SUBSCONCIOUSCAPE BY NORASET VAISAYAKUL

Below is an information about an art exhibition:


Subsconciouscape

15 January – 14 February 2009

by Noraset Vaisayakul

Opening 15 January 2009, 7 pm

at Gallery VER


To paraphrase today's IT-influenced terminology, what you see, in Noraset's installations, is NOT what you get or, rather, what you get is NOT what you see. The reality we see is an illusion of the reality as filmed by static machines or moving robots, yet, on monitor, it appears more real than the actual/factual reality.

The robots or machines designed to help us see reality, or any of its avatars, are they better equipped because they are mechanical devices? Or is reality a non-factual element that, on the contrary, is more easily accessible through/because of the imperfection/bias inherent to our vision or capacity to see?

At this juncture, it may be relevant to stress the predominance of the human factor in Noraset's work despite the major role assigned to electronics.. Indeed, it is the involvement of the viewer that makes it meaningful.

Noraset is constantly playing with perceptions, interposing multiple layers or screens to distract (« dis-track ») the spectactors. The latter, who are given no instructions, have to make autonomous decisions based on illusory premices, not unlike driving in the dark. There is no obvious link between their action and the end-results: they are invited to manipulate remote controls without a monitor to see what they are doing. The notion of causality is twisted. Causes still have effects but, whereas effects can/should normally be anticipated and responsibility thereof assumed, in Noraset's installations, they are unpredictable for lack of visibility. An impression of rushing forward heads down right into a wall; possibly a reminder of daily life, where we keep moving without necessarily having a sense of direction.

Noraset's work, with its multiple facets and possible readings, appears to reflect accurately his personality – rich, complex and paradoxical. The screens, traps and other deceiving devices may be there to protect himself from revealing too much. Yet, there is an evident wish to communicate (as in "Dialogue" or "Sorry", for instance) although seldom or never directly. When he shows his living space and invites people into it, Noraset accumulates signs of his presence but avoids to be there...Is it because of his modest and reserved nature or because he has understood that the real power is elsewhere, backstage, behind the scene, behind the seen?

Jacques Carrio