Waiting No.1 (2002) by Therdkiat WangwatcharakulArt Centre Silpakorn University
On a gloomy dimly-lit train platform appears a girl lying down on a wooden bench with her back turned against the crowds and her belongings on the ground, depicting no interaction between the viewers and the context around her.
What makes this piece of art intriguing is the texture of the oil painted on an aluminum plate. The heavy strokes of brushes create cracked effects that imitate rusty train bogies in real life that appear dark, obsolete, obscure, and dirty.
The lighting composition seamlessly reveals the original texture and shade of aluminum, which is the objective of the artist to combine the depiction of socioeconomic landscape and the industry through the use of an industrial material.
The lights are directed and positioned to peak through the windows of the train bogies, creating space and dimension of the train platform, implicitly turning the viewers’ attention to the body of the girl.
The girl illustrated is dressed in a sarong and sandals. Alone on the bench in a public place, she projects loneliness, isolation, and uncertainty that the wait and longing bring forth, lacking a sense of destination.
It is another piece of art that illustrated the landscape of the society at that time as many individuals carried their belongings, waited, rested, and slept at public transport stations.
Waiting No.1 (2002) by Therdkiat WangwatcharakulArt Centre Silpakorn University
Furthermore, despite over two decades passed, this still demonstrates how marginalized people live in a contemporary approach.
Check out more arts from Thailand at Thailand Art Up Close.
