How did you become a photographer?
When I started art photography in 2003, I had been working as a reporter for almost 10 years. As a journalist freelancing for magazines, I was usually sent on assignment, in France or abroad, with a photographer. At the very beginning, I started to imitate them. I found out I was not really successful, and I gave up photography, more or less. I took out my camera again in 2003. I was based in South Korea, and the cultural shock I felt there could not be decently expressed through writing, my usual medium. So I started my first real art photography series which then got published as a book called Transkoreana.

How do you think being a journalist translate into your photography?
It defined my work at the beginning. Working closely with press photographers for many years, and sometimes assisting them, I became very aware of the way they frame the world through their lenses. I insist on the word framing: in English it means both “to put in a frame” and “produce false evidence.” The way most photographers picture the world, as they are usually asked to by the media, is very archetypal. They produce, or nurture, clichés we have of “others,” especially distant, “exotic” foreigners. Think about the images produced on Thailand, and how this country is then perceived from abroad, and this will make my point very clear. And also think about the way any photographer, even amateur, tends to shoot pictures of places and scenes he has seen before, based mostly on déjà vu. So what I do in my art work, and not only with photography but also with performance and installation, is to cast a doubt on the way the world is framed by photography. I do not trust the journalistic vision anymore. Though my photography is not documentary, I still use photography to talk about the world, and I use the world to critique photography.

What’s the idea behind this show?
It starts with the idea of the reservation. National parks and indigenous reservations were created in the US at the end of the 19th century, when the wild west was being domesticated. At the same time, outdoor photography was blooming with adventurous photographers traveling around the country to keep records of those fast-disappearing landscapes and Indian tribes. Most of the time, we look at minorities through photographs, in a magazine, or if we travel to their villages, through the compulsion we have to shoot pictures of them. The problem is that ethnic photography, whether professional or amateur, tends to represent these “exotic” people as if they were still stuck in an indefinite past. Traces of modernity, like plastic basins, are usually kept out of the frame. By choosing that kind of shot, we deny minorities an access to modernity. We keep them in a reservation. With this exhibition, I want to cast a doubt on the way we look at so-called traditional people.

Tell us about your stay at the Lisu hilltribe village.
Ban Sam Kula is a very small village with around 300 inhabitants, halfway between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. It’s 5 km of difficult dirt road away from the nearest concrete road. Apart from the school and the unoccupied church, there are no concrete buildings and no mobile coverage. But the villagers have satellite TVs and there is a government farm nearby. Most of the time I had a lot of fun, but in the winter months things were much more difficult. Though the villagers were very welcoming, mentally and physically, this project is the most demanding thing I have ever done. When I left the village, I was in the “never again” mood. But what I experienced there, and the bond created with the villagers, were so strong that I’m thinking of going there again—at least to tell them about the exhibition.

What about the participative aspect of the show?
My project is connected to the global market in many ways: tourism, migrations, production of cash crops for export, to name but a few. The simple fact that the whole village has welcomed the experiment shows how much they are open to modernity. So my idea was to create scenes, and participative situations, in which contemporary objects photographers usually keep outside the frame are not only inside of it, but also in excess. I have used items like PVC pipes, jelly pots, plastic film or fluorescent lights to project the villagers into science-fiction like environments. It’s also a poetic reflection on photography, trying to use the medium not to document what has been and what is fast disappearing, but as a way to explore, or invent, fictional futures. Fluorescent lights, which produce auras in the pictures that the naked eye doesn’t see, are especially interesting for that.

You focus a lot on ethnicity in your work.
It’s identity I’m concerned with, that fascinating feeling when you meet a foreigner and tell yourself, “He’s so different from me, and at the same time, he’s so similar.” In my work, I explore how images, especially photography, produce archetypes. In most cases, taking pictures when you travel, we don’t pay much attention to people’s real identity. We produce, and reproduce clichés. I love travel, but I’m not trying to reduce people’s difference with a camera. On the contrary, I’m trying to seize and decipher this difference. Sometimes, this even requires leaving the camera at home. The beauty of this world is its diversity. And when different cultures meet, they create fascinating hybrids. Chanun Poomsawai

Keeping up with Marc Lathuilliere at Fluorescent People

Technique & medium: Collage on paper made from vintage magazines adhered to heavy watercolor paper.

How did you get involved with this exhibition?
In 2008-09 I was the Visiting Lecturer in Painting at Chiang Mai University for one year. I taught all levels of painting as part of the regular curriculum for Thai students. In 2010 I returned to Thailand to exhibit my work in Bangkok. Brian Curtin, the curator for this exhibition, came to that show, and then he invited me to participate in the show at NoSpace.

Why do you choose to use collages?
I often make large-scale, highly realistic oil paintings, so the collages are a way for me to process fresh ideas. I can work more quickly, and add images from different sources. The collages help me develop my paintings, but they are also finished pieces on their own.

What’s the story behind this piece?
This body of work is a sincere ode to longing and the beauty of men’s bodies, but it also contains small jokes, ideas about history, references to our relationship to photography, and some formal and painterly ideas about the physical and sensual quality of the pieces themselves. The project is about men’s bodies seen through a woman’s eyes—the woman’s gaze, the body as landscape with hills and valleys to roam. The collages are made from 1970’s Playgirl magazines combined with American landscape photographs, also taken from vintage magazines.

How does fit in with the exhibition?
Images of naked men are more often meant for men than they are for women. Playgirl, the magazine that these images are from, was only truly targeted at women during its first few years. During those years (mid-1970’s) it contained articles about women’s health, fashion, and relationships, in addition to the explicit photographs. These magazines, intended for women, were repurposed over time for the gay male gaze, at first covertly and then blatantly. My work has similarly been repurposed for this exhibition; its meaning can change depending on the context and viewer. This change questions issues of authorship, the role of the model vs. the artist, and the meaning of the identity of the viewer of a work of art, all themes that the exhibition addresses.

Keeping eye on artist Rene Smith at her exhibition Figure with Gray Tree

What inspired A Life in Her Day?
I spent a few years working on a show of the same name about an actress who moves to New York for an acting career and finds work as a clown. She is never satisfied with what she considers a lesser career until she finally understands the power of the clown and the depth of the art of the clown. This was my personal journey, and once I accepted this path, I was able to create a clown show. And I mean clown in the sense of a personal character who is an exaggeration of myself in the world, confronted with all of the foibles and follies of life, not a red-nosed circus clown. I started with some of the old show waking up in the morning and going about my day and created the world of this character rather than the story of an actress. Much of the material in the show comes from assignments in workshops with my director, Avner Eisenberg.

What are some of the challenges in doing a solo show?
It’s lonely out there! On stage, back stage, at the airport, in the studio, on the internet searching for work, building sets, tech rehearsals. What is a challenge can also be a blessing. I am my own boss, who makes most of my decisions based on my needs and I have autonomy over what I do. My successes are mine and they give me a strength in my life I may never have found otherwise. And I have the opportunity to create a wonderful relationship with my other partner, the audience.

Do you make any adjustments to the show to better suit audiences in different countries?
There are moments in my show that are culturally very American. While I don’t mind them not being fully understood, I don’t want to lose the attention of the audience for too long. Therefore I move though those moments a little faster than I might with an audience who understands more fully. There are very few words in the show, so when English is not the first language, I try to learn a few words of the language from the country that I’m in. People love to hear me speaking their language and it creates a wonderful bond between us.

What makes your show universal?
The pathos of the clown is universal. I find that much of the physical business of the show is understood anywhere and everywhere. It’s the details that distinguish it as American.

Other than this show, are you working on any other projects?
I am currently working here in Thailand with my friend and colleague Rima Miller. Though we are working solo in this current show (Rima is doing a comic introduction for A Life In Her Day), we’re developing a new show about two retired vaudevillians—kind of an “Odd Couple” theme. We’re also co-teaching physical comedy at the Patravadi High School. I also tour worldwide with my solo short comedy variety numbers. In the US I work with a company from Dallas, Texas called The New York Goofs and in New York with the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Hospital Program entertaining hospitalized children as “Nurse Nice”.

Catching up on stage with Hilary Chaplain at "A Life in Her Day "

Your sound has been described as “bangin’ electro.” Do you think that’s a fitting description?
We consider it Grindhouse. It’s from the streets.

Who are some of your favorite artists to remix?
Klaxons, Thieves Like Us, Mariah Carey, Annie, Little Boots, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Chiddy Bang.

What are you guys up to at the moment?
We are recording our second album. Just bought a Gibson 1961 SG Guitar and it’s getting very heavy, psychedelic and industrial.

How’s your album coming along? When will we get to hear it?
Our first album is totally done. It’s coming out on Ultra Records, Feb 22. We have four music videos and a few remix packs coming out as well.

What can we expect at your gig here in Bangkok?
Lots of heavy music, moshing, stage diving, hot girls and raging.

As a child: Jesus
First job: Masked DJs.
Rule for life: Fuck the system.
Last thing that made me stop and think: Tron soundtrack by Daft Punk.
Stupidest trend: Tattoos everywhere.
Favorite crowd: Australians.
Most inspirational person: Ourselves.
Listening to: Every kind of sound dirty & heavy
People always assume I’m: Professional
But I’m really: Crazy
Last lie: Nice set, dude.
Most annoying thing I have to encounter everyday: Traffic.
Hum this tune in the shower: Our stuff.
On a night out, I: drink loads of things.
In 20 years: We will rule the world.

As a child: I was a LEGO fanatic.
First job: Construction worker, a summer job at my father’s company.
Rule for life: Authenticity, gratitude, respect—the same rules for music.
Last thing that made me stop and think: One person I cared about passed away. Life is short.
Stupidest trend: Korean boy bands.
Favorite crowd: The bass junkies of PhatFunk’s drum ‘n’ bass nights, of course.
Most inspirational person: My father.
People always assume I’m: A farang who teaches for a living.
But I’m really: A marketing Manager by day.
On a night out, I: drink Jack Daniel’s. A lot.
Last lie: I will never drink Jack Daniel’s again.
Most annoying thing I have to encounter everyday: My condo’s lazy tuktuk driver.
Hum this tune in the shower: This week it’s “Pick A Star” by FS Green.
Fail-safe crowd pleaser: “Back Like That” (Marky and Bungle drum ‘n’ bass remix) by Ghostface Killah. It works every time.
In 20 years: If I’m not deaf by then, I’ll still be listening to drum ‘n’ bass and classic hip hop tunes.

On the beat with DJ Azek at Phatfunk Bangkok Drum & Bass Party Vol. 6 

Tell us about All Soul Production.
All Soul Production is a cultural and exhibition center in Bangkok. We aim to promote culture and art through activities of production. We’re a team of multicultural experts from different fields of art. We also provide performing art classes and we’ve just opened a cozy restaurant serving Italian and Thai fusion, too.

Why did you choose to do Albert Camus’ Caligula?
My interest has always been the actuality and sincerity of classic plays written by the greatest of the European writers. Camus’ Caligula is a beautiful script full of intelligence and poetry. It is also funny in some parts. The play is really modern and adaptable to the present international situation. If you look at Italy now, how different is it from what happened under the reign of Caligula? How close is the fight for power and the craziness of the leader(s) that Camus described in his piece of work to our reality—in Italy and elsewhere in the world?

We heard this show will also be a social experiment. How is it so?
Everybody in the audience will be asked to participate in the show one way or another. That’s all I can tell you. Of course, we will still have our main actors, Patchanee Poonthong, Robin Schroeter and myself.

Can you tell us about the next two episodes?
The second episode, titled Som Nam Na! You Deserve it, Te lo Meriti!, will be staged in March and May. We will be using the same format that we developed for Khamoey!, but we are also introducing new elements as well as inspiring more audience participation. It will get just a bit crazier before the final episode, Caligula Baa Pai Laew!, in June. Basically these three episodes are a creative work-in-progress for two upcoming productions: the classic part of Caligula which will be presented towards the end of 2011 and In Thailand We Can!, a mute comedy about Thailand.

Keeping the Khamoey! (Thieves! Ladri!) on stage at ALL Soul.