Placed methodically across the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre's (BACC) 8th floor gallery are 200 little figurines of a boy pointing towards the sky. Each decorated, painted and reimagined in different ways by international and Thai artists tells a story of their own. There's one wearing a camo military uniform donning multiple watches, one lying on the floor in a pool of blood, and one on a wooden pedestal -- dressed in a traditional Thai headdress with tiny little zebras lined up on the floor next to it.
Charming but at the same time critical of the contemporary world, the exhibition "Tian Tian Xiang Shang: Arts Is Learning Learning Is Arts" resulted in a collaboration between the BACC and Zuni Icosahedron -- whose founding member and co-artistic director Danny Yung created the blank figurine for artists, politicians and anyone with a voice to project their thoughts, feelings and creativity.
Danny Yung at the opening of his Bangkok exhibition last month. Photo: Apipar Norapoompipat
Half of the figurines displayed are decorated by local figures ranging from artists, designers, politicians and activists like Patravadi Mejudhon, Dow Wasiksiri, Pichet Klunchun, Nakrob Moonnanas and Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal.
"Many people look at [the figurine] as a canvas to put their protest. Some people would put their philosophy, and some people will promote their [own] works," Yung said in an interview with Life.
As an experimental art pioneer who's made acclaimed works in theatre, cartoon, film, video, and visual and installation art, the character of the little boy "Tian Tian" came from the personification of a Chinese proverb "tian tian xiang shang", meaning "study well and climb higher every day".
Used during the Mao Zedong era, this proverb was a common sight on the front gates of every Chinese primary school in the 1950s. Finding it ironic due to the lack of critical discourse within educational and cultural institutions of the time, Yung in the 1970s created the conceptual cartoon character of the curious little boy who questions everything about the world around him. The comic eventually turned into the three-dimensional figure that we see today, triggering discussion about cross-cultural exchange and critical thought.
"I think when we grow up we are less and less curious," he said. "We conform. Critical thinking is that when we grow up in a very restricted institution and system, we are not openly expressive and we don't want to talk about criticism. But I think critical thinking is important."
Photo: Apipar Norapoompipat
Yung, who works with the most difficult institutions -- being the government -- seeks to challenge and slowly develop the educational system, setting up a platform for creative exploration and promotion within schools.
"Every place I go I try to have a unique kind of conference or forum that will allow cross-discipline people to talk to each other," he said. "I think if we don't do that then conferences are either for academics, politicians or business people, and they are all very boring and routine.
"My basis is that all people are equal and all people are creative. So they should be able to participate in this kind of project. I think the more interesting thing is that politicians who did the work, when he sees his work mixed with other artists, writers, or diplomats, he will then have to think. He'll have to think about why he did what he did."
Tian Tian's three-dimensional body, to Yung, is a blank piece of paper full of possibilities that people can write or draw on.
"Curiosity, like I said, is so important," he said. "Now when we grow older, you don't see things. You see what you want to see. Actually you see lots of colour, space, people, movement, texture, lighting, but instead you see objects or events … I think everybody is creative when they are a baby. So this is a good opportunity to revisit that time."
"Tian Tian Xiang Shang: Arts Is Learning Learning Is Arts" will be exhibiting at BACC's 8th Floor Main gallery until April 12. Then Danny Yung will bring the exhibition and its conferences to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Singapore later in the year.
