartier. Call (02) 259 8345 or visit www.EmQuartier.co.th.

“The Greatest Outdoor Gallery” market will be held today with a selection of artist shops, hip cafes and art activities such as ceramic painting and phone case designing using the marble technique.