Gallery VER

Sathit Sattarasart : willing suspension of disbelief

collaborators

Irin Siriwattanagul, Nathaphon Phantounarakul and Karin Phisolyabut

guest artists

Jens Pecho, Pratchaya Phinthong, and Pathompon Tesprateep

guest writers (future release publication)

Nok Paksanavin, Phonpiti Tansuwansophon, Pitiphon Tansuwansophon and more

co-curated by

Cathleen Siming Pan

I put a picture up on a wall. Then I forget there is a wall. —— Georges Perec

Space is felt by what arrests our gaze. In Species of Spaces, Perec draws the living space we are familiar with and the way we perceive it, to discuss the space that people manage and experience. Space, as an important element in the study of everyday life, not only refers to the nature or the reality of the universe, but also often serves as some kind of metaphor. In a year when uncertainty and collapses almost become daily, how we the people are shaped by the compressed space?

The term “Willing Suspension of Disbelief”, is an intentional avoidance of critical thinking or logic in examining something surreal, such as science fiction or other speculative work, in order to believe it for the sake of enjoyment. Intrigued by architectures and human-made structures in several science fictions, as well as the what is created for those who live within and the tension among them, Sathit Sattarasart tries to activate “space” in this exhibition.

The word ‘space’ has become a very postmodern field lingua franca. Its referent nature is extremely flexible, and it often represents breakthroughs and expectations.

Willing Suspension of Disbelief is a space untamed, expelled function, rhythms, habits, and necessity as an exhibition. A dominant twisted structure(in collaboration with sp/n) occupies the centre of the gallery space, constructed a room without walls, a space with no confinement, an expanse with suggestions. Cats (in collaboration with Karin Phisolyabut) who inhabit houses much better than people do are found in their favourable corners. In addition, guest artists Jens Pecho, Pratchaya Phinthong, and Pathompon Mont Tesprateep will exhibit their works on pedestals or frames made by Sathit Sattarasart.

The awkward situation in the display of the exhibition is deliberated. A mirror of the social reality we are placed in, it is an attempt to possibility in progress. The exhibition encourages viewer to rethink what surrounds us: apart from accepting the given space, as one of the owners rather than only users for the space, what we can exercise from now? Where is the depth of our generation? How do we move forward and face up these collective futility and self-dislocation?

In the exhibition Willing Suspension of Disbelief which is the artist’s first solo survey in Bangkok after ten years’ study and living in Germany, Sathit Sattarasart tries reconstruct a new narrative in his homeland, unfolding the privilege of being an artist in solo exhibition, sharing and developing the “space” with his invited friends, as well as the viewers to participate in the construction of this situation.

*** Willing suspension of disbelief naturally transforms throughout the period, therefore the exhibition changes constantly and has no definitive presentation.

About Artist:

Sathit Sattarasart (b. 1979), lives and works in Asia and Europe, is a visual artist whose multi-platform practice spans sculpture to video. Sattarasart’s work addresses various kinds of artistic and socially-engaged subject matter, often retracing “how things come to be” in their social, situational, and “everyday life” scenarios. He often directs his attention, with both empathic and critical potential, to art-related subjects, such as the artist’s role in society and various art worlds; institutional critique; and artistic authorship, framing, and production.

Sattarasart graduated as Meisterschüler at Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule, where he studied in the class of the renowned professor, sculptor, and artist Tobias Rehberger. Sattarasart’s works have been included in international exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul; the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre; the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main; and the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe. He has participated in major contemporary art festivals and biennials, such as the inaugural edition of the Bangkok Biennial (2018); Art Berlin Contemporary (2010); Busan Biennale (2006); and Asian Contemporary Art Week, Singapore (2006).