Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Invisibility
2016
2-Channel Synchronised Video Installation,
black&white, silent, 12:29 minutes
With its web of shadowplays, Invisibility extends the themes of the feature film Cemetery of Splendour (2015), centred on the characters of a soldier suffering from a sleeping disorder and a woman receiving treatment for her deformed leg. We recognise the silhouettes of the two actors, Jenjira PongpasWidner and Banlop Lomnoi, as well as the decors: a hospital bed,
but also the statue of Sarit Thanarat, a violent and corrupt marshal who governed Thailand from 1957 to 1963. The artist was surprised to discover this monument to Khon Kaen, the city where he grew up, since it didn’t exist during his childhood.
Invisibility reflects the troubling state of Thai politics. On the dual screen, the bedrooms where the characters are shut in are juxtaposed, doubling up and seeming to meet then dissociate, evoking the phases of a revolutionary communication.