BANGKOK-BASED SOICHIRO SHIMIZU MAKES NEW FROM THE OLD BY REINTERPRETING AND GENERATING NEW MEANINGS FROM THE UNUSED IMAGES OF 17 PHOTOGRAPHERS
Since sitting down for a meal and having a conversation with complete strangers is perhaps too unorthodox for Thai people, YenakArt Villa Art Gallery decided to change up its previous format of a sit-down dinner/art viewing session into a more typical use of the space and viewing experience (no dinner appointment needed). However, the gallery’s unconventional approach is transferred to the artworks in ‘RE-LOOK,’ an exhibition by Soichiro Shimizu. The first strange thing is the appearance of the 17 works that look utterly confusing and somewhat similar to a series of ‘error’ computer screens. The small, myriad compositions are intricately superimposed into a big screen reminiscent of a Rorschach image. Another unusual quality is the work’s production process as the exhibition not only requires viewers to ‘look’ closely as ‘RE-LOOK’ itself also refers to the approach the artist takes with his artistic creation. The origins of the works are the unused files of 17 photography artists including Manit Sriwanichpoom, Tawatchai Pattanaporn and Miti Ruangkritya. The artist ‘looks’ and reinterprets those images into the artworks that combine the original identity of their previous creators and the new meanings generated from these new artistic arrangements. That’s what is so unusual about it, because the origin of Shimizu’s art is actually the works of other artists. Supposedly, there is nothing wrong with it considering how ‘strangeness’ has become one of the qualities commonly found in today’s works of contemporary art.
