In Spinning Wheels, Kawita Vatanajyankur references the tasks undertaken by physical laborers in the textiles industry. In the work, she transforms herself into a hybrid of machine and organism, like a cyborg, and puts her body into arduous positions with repetitive motions. These actions are performed in quasi-nude form and set against a hyper-colored painterly backdrop. The constant motion signifies the territories of production and reproduction in a materialistic world - consumerism. In her work, her body becomes a site of tension for the struggle of human existence against becoming a simple cog in a machine. Her meditative approach shows, for instance, a laborer’s hardship yet at the same time shows the endurance and unwavering resilience against it. It also indicates that dualistic relationships of public and private, pain and joy, mechanism and self-enlightenment, resistance and acceptance can be physically manifested. Her performative oscillation between human and machine is suggestive of the possibility of human transformation and evolution. The site-specific and historical space of the Jim Thompson House Museum enables a contextual exploration of themes prevalent in her practice, including materialism, labor issues, feminism, humanity and machines.
This project is a collaboration between Jim Thompson House Museum, Jim Thompson Art Center and Nova Contemporary, Bangkok, with the support of the James H.W. Thompson Foundation.
