Felling Dreams (2026)

The video and installation art "Felling Dreams" acts as the flip side to "Failing Dreams." While "Failing Dreams" explores the passive state of being acted upon, "Felling Dreams" represents the active force exerted by the very people who created those dreams. Together, these two works form a cycle of Active versus Passive that has oscillated throughout the history of Thai democracy.

Previously, "Failing Dreams" addressed the aspirations of the people, which repeatedly failed due to interference from those in power. This is visually represented by static interference on a screen and the act of getting up to adjust the antenna or smacking the back of the TV set (metaphors for protests or elections). However, a deeper look at political history reveals that it is the power holders themselves who constructed these dreams, only to fell them down with their own hands.

We can trace this back to the 1932 Revolution. It began with a beautiful dream but ultimately faltered due to various internal and external factors, particularly power struggles among the founders and the perception that democracy had blossomed "too much" for those in power to tolerate.

A classic example is the self-coup by Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram in 1951. Because the 1949 Constitution prohibited permanent officials from serving as MPs and established a Senate appointed by the King, it became difficult for the military to "operate." Consequently, Field Marshal Plaek staged the "Radio Coup" to reinstate the 1932 Constitution, thereby restoring full power to the military.

Another instance involves Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn. Although he was elected Prime Minister, he struggled with the chaotic democratic process and politicians. Eventually, he staged a coup against his own government in 1971, tearing up that annoying constitution under the pretext of a communist threat.

While the public is sitting and watching "democracy," the screen is suddenly interrupted by the "Television Pool of Thailand" emblem (which typically signals a coup), followed by images of the leaders of all 13 coups. These are ordered numerically to correspond with the 13 photographs in the exhibition. It illustrates a dark cycle of "acting" and "being acted upon." The longest gap between coups in Thai history was 15 years and 6 months (from Sunthorn in 1991 to Sonthi in 2006). Currently, 12 years have passed since Prayut in 2014. We are now approaching a cursed deadline, unsure when the 14th coup will arrive.