marshallastor.com

I took a ton of photos and notes in Thailand, and I’m absolutely lost on how to organise them and present them here and on Flickr. So I figured I’d get the travel portion of it out of the way first, with a breakdown of my trip to and from Thailand, most specifically my airport travel experiences. I figure that gets them out of the way so I can start writing about and editing the photos from the meat of the trip. Many of my general Thai images will be located in my Thailand 2007 Flickr set, but I may break my trip up into multiple sets. I wish Flickr let us make trees of sets and sub sets!

I love airplanes and any opportunity I get to fly on one is a mitzvah, I tell you. Despite that love, after the sheer brutality of my two Air France flights (FYI - never, ever fly air France and avoid Charles de Gaulle Airport like the plague - you’ll thank me), I thought flying to and from Bangkok was going to be the worst of all possible experiences. I spent a fair amount of pre-flight time wondering if it’s possible to make it to an exit, jump and dive just right so that hitting the water isn’t a spine collapsing disaster, should anything go wrong with the aircraft. I like having an escape route of my own devising. I don’t consider water landing procedures on aircraft to be either well tested or to have any real functional track record, so I’ve put a lot of thought into various water landing scenarios that might occur while on long flights. There - you’ve seen into the survivalist mess that’s inside my head. I’m not neurotic about these things, it’s just that my Fuhrer-like Boy Scout troop leader Ray Bonesteel (yes - that’s a real person, he was an USAF Colonel on his day job) has just driven me to a state of permanent “Be Preparedness”.

On to the actual trip. Going to Thailand was relatively easy - I had a reasonably sane seatmate, the window seat, behind the wing, so I can see more stuff, and the first flight, to Narita, Japan was surprisingly turbulent, which I rather enjoy, mostly because I like seeing people start to fear a little bit, and then think about all the things they’ve never done in their lives. Being on an airplane when it undergoes extreme turbulence is a glimpse into the kind of faces people make on their deathbeds. I saw the movie “The Prestige” on the plane, in both English and Japanese, and I’m giving it the David Bowie Cameo as Nikola Tesla Seal of Approval. Christ - Christian Bale could sell frozen peas and he’d probably deliver an Oscar worthy performance. Anyways, it was a good flight, and the chicken katsu they served wasn’t half bad either.

The second flight, from Narita to Thailand was a bit of an endurance match, nothing to watch, me overtired, and after rushing from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 at Narita, I was a bit harried. You see, Narita is really two separate airports bolted together, with two totally parallel terminal operations. Going from one to another requires that you go through security all over again, and that you wait for a bus to take you from one to the other. So even though I had 2 hours between flights, I got to the gate and they were already boarding. I had trouble at each point, because as I had no checked baggage, I didn’t have a baggage sticker, so I had to explain to each person at each step that yes, I was transferring to an ANA flight, operated by United. I would have moved 30% faster if I had checked baggage. At Narita, I was hoping to eat at this amazing tonkatsu place that Roy had told me about. In fact we were in the airport at the same time, and had hoped to meet up, but it wasn’t in the cards. Narita will forever be one long hallway and a confusing bus ride to me.

My flight from Narita was a long in and out of sleep trek through the darkness. I had two teenagers for neighbors, watching them try to communicate across their language difference, while still having a 100% teenager conversation was amazing. It was also the 2nd time that day I’d heard a reference to Dir En Grey, a band I’ve been enjoying as a bit of a guilty pleasure for some time now. The in-flight meal was chicken katsu again, BTW. Other than that, I was in a daze as I headed into Thailand, final destination Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where I would arrive around midnight to be picked up by an almost complete stranger.

above - And there he is Jessada Kongsommart and I meet at the airport. It was extra cool, because I was met by them as I exited the baggage area and they had a sign with my name on it. It’s always been my dream to fly to a faraway place and be greeted by people at the airport holding a sign with my name on it. Oh - and it’s midnight and about 80 degrees outside here.

above - Jessada’s friend and fellow artist Poksang. Poksang takes the most amazing photographs of clouds and storms in Thailand. He runs a wedding studio in Si Racha, which I’ll get to later. His nickname, which everyone in Thailand seems to have sounds sort of like “Wow”.

So that’s how I arrived in Thailand. My arrival was followed up with the first of many amazing meals that I ate in Thailand. After a 40 minute drive to Bang Saen, where Jessada has a townhouse, the three of us settled down to a late night dinner of seafood at the beach. It’s hard for me to imagine now, but at the time I was still vaguely afraid of eating in Thailand. I knew the food would be delicious, but I presumed that I was destined to be sick. Before I left, it was one of the main topics of conversations I had regarding my trip. Everyone viewed Thai travel as synonymous with “Bangkok Belly”. Now the whole idea just feels silly to me.

Leaving Thailand

I imagine this is disjointed, having no middle, but after about 10 days in Thailand, after much amazingness, I had to return to the United States. At the end of my trip in Thailand, I had found my way to Jessada’s home village in Kalasin Province, which is in eastern Thailand, very close to Laos. Most of the people there speak Laotian, as well as Thai, and in some of the smaller places people may only really speak Laotian. Leaving Jessada’s village about midday, and after completing some errands, we took a 2 and a half hour drive to Khon Kaen, where the nearest airport is located. Khon Kaen is a small but growing city in Khon Kaen Province, which is the province directly to the West of Kalasin Province. From here on I have better pictures, so I’ll tell the story of my return to the states through them.

above - This is Khom Kaen Airport. The whole of it. The road to the left is where all drop off an pick ups occur. The day I was there, only three flights were coming or going, all to Bangkok. When I arrived, the airport was closed. That’s closed as in no one at any of the ticket booths, and all the lights off inside. If you zoom in on the above photo, you can see a dude on a bicycle up on the roadway. a) that would be a shoot on sight issue at LAX, and b) he was apparently just cruising around. He was the only vehicle that showed up until about 15 minutes before they opened the booths.

above - the general level of activity in the Airport. This was possibly the most alien/unexpected thing I saw in Thailand. Until this, I don’t think I could even imagine what an airport this small might look like most of the time. In my experience, airports are such controlled, busy, chaotic environments, and this was the polar opposite.

above - saying goodbye to Jessada and Kanjana was hard. They treated me like family, and I think I’ll feel forever in their debt. I hope they can both come to America soon so that I can try and repay their hospitality. The adorable girl in the basket is one of their two beautiful children.

above - boarding my 35 minute flight to Bangkok. It is such a joy of sound and sight and smell to board an airplane by walking to it. I wish all airports let you do this. Despite the total inactivity at the airport, once I was on this plane, I was definitely back in modern society. The plane was a brand new Airbus 300, a very comfortable plane, probably my favourite to ride in. The service was incredibly good for a 45 minute flight. Despite the total comfort of the flight and the finality of getting on this plane, I had a tremendous amount of anxiety about what was I going to do until my flight out of Suvarnabhumi the following morning. Would I be able to get an earlier flight? Would I be able to crash (as in sleep) at the Airport? Are there even hotels near Suvarnabhumi?

above - Suvarnabhumi airport is a massive, massive place. The biggest airport in Asia, it’s only been open since September, and despite its ultra modern experience, you get the feeling they’re still ironing out the bugs. This is Row R of the International Departures level of the airport. I basically catnapped on a bench here for about nine hours, rather than commute to and from ultra congested Bangkok for no real purpose. I slept on a bench near the JAL desk, and by the time I realised there’s a regular encampment of much more comfortable people sleeping up on the observation deck level, I was to awake to take advantage. Well, now I know for next time.

above - Guest workers. The airport was packed with teams of Thai workers, on their way to work in other countries. I saw at least six groups of these guys, each one all men or all women, all in matching jackets, and some with matching luggage. This was new to me, but not really a surprise. I imagine they’re going to perform service jobs in wealthier economies for wages that would be sub-standard in those economies, but which allow them to take home far greater than they can make in Thailand.

above - near Gate F5 at Suvarnabhumi Airport. This is the first and only recycle bin I saw in Thailand. For all of the virtues of Thai society, recycling and caring about the environment really hasn’t hit them yet. I imagine that Bangkok residents must be somewhat aware of environmental issues, especially given the pollution due to traffic, but in the countryside, people routinely burn all kinds of trash, including plastics and other toxic materials. I routinely saw mini dumps of garbage on the banks of rivers near bridges, many of which had been burned.

above - This is me about to board my JAL flight. On my way home at this point, I was glad to be moving. Being around tourists and business travelers always makes me want to hasten my journey. Note: You can’t take durian on the airplane anymore in Thailand, but they sell a variety of packaged, vacuum packed durian products at the airport here. Oh, and they have Burger King. Oh Joy.

above - I know this photo is probably of little meaning, and what I’d like to point out is meaningless to anyone but me, but it was taken after transferring planes at Narita (a much smoother, but still very hurried transition, as we landed about 30 minutes late), and the bag coming up the conveyor is mine. I normally only travel with carry-on luggage, and I have no faith in the airline industry to get my checked baggage to where it belongs. So, from here on in, provided we didn’t fall out of the sky, everything should be okay!

This flight was an American Airlines flight, and despite the excellent choice in movies (Dr. No, new James Bond, TV Japan, Japanese film I can’t remember the name of), the staff was horrible. It seemed to solely consist of burnt out 40-50 something badly dyed redhead flight attendants, who couldn’t give two shits about what you wanted. None of them spoke a word of Japanese, and were totally unable to interpret the drink orders of the many, many Japanese travelers on board. I felt so ashamed that the flight crew presented themselves and “American service” in such a careless way to travelers who will soon be guests in my country.

Also, I have to point out how bizarre the customs form announcements when you enter or re-enter the United States are. I had to listen/ignore about ten minutes of creepy pseudo-police state chatter about customs forms when entering the US. Both Thailand and Japan had entry forms to fill out, but it was done in a much less aggressive and forceful manner. People were just handed the forms if they were staying at their destination. That’s it. The American Airlines flight crew walked everybody through the forms, not in a helpful way, but in a demeaning way like someone talking to infants. Once again, I was slightly ashamed of my country - is this the best face we can put forward to our visitors (and residents, too)?

above - I return to Los Angeles. You know you’re back in LA when you see that giant fiberglass donut. We did a big sweep out over the city, and this was the one landmark that totally called out to me. I don’t even really like donuts.

Getting back into the US sucked. I was dumb enough to admit that I had been on a farm on my customs form, which earned me a brief questioning by the customs officer, followed by what was supposed to be an “exit interview”, but was actually a purposeless search of my bags by a barely English speaking retiree, who rifled through my bags in a way that was not thorough, paying only half attention. He asked me zero questions about livestock, the farm, avian flu, or anything at all relevant to my stay in Thailand. I was more than willing to do my part to maintain public health by answering some brief questions, but I found the search of my bags to be nothing but security theatre. Based upon the conduct of the TSA in regard to my personal “red flag”, I can assure you, they are not concerned with public health or your health.

At the airport, I was greeted by my friend and girl friday Michele, the first familiar face I had seen in ten long days. Where to go, what to do - top sirloin at the Pantry, and everything in the world is good again. I guess that’s a brief version of all of the back and forth that my trip involved. Coming up - the portions of my trip where things actually happen, and the pictures aren’t just of airports.

I needed some serious chill out/jet lag recovery time, so I ended up having lunch and visiting the Getty this afternoon.
I had no idea that today was the opening day for Tim Hawkinson’s Zoopsia show, nor about the Art, Anti-Art, Non-Art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950 - 1970 show over at the Research Institute - double happiness. Here’s the pics and the chatter. All of my Getty Center pics are always in their Flickr set, here. I guess the Thailand photos will have to wait for tomorrow - I’m still figuring out just how to order them.

Art, Anti-Art, Non-Art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950 - 1970

This is primarily an exhibition of literary artifacts from the art movements that arose in postwar Japan. Some of it is interesting, but a little devoid of context, which the GRI went to some length to address with some really impressive and accessible text. There is also a wealth of Fluxus related material in the show, primarily from artists Ay-O and Yoko Ono. Given that I’m absolutely in awe and love with Ono’s work, this was a winner for me. I would have liked to have this been a much, much larger show, but I really enjoyed what there was on display.

I didn’t shoot much in this show, other than the Ay-O piece below and several Yoko Ono pieces, as it was a tight space, and much of the work is publications. I did shoot the timeline wall for the exhibit, which you can view here.

above - Finger Box and Tactile Box simulations, original pieces by Ay-O - This whole exhibition had great text and display materials, and these well constructed finger boxes and the tactile box were part of that greatness. Being able to experience a simulation of the experience of the piece - which in this case is a much more important action than actual viewing - was really amazing. This is a great example of a museum working really hard to give the viewer the experience intended by the artist. View the label here.

above - Yoko Ono, Telephone Piece - I just saw another version of this piece at the Berkeley Museum of Art about a month ago. This version instills in me the same desire to wait by the phone until Yoko calls. I really liked the “on an end table” installation of this piece. It just seems so inviting to pick up.

above - Yoko Ono, Ono’s Sales List - Another great conceptual piece by Ono. I think I’m attracted to her work so much because my experience directing galleries gives me a special sensitivity to some of the absurdities of art making, and makes me more sympathetic to purely conceptual gestures. View the label here.

Zoopsia: New Works by Tim Hawkinson

This exhibition is actually divided up into two parts. One, the exhibition itself, is buried in a tiny room in the Terrace Level of the West Pavilion - not exactly the kind of space I would have expected Hawkinson’s work to be found, especially after last year’s career defining LACMA exhibiton. I actually found this exhibition of four pieces to not be very engaging - the execution seemed more “sketch-like” than finished, with the exception of the ink drawing Dragon, which I really enjoyed, especially the way it was hung from a screwed together bar of wood by a strap from the ceiling. Although the other three pieces in the show, were novel and interesting, I really wasn’t interested in them much. Leviathan, a dinosaurian skeleton made from sculpey with the bones in the shape of rowers is a clever piece, but beyond being clever, I wasn’t feeling it.

The other portion of the show was an installation of Hawkinson’s amazing piece Uberorgan, which hasn’t been shown before in Los Angeles. It’s installed in the main atrium/entryspace of the museum, near the gift shop, coat check and info desks. It’s really well placed, and it’s primarily white colouration makes it look right at home in the space. Essentially it’s a series of inflated bags and horns composed of everyday materials and constructed as if by a random trial-and-error method. It’s Hawkinson at his best, making excellent use of everyday materials to create something extraordinary and magical.

It performs for five minutes, every hour, on the hour, and quite a crowd of visitors and employees gathered to watch it do it’s special magic. Speaking as a nerd, the sheer lo-fi, DIY construction of the “brain” of the unit, which guides the twelve horns through it’s hourly performance, was amazing. A real lesson in the usage of common materials in kinetic sculpture. I especially enjoy the dust mops that help guide the paper tape program through the unit. It’s hard to explain what it looks and sounds like, so I’ll have to say that it’s like a magnificent farting, booming, funny foghorn orchestra, far too ridiculous to fall into any area of musical pretension - it’s raw magic, the kind of post-steampunk, plasticpunk fantasy of a child’s dream. Visually, it references hot air balloons, net bound sausages, comically long horns and is all connected together as if devoid of any intention, other than as an object of wonder and experiment. I shot some images of it with Michele’s camera, and to try and capture the shape of the piece, I tried stitching them together - my first time stitching photos, but I hope they extend some kind of idea as to the scale and presence of the piece and it’s elements. Next time I go see it, I’m bringing a mic and making an MP3 of it. Enjoy.

below - various views of the Uberorgan. The ticker tape contraption is the brains and the balloons, tubing and horn contraption is the pipes. Click on the one directly below to check it out in massive panoramic glory.  A lot of these guys are huge - follow the links to the full size versions and you won’t be disappointed.

Well I’m back after 36 straight hours of traveling, after spending an amazing 10 days in Thailand. I’ve got about 1600 - 1800 photos to go through, including an inordinate number of photos of Thais on various 2 or more wheeled contraptions, photos of various cool places and random Thai things that caught my mind, photos of village life in the province of Kalasin and photos of many of the amazing and new things that I ate. On top of that I took about 66 pages of notes on my trip.  Being able to write to myself went a long way in helping me deal with homesickness, as I was traveling alone and far from the context of my daily life.  Originally I thought I’d primarily be spending my time in and around Bangkok, but I ended up spending about half my trip in Bangkok, the Eastern Seaboard towns of Bang Sean, Si Racha (as in home to the OG Sriracha sauce) and Pattya and the other half in Kalasin in Eastern Thailand, close to the border with Laos. So what I thought would be a museum/sightseeing heavy urban trip transformed itself into a road trip - my favourite way to travel.

The purpose of my trip was to begin the process of making arrangements for an upcoming international exhibition of Thai artists at the Cultural Center, by meeting with artist Jessada Kongsommart who will be organising the exhibition and wrangling all of the Thai artists on that end, meeting with some of the artists who will be taking part in the exhibition, and seeing the work of others from Jessada’s group of Thai artists.  Should all things go as planned, the Center will soon be home to an exhibition featuring some Thai artists, bringing their work to the United States, almost all for the first time.  Being exposed to the Thai art scene was an experience in itself - just seeing the different dynamics and learning about the development of Thai contemporary art has been an amazing process that I feel had broadened and changed the way I think about exhibitions and the process of curating and organising shows.
Thanks to my especially generous hosts, Jessada and his wife Kanjana, I was able to experience Thai daily life in a way that a casual tourist might not. They invited me into their homes and fed me at their table as if I was family, and were incredibly patient and eager communicators I was welcomed into the homes and met so many other amazing people, especially all the people of Jessada’s home village in Kalasin province, to whom I feel I owe a special thanks, in addition to being amazingly friendly to a total stranger, who spoke little to no Thai, let alone the Laotian influenced dialect spoken in Kalasin, they were incredibly patient as I took many pictures of them and their homes.  I’m so tired right now that I can’t even really think or process everything.
After being almost completely flipped, my day/night cycle is now totally flipped and altered.  Add to that my “early to bed, early to rise” mentality combined with the Thai “late to bed late to rise” way of life, and I’ve got almost no idea what time it is or was.  So that’s that.  I’ll be posting a ton of photos and stories about my trip, especially about food (I think about 50% of my notes are about food - I entered real Tony Bourdain territory on this trip), until I get through it all.  Home again, home again, jiggity jig.