The Two Planets – Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook

Hackerman House Link Gallery
Free

In the short film vignettes of The Two Planets (Dow Song Duang), the farmers of small Thai villages discuss several classic works of modern European painting while artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook fixes her camera on them. The farmers’ spontaneous comments are translated into subtitles while the audio track conveys their lighthearted enjoyment and social interaction. Contemplated outside of a museum in this atypical context, unexpected aspects of the works are illuminated as are conventions of viewing and interpretation that have come to be central features of the Western experience of art. This film demonstrates universality and cultural specificity as they relate to encounters with works of art.