Korakrit Arunanondchai * 1986 in Bangkok, lives and works in New York, US and Bangkok
Alex Gvojic * 1984 in Chicago, US, lives and works in New York, US
Korakrit Arunanondchai and Alex Gvojic have created a site-specific video installation on the Blue-Star sightseeing boat of Reederei Riedel, the Berlin Biennale’s only itinerant venue, that travels up and down the Spree River throughout the period of the exhibition. The boat’s exterior décor includes images of a giant rat hugging Arunanondchai’s grandfather, in reference to the film shown on board, There’s a word I’m trying to remember, for a feeling I’m about to have (a distracted path towards extinction). Inspired by previous large-scale extinctions in the history of the earth and the likelihood of the next, human extinction as well as the event of Arunanondchai’s older brother getting married, the film uses multiple narrative threads to frame a relationship between being alive today and the collapse of the natural systems around us. In addition to the video, an audio guide made in collaboration with the music producer Aaron David Ross and boychild accompanies passengers as they experience the main route frequented by tour boats on the Spree, passing Museum Island and the city’s government district. During the running time of the Berlin Biennale from June 4 to September 18, 2016, events and performances take place on the upper deck of the boat every Saturday evening.
List of works
There’s a word I’m trying to remember, for a feeling I’m about to have (a distracted path toward extinction), 2016
Boat, mixed media, HD video, earth from various places, objects from various places, audio guide
Sound Production, Score, and Audio Guide Aaron David Ross
Music Yen Tech
Performance Yen Tech, boychild
Starring Yen Tech, boychild, Korapat Arunanondchai, Tribodi Arunanondchai, Samika Vanasin
Video and Production Rory Mulhere
Research Tanatip Arunanondchai, Coco Young
Production of Installation Baptise Mano, Nicholas Repasy, Abigail Walworth, Carl Marin, Matt Taber, Adam Bailey, Paige Mosichuk, Sam Cockrell, Jack Erikkson
Courtesy Korakrit Arunanondchai/Alex Gvojic; C L E A R I N G, New York/Brussels; Carlos/Ishikawa, London
Commissioned and coproduced by Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
With the generous support of I LOVE YOU The Project
Thanks to Vanessa Carlos, Coco Young, Rory Mulhere, Tribodi Arunanondchai, Samika Vanasin, Korapat Arunanondchai, ADR, boychild, Yen Tech
Installation view of There’s a word I’m trying to remember, for a feeling I’m about to have (a distracted path toward extinction), 2016; courtesy Korakrit Arunanondchai/Alex Gvojic; C L E A R I N G, New York/Brussels; Carlos/Ishikawa, London; photo Timo Ohler
