When Thanapat Termsintawee was a third-year student at the School of Fine and Applied Arts, Bangkok University, he conducted a thesis which compared human society to ant colonies. Working on the thesis led him to keep ants and develop a familiarity with the insects.
Thanapat developed the idea of using animals in his artwork during his sophomore year. He initially used snails and worms in the process of creating his pieces. However, after being criticised by classmates for animal abuse, he decided to stop using animals for several years.
Thanapat explained that Shino Aburame, a cartoon character in the Japanese manga Naruto, inspired him to use animals when creating art.
"Shino Aburame isn't my favourite character in Naruto, but I was impressed that he used insects as weapons. I think this character is really cool. It looks so easy when he uses insects as weapons to fight with his enemies," said Thanapat.
Artist Thanapat Termsintawee.
"After I became interested in ants, I raised over 70 colonies. Unfortunately, this year the heat was brutal and it caused my colonies to fall to a little over 30. I really like how ants organise their colonies. Some species organise special spots for their eggs, food and themselves."
After graduation, Thanapat launched his debut solo exhibition "Addiction & Corrosion" at VS Gallery. He criticised the decay and deterioration of Thai society through sculptures made by pouring boiled sugar into moulds. After the sugar hardened, Thanapat placed an ant nest close to each sculpture and sprayed water on specific areas of the sculptures to attract the insects. The ants bit into the sugar which caused certain areas of the sculptures to erode. The decay of sculptures is a metaphor for the decline of human society in various aspects.
Thanapat chose to use sugar as the main material for "Addiction & Corrosion" because it is a legal, addictive substance. The artist shared that he first learned about sugar addiction through social media and that sparked his interest. This prompted him to research further and he discovered that sugar addiction is linked to the brain's reward mechanisms.
"When the brain releases chemicals that create feelings of pleasure while consuming sweets, people tend to crave more sweets and eventually develop a sugar addiction. Sugar addiction can lead to diabetes and other diseases. Another interesting property of sugar is the fact that it can be shaped in many forms," Thanapat said.
Be High.
He explained that the exhibition is named "Addiction & Corrosion" because it reflects the decay of various aspects of our society over time such as religion, politics, culture and beliefs.
Ever since he was a junior high student, Thanapat had a special interest in politics because at that time, he experienced a coup first hand. He then decided to become an atheist despite being raised in a Buddhist family.
"My parents pay respect to monks and often make merit to temples and monks, but I questioned whether these religious practices were necessary for me. I eventually decided to become non-religious. I also got involved with protests against the junta government and started doing street art," Thanapat said.
The exhibition is a reflection of his viewpoints on society. The Bullet Of Change, the first sculpture at the entrance, depicts a bullet which is described as a tribute to the victors who hold more power than other people.
The second piece, Behind The Mask, is a bust that was inspired by a character in khon, the traditional Thai masked dance. The sculpture symbolises hua khon which has a double meaning. Hua khon can mean the khon masked dance, or official positions and ranks. This bust depicts a face that is decayed and eroded to the point that the skull inside is exposed. It can be interpreted that positions, duties and powers can rise and fall.
The Stack Of Greed.
The Stack Of Greed was inspired by a graph of monetary inflation from September 2023 to October 2024. When a Bangkok Post reporter viewed the exhibition, The Stack Of Greed was sprayed with water to attract ants which caused some areas of the sculpture to become wet and turn brown. Thanapat explained that once the sculpture dries, the sugar will turn white again.
"Inflation forces the majority of people towards hardship and even death, as it makes them poorer because their income remains the same," he said.
Hit Man is a male figure with a silencer poked into his face, referring to people with power who have the ability to silence society.
Be High depicts a pure white Buddha statue which, when viewed from the front, appears beautiful and unblemished. However, the back is decayed and corroded. This signifies the decline of Buddhism due to commercialisation and the misconduct of monks.
Skulls.
Carpenter ants and tropical fire ants were used in the making of the sculptures, since they love sugar. Thanapat explained that when he began raising ants, he noticed they ate by sucking fluid, not by chewing like humans. They usually approach food that has a lot of moisture. That's why he decided to spray water to attract the ants.
Although Thanapat knew that humidity attracts ants, he could make them erode the sugar at the specific spots he wanted. Therefore, he had to create two or three pieces for each design and then select the best version for the exhibition.
In future, Thanapat will try to work with other kinds of ants.
"I would like to experiment with other species. There are red ants that live in trees and seed-eating ants which have distinctive behaviours and ways of living. Additionally, termites could provide interesting content for future work," he said.
"I'm looking forward to what comes after my debut solo show. I am curious to know what the next steps could be after completing this project."
Hit Man.
"Addiction & Corrosion" runs at VS Gallery, Naradhiwas Rajanakarindra 22, until Dec 22. Admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/VSGalleryBangkok.
