UNINSPIRED BY CURRENT EVENTS

ART4D TALKS WITH UNINSPIRED BY CURRENT EVENTS, A FREQUENTLY SHARED AND MENTIONED FACEBOOK PAGE THAT BECOMES A DAILY MATTER OF THE MOMENT ON THE NEWSFEED, TOWARD THEIR IDEA BEHIND THEIR MARVELOUS WORKS OF VISUAL DESIGN AND STORYTELLING, WHICH STIR A BIG IMPACT ON THAI SOCIETY WITHOUT THE USE OF TEXT

TEXT: PRATARN TEERATADA
IMAGE COURTESY OF UNINSPIRED BY CURRENT EVENTS

(For Thai, press here)

The online world is a realm where topics are being discussed, thoughts and information are being shared in nanoseconds, some intertwined with intense emotions. Several times, a shared image tells a story and communicates with the human brain far more effectively than words. Art has been used to inform and provoke thoughts that resonate inside people’s brain, from social issues, political discourses or news that are in the public’s interests. All these factors seems to coincide well with the current culture of social media.

The Facebook page ‘Uninspired by current events’ is rising in popularity for its insightful fusion of images and storytelling that is straight to the point and socially provocative, especially since it’s all done without the need for words. Gan – Saratta Chuengsatiansup, the mind behind the page is a film major graduate from the Faculty of Communications, Chulalongkorn University. He was one of the team members of BODHI THEATER, the project that tells stories of Buddhism using new visuals, including the projection mapping on the walls of Suthiwararam Temple’s chapel. He’s currently working as a freelancer, creating animations, infographics and CGI for advertisements. Let’s find out more about him together.

art4d: What’s the origin story of Uninspired by current events?

Saratta Chuengsatiansup: It’s a combination of all the free time I’ve had during the pandemic and the current events in this country that have practically everyone around me raging almost like a collective effort on social media. I was getting tired seeing all that so I thought there should be a way for people to communicate in a more aesthetically pleasing way; in a way that wouldn’t eat away your energy all too much but still allows for discussions on the issues and problems we’re facing. At the same time, they can be nice-looking visuals that you can use as your phone’s wallpapers, or postcards or NFT art but they don’t necessarily scream at you to engage with them all the time.

art4d: What tools / softwares do you use when you create your art?

SC: I finished everything in Blender and that’s it. It’s fast and you can do pretty much anything you need with it. You don’t have to waste time running other programs. For most of the models I used, I downloaded them from Sketchfab so that I didn’t have to waste too much time creating everything from scratch. I also made sure to give credits on the website.

art4d: What is your work process like? How can you create works that are incredibly up to date with such an interesting visual designs and messages that hit at the right spot?

SC: I think speed and quality are elements 3D programs can offer. These programs are designed with default settings that render realistic images. If you’re good at it to a certain level, speed isn’t really an issue. The visual design part, I think, is the result of all the limitations that I have set for myself. I want to work using less time, but the work has to look beautiful and unlike most political comics. My works don’t have politicians’ faces on them because that can really ruin the aesthetics. I try to create visuals that tell stories by themselves and they don’t have to always reference Thailand’s political contexts. We’ve been forced to tell stories connotatively. I think when the audience can interpret these visuals by themselves, the experience is more impressive than something that’s very straightforward.

art4d: Which posts have the most engagement since you’ve set up the page?

SC: The ones with really good feedback are often the ones that talk about the issues people on social media are invested in. The coffins underneath the dining table, the PPE suits flowing away, or the one with a ceremony of covering the back of a Buddha sculpture with gold leaves. Everyone was very emotionally engaged in these incidents so my job is to communicate these stories in ways that will speak directly to people’s minds.

art4d: Are there any particular pages you like and why?

SC: Lately I’ve liked thaimoph and Prayut Chan-o-cha’s Facebook page. I think they reflect the problems in our country without demanding you to interpretat too much.

art4d: What’s your view on people’s attitudes on social media?

SC: I look at the nature of social media itself and how it enables people to see various types of content that is easy to comprehend, raw and up-to-date. There are many more stories I want to work on but haven’t because I need to wait for society’s attention. If I publish them, not a lot of people would see them anyway. When you’re on social media, you don’t want to read too much. You’re attracting to content that gets straight to the point and you don’t want to have to try to interpret difficult information. I don’t know if I can blame social media though. Maybe I should just read more books.

art4d: Do you work on any commercial projects, if so, who are your clients?

SC: I used to when I was opening my company, anotherdayanotherrender.com. I still am now but there really hasn’t been much work these days.

art4d: What CGI studios do you personally like and get inspired by?

SC: My most favourite and apparent inspiration is Beeple because I’m inspired by how they work. We both do CG and visual design. We post new images almost everyday, it’s all about discipline and consistency. But they’ve uploaded around 5,000 posts now and my page is only a little over 50 at this point.

art4d: How do you see the current situation of this country, where do you think Thailand is heading in the near future?

SC: I don’t dare to guess. I just hope that everything gets better enough to the point where I finally feel like I want to work on other subjects.

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