Artist
Arpatsarin Khunnarong

Title
Occupying memory space

Dimensions
H50cm×W40cm

Medium
oil on canvas

Year
2021

Concept
This work is an extension of a series of works. which arises from doubts about the right to own land of people demarcation of boundaries Creating evidence to show ownership of possession having to wait for any credibility appointed Keep telling us that we have rights or not. This suspicion has been present since childhood. We hear controversies all the time between villagers and government representatives. It's about saying that the land that our ancestors ate from before we were born. We do not own We don't have evidence showing ownership like other land plots. They have each other. We are just the land that the state offers to farm. We only have a Por Bor Tor. 5 certificate, which is a local maintenance tax paid to the state only. Confirm that we actually exist in this area. But later on, this tax invoice system has been cancelled. Another thing that seems to be a confirmation of our existence. Probably the huts that we lived in since birth, chicken coops, pigsty, cow pens, ponds, timber used to make bridges across the trench dug to drain water around. This area is filled with many lives and memories shared between us and our brothers and ancestors. We were born and raised in this area. Our ancestors made a living as farmers until our generation. We are away from this place to pursue higher education after 3 years we have been away. On the day we return to this area again We no longer find that little hut where we've lived together. We couldn't find any living thing other than the remains of the bed linen we used to be littered around the area. We discovered that everything had been dismantled. Along with the realization that this area was sold and rented to others due to various circumstances at that time. The family's financial crisis required the property to be temporarily left to others. The biggest psychological crisis in life is that we lose our grandmother, who is both grandmother and mother, to us at the same time every time we return to this area. We return as one of our ancestors. But today we feel different in the space that used to be ours. It shakes our thoughts to our memories. We can not confirm that in the past. Has everything actually happened? Many of the questions that circulate make us tremble. or even our own identity We used to be in a state of selfishness. The state of being a person with no memory supports his back. Our attachments cannot be resolved in any way. Letting go of attachment and accepting may be the best solution. But not everyone handles this best. We are one who manages to accept and not let go. We look for a safe space for ourselves. So we drew this area. We made it for confirmation as a conversation. In order to remind or call it to preserve ourselves. We don't just look at how we draw. Because for us it is like a space that keeps our minds safe. It nourishes our minds. And we are using the power we have to express ourselves in occupying this area. Which is something that can be done without having to wait for anyone to approve. or say that this place is or is not ours, we will confirm, we will do it, we will create the affirmation for ourselves and for ourselves. We discover that we are not wrong in choosing to remember and choosing to stick with it. We think it's the best solution for us. It's probably better than accepting it and letting it go, because we really don't want to let the best memories of our lives slip away with them.

Age
General