EXPERIENCE A FRESH PERSPECTIVE IN THE EXHIBITION BY VIRIYA CHOTPANYAVISUT, WHERE BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO INSTALLATIONS CONNECT NATURE WITH THE CITY, INVITING YOU TO EXPLORE OFTEN-OVERLOOKED DETAILS
TEXT: SURAWIT BOONJOO
PHOTO COURTESY OF HOP HUB OF PHOTOGRAPHY
(For Thai, press here)
A close-up black and white photograph captures the intricate split where a branch diverges from the trunk on a curved wall, seemingly floating in the middle of the room. The image is highlighted by the bark’s rigid texture, yet it flows fluidly and undulates through creased, wrinkled lines, sharply defined by the interplay of light and shadow. This might not be the first photograph viewers encounter when crossing the departmental section of a mall into the exhibition ‘The Beginning of Something Else’ by Viriya Chotpanyavisut at HOP PHOTO GALLERY, displayed from October 26, 2024, to January 19, 2025. Yet, with its rhythmic arrangement, the texture’s scale, and the frame’s prominence, it beckons a delicate threading of interaction as soon as it catches the eye, creating a lingering impression and contemplative engagement that is hard to articulate.
“This series began with works related to Bangkok. Over time, it expanded to other regions, with each image narrating its unique story. I selected these pictures during a phase when I felt inclined to focus intensely on personal aspects in my work, retreating to focus on private projects. There came a moment when my reflective thoughts collided with various elements within the city, as if I became attuned to something profound, and then I began to notice that ordinary things are extraordinary and carry their own meanings. My first selection was a photo of a tree that humans had placed in an urban setting. Yet, as it grew, it tried to escape the confines of its pot, literally bursting from it in an attempt to break free from its cracked vessel.”
The photographs and videos not only convey an awareness in the context of the exhibition space and the urban landscape but also reflect the idleness of external events, all while finding their place within the shopping center where time seems to flow swiftly with consumer activity. Simultaneously, Viriya enables the photographs and videos—and his audience—to interact, release, and breathe through spacing, carving, extending, and dividing, creating engaging and dynamic layouts and layers for viewing and experiencing.
It is strikingly evident that moving through an open space along an uneven plane emphasizes the dynamics—the pulse of the space—by compressing and releasing distances, colors, and elevations in a meaningful arrangement. This facilitates moments where one might pause to listen or move freely through. “It’s the little things, like breaths hidden within the space,” Viriya tells us, while simultaneously highlighting the ‘miracle,’ another aspect the artist marvels at, which shines forth wondrously.
It is particularly interesting how the playful, teasing tone of his storytelling, alternating between internal and external phenomena, calm and chaos, reveals a process of retracing and reiterating strategies. These strategies lay out various elements which he has observed and collected, and the impact of these observations triggers certain actions. These are impressively compressed into a simulated city filled with voids or, from a reversed perspective, a city within a vast forest where natural ambient sounds from the video gently pervade the exhibition. Both scenarios enhance a sense of wonder and provoke further contemplation from a comparative stance, emphasizing the ‘nature-human’ dichotomy or the efforts to confine nature within certain bounds, as distinctly as the image of a slightly bent metal rod.
However, Viriya does not strictly confine the narrative within this simulated city to any specific arrangement. Instead, he allows for an interpretation that could broadly encapsulate various emergent conditions and potential trajectories, raising the question, “Is our world spinning too fast? Faster than we can notice these small details?” He frequently emphasizes the openness in reading and interpreting the entire installation alongside the ever-present voids, which aligns perfectly with the process of managing both the horizontal planes of tactile surfaces and the placement of the vertical axes. This approach not only allows images and people to explore each other but also maintains and highlights an experience that fosters thought from the voids, potentially allowing them to expand in an open-ended manner. This could indeed mark the beginning of a new chapter of change.