Abstract
This visual essay weaves together images from an artistic research project with discussion of the critical and historical contexts which animated and informed it. The images – for the most part – are composites of late 19th and early 20th century photographic portraits discovered by chance in the National Archive of Thailand.
In November 2014 these were exhibited at H Project Space, a Bangkok gallery located in a neo-colonial house built by an Anglo-Thai couple around the same time as the photographs were taken. For this, the composites were generated in real time using software designed by the author. These were projected at monumental scale to create two immersive spaces. In the interests of clarity, images from this exhibition and others generated during the visual research process are included here.
The inquiry sought to raise questions about overlooked and taboo aspects of Thai history and to relate these to a political present characterised by mass censorship, curtailed freedom of expression and a heavily policed visual culture.
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