A Tale of Heaven

Date: May 2010
Length: 05:40 min.
Format:  16:9
Specification: Colour, Sound

The video screen features a beach. In the right corner of the picture, the outline of the person appears out of the water and slowly moves to the shore. Almost immediately, a monotonous sound starts to rise, becoming a constant backdrop to the whole film, enveloping it in a brooding atmosphere. The next sequence shows various foggy views of the tropics that slowly melt into each other. Afterwards, pictures of a family home are seen, while an older women’s voice tells us, in the Thai language, of a meeting with her deceased husband.
The film’s scenes have been digitized, allowing the film to be covered with dust and light scratches. The coarse film grain and the faded colors place the story in the past, in a similar manner to an old family photo album. “A Tale of Heaven” is dedicated to the artist’s dead father, who wanted his son to scatter his ashes in the woods, but a monk instructed him to scatter his father’s remains at sea. By making this film, Phuttipong was finally able to fulfill his father’s last wish. In the last sequence we see a pictorial collage of tropical vegetation that is soon covered by thick ashes slowly falling down from the sky.

MW 

Interview:

► 1. Your video has been chosen among over 1700 festival entries to participate in Videonale 13. How central is the video medium to your overall artistic production? Is it complimentary to other media you use or do you work exclusively with video?

For me the moving images, film and video, is like an installation work. I install some elements, objects, or sounds into a space but the space in film and video is ‘time’ unlike the actual location in the context of installation work. I love this medium because I feel there are so many time spaces waiting for me to place something into them while installation artists try hard to find their physical location.

I have been practicing film and video medium for many years. Mostly, my works were shown in the black cube such as a dark room in a gallery or a theater. I also did some video installations.

► 2. Is there a particular theme, concept or problem your art addresses the most?

I am interested in the meaning of ‘Self’ in Buddhism, in Buddha's saying, “Nothing  belongs to us even our own body”. That translates into the range of social topics. For example, what is the reason that artists put their signature or copyright to their works?  Or how important is an official identity to stateless people? My recent project has been questioning these themes.

► 3. What artists do you relate to or find significant for your own art-making?

My favorite artists are Bill Viola, Stan Brakhage and Shuji Terayama and also recent artists such as Rirkrit Tiravanija, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Jung Yeondoo. But I am not sure whether my art could relate to their works.

► 4. Do you think the video medium can address social or political issues better than other art media?

I don’t think it is better than other media but the advantage of a video is in its ease of distribution. It has become a mass media. You can see Bill Viola’s work on your DVD player or even youtube. But if you want to see Anish Kapoor’s sculpture you have to go to a museum.

► 5. Art can be seen as a mirror that registers and reflects life or as a tool that transforms it. Which of the two positions is close to your own art-making philosophy?

I do agree with both. Art can reflect and make something visible.

► 6. How do you understand success in an art-making career?

Artists are just a minority group in our society. The fact that a society gives me an opportunity to make art is a success in my art career.

► 7. What is the most difficult and the most rewarding thing about making art / being an artist?

The most difficult is I have to keep my track as an artist, working hard but often getting nothing back. I have to be patient. And the most rewarding thing is when I work hard and get something back. I am not saying that something is money or a material thing. I mean when I concentrate on my work and spend time, sometime a month or even a year, I hope I could discover something.

► 8. What are your upcoming projects?

My first feature film titled “Departure day”. It’s about stateless people who live in the border of Thailand.

► 9. What do you do when you don't make art?

I do scuba diving and wish I could be a dive master in the near future.