Daniel Shawna Shi Yin
“Ghost of Asia”
Christelle Lheureux, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Ghost of Asia is a celebration of living and of pleasures. Made right after the 2004 tsunami that killed
Daniel Shawna Shi Yin
“Ghost of Asia”
Christelle Lheureux, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Ghost of Asia is a celebration of living and of pleasures. Made right after the 2004 tsunami that killed thousands of Thais, the filmmakers imagine a ghost who still lives and wanders around the seashores. At a Thai island, they engage in conversation with children – two boys and a girl- that dictate tasks to be performed by an actor. The film is structured according to the kids’ real-time direction pattern. The actor became their simulated life, their projection of possible things one can do.
Significance of using children as ‘dictators’: Children are more spontaneous, expressive, and uninhibited- their imagination is also more vivid, and hence, they are able to generate more possibilities. This falls in place with the spirit of the film that attempts to depict and suggest what could have been.
another possible interpretation of the film – suggested by CHARISSE (HELLO!!)
the manner in which the children dictates the actions of the ghost seems to bring up the whole idea of control. The man seems to be extremely subordinate to the demands of the children who seem to just be carelessly throwing out any random thoughts and orders in their head. The sped up nature of the film only enhances the flustered and hasty manner in which he rushes to do as he is told. Charisse thinks that this might be a reflection of the general nature of video art and how it is filmed, whereby the actors are subject to the orders and demands of the filmmaker/ artist.
1. What essentially characterised Video art?
- Added dimension of time
- Sound (soundtrack etc)
- Not necessarily following a specific narrative or plot; can be used simply to illustrate a certain concept of the artists’
- Temporal, intangible state: video art is essentially viewed through the medium light, which is transient
- Reproducible; the same work of art can be at many locations at the same time
- Associated with the television and hence the concept of entertainment, usually made accessible to a mass audience
- also highly dependent on certain conditions to exist; for example electricity. this relates strongly to the human condition and the transiency of life.
2. What advantage does video offers over other representation art forms?
- ‘Authenticity’. Video art can be an extremely literal form of art that projects real life images to the audience. In other words, its form of representation can mimic exactly what reality looks like. In this instance, the audience are confronted with a situation made up of actual people leading their lives in this existing land (thailand). Its rawness, lack of scripting (