Pratchaya Phinthong, Algahest, 2012

Movable window reset in a wall, containing sand, water and air inside, to perceive a large acrylic on canvas through it.
Overall dimensions vary with installation
Unique
Collection SAM, Singapore

The installation Algahest, 2012 represents the planet Kepler 22B through a movable window. The image of the planet is drawn by an illustrator employed by NASA and reprodu- ced here by the artist Pattara Chanruechachai. As one turns the window frame, a landscape of sand, air and water (elements necessary for all forms of life) slowly slides down, reconstituting itself.

We know little about K-22B, other than the possible presence on its surface of water in a liquid state, which could mean a chance of finding lifeforms. NASA, having recently published a illustrator’s view of the planet (not far from the image of our Earth), has decided to communicate its scientific advances through someone’s subjective imagination. For Pratchaya Phinthong, this image of a future world recalls our prehistoric past. Algahest represents the way memory is constituted through different cultural, collective and personal filters.The title of the installation alludes to a universal solvent capable of reducing every body to its base matter. This process, consisting in passing from one form to another, is close to the artist’s train of thought.

Pratchaya Phinthong, Algahest, 2012

Movable window reset in a wall, containing sand, water and air inside, to perceive a large acrylic on canvas through it.
Overall dimensions vary with installation
Unique
Collection SAM, Singapore

The installation Algahest, 2012 represents the planet Kepler 22B through a movable window. The image of the planet is drawn by an illustrator employed by NASA and reprodu- ced here by the artist Pattara Chanruechachai. As one turns the window frame, a landscape of sand, air and water (elements necessary for all forms of life) slowly slides down, reconstituting itself.

We know little about K-22B, other than the possible presence on its surface of water in a liquid state, which could mean a chance of finding lifeforms. NASA, having recently published a illustrator’s view of the planet (not far from the image of our Earth), has decided to communicate its scientific advances through someone’s subjective imagination. For Pratchaya Phinthong, this image of a future world recalls our prehistoric past. Algahest represents the way memory is constituted through different cultural, collective and personal filters.The title of the installation alludes to a universal solvent capable of reducing every body to its base matter. This process, consisting in passing from one form to another, is close to the artist’s train of thought.

Pratchaya Phinthong, Algahest, 2012

Movable window reset in a wall, containing sand, water and air inside, to perceive a large acrylic on canvas through it.
Overall dimensions vary with installation
Unique
Collection SAM, Singapore

The installation Algahest, 2012 represents the planet Kepler 22B through a movable window. The image of the planet is drawn by an illustrator employed by NASA and reprodu- ced here by the artist Pattara Chanruechachai. As one turns the window frame, a landscape of sand, air and water (elements necessary for all forms of life) slowly slides down, reconstituting itself.

We know little about K-22B, other than the possible presence on its surface of water in a liquid state, which could mean a chance of finding lifeforms. NASA, having recently published a illustrator’s view of the planet (not far from the image of our Earth), has decided to communicate its scientific advances through someone’s subjective imagination. For Pratchaya Phinthong, this image of a future world recalls our prehistoric past. Algahest represents the way memory is constituted through different cultural, collective and personal filters.The title of the installation alludes to a universal solvent capable of reducing every body to its base matter. This process, consisting in passing from one form to another, is close to the artist’s train of thought.

Pratchaya Phinthong, Algahest, 2012

Movable window reset in a wall, containing sand, water and air inside, to perceive a large acrylic on canvas through it.
Overall dimensions vary with installation
Unique
Collection SAM, Singapore

The installation Algahest, 2012 represents the planet Kepler 22B through a movable window. The image of the planet is drawn by an illustrator employed by NASA and reprodu- ced here by the artist Pattara Chanruechachai. As one turns the window frame, a landscape of sand, air and water (elements necessary for all forms of life) slowly slides down, reconstituting itself.

We know little about K-22B, other than the possible presence on its surface of water in a liquid state, which could mean a chance of finding lifeforms. NASA, having recently published a illustrator’s view of the planet (not far from the image of our Earth), has decided to communicate its scientific advances through someone’s subjective imagination. For Pratchaya Phinthong, this image of a future world recalls our prehistoric past. Algahest represents the way memory is constituted through different cultural, collective and personal filters.The title of the installation alludes to a universal solvent capable of reducing every body to its base matter. This process, consisting in passing from one form to another, is close to the artist’s train of thought.