NEVER WAS NORMAL GROUP EXHIBITION by Grains and Grams

The show is an observation prompted by an opportunity to spend more time away from what was once normal. Each work presented ponders around the definition of normality as an ideal life, a provided standard, something safe, familiar, and comfortable. The scenography of the exhibition reflects on the stages we go through in a state of emergency. Starting with new rules forced by emergency law, going through the discomfort feeling of entering something unfamiliar, protecting ourselves & loved ones, and finally finding balance and appreciation in the mundane. The exhibition encourage visitors to share a moment of stillness, reflect on our feelings and potentially implement changes in our daily lives that places generosity and empathy to the forefront.
Location: The Shophouse 1527 Rama lV Road, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330

Exhibiting artists
Meanwhile Woodwork
Nakornsang Studio
Nanu Youttananukorn
Nucharin Wangphongsawasd
o-d-a x Phisanu Numsiriyothin
Pichan Sujaritsatit
Rathee Phaisanchotsiri

WHAT IS NORMAL?

If Normal was to be defined as a conformity of situation that neither exceed nor lessen one’s expectation then in this sense it is relative to each individual’s anticipation of an up-coming occurrence. To put simply, what is normal is what comply with our subjective sense of familiarity.

The phrase New Normal was coined following the recent and on-going pandemic, referring to a certain code of conducts, social interactions and a peculiar situation we are all part of. It assumes its meaning in a collective societal agreement of shared expectations. What may have been strange is now rendered accustomed to. A sense of return, home-coming but yet shifted upon arrival. The pandemic has showed that opportunities can rise from limitations. It exposed society’s short-comings and produced inconveniences that might have forced us to adapt ourselves or in some extreme cases reinvent our life from scratch.

The pressure to return to New Normal leads us to no permanent change and which would not lead to another and/or better systems, either social, economic or environmental. What if Normal is just a thin veneer that ply over our dissident thoughts. A form of anesthetic used to mute our inner conflict, a lid that stops our emotions from boiling over. What happens when our internal circumstances do not match the expectations forced upon us by the ready-made set of rules? Are we just going to keep conforming just for the sake of?

Clockwise, Counterclockwise

What is normality? What is normality in all these abnormalities? What is this old normal that we believe we once had? What is the new normal that we are longing for? Does it even exist? Time only moves clockwise, so we must leave the past behind to move forward. This is what our society keeps telling us; however, the present and the future cannot exist without the past. It would be nice if while we are moving forward, we could interpret moving counterclockwise as revisiting and learning from the past. 

I want to invite visitors to slow down for a moment, interact with my works, and observe their motions, not unlike when we are looking at the clock, observing time passes by.  Maybe we might have left the normality we yearned for behind, or maybe it never existed in the first place. So, let us ask ourselves t“What exactly is normal?” 

Medium: Various wood (walnut, white oak, cherry, teak)
Year: 2020