Recent exhibition, “_robotic process of Amnesia symptom(s)” by New-territories/
mindmachinemakingmyths (Francois Roche, Camille Lacadee, Vongsawat Wongkijjalerd, and contributors Than Rittiphan, Jean-David Caillouët, Kittiphan Janbuala, and Benjamin Ennemoser at TARS gallery, Bangkok calls upon contribution from both attendee and automaton, requesting both one’s recollection and a willingness to consign shared memories into oblivion.
Contributors to the exhibition were invited to submit memories (such as names, dates or life events) that they felt had “marked them to a point of refuting them” or prompted one to “push them away in a voluntary amnesia.” These memories could be reference to something personal or collective, or that which they felt unable to share openly due to the sensitivity of the content. The submitted memories were then translated into a code and deployed within the installation where a robot inscribed (burned) the encoded text into “letters of fire eating up the wall.”
Actions of those present within the space were further incorporated into the dialogue, as sensors translated their detected movements into a ‘static’ obscuring the robot’s penmanship. Perhaps metaphor for the complications that can arise when all is brought out into the open, the process of putting thought into words here gives equal priority to the action of saying as to that which is actually said. “Free speech is no longer and memory turned amnesiac,” describes New-Territories, the robotic-process-based performance allowing for secrets to be shared openly and brought to the surface of consciousness, if but for a moment, in a manner that seems, if nothing else, memorable.
“_robotic process of Amnesia symptom(s)” will run until the 25th of March, and is the third exhibition to be held at TARS Gallery (T as The, A as Artist, R as Run, S as Space), a new arts venue located in the Phra Khanong neighborhood.
