FABRICATED REALITIES
Video Art and Film from Southeast Asia and beyond

Curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong, Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok  
In collaboration with Art Science Museum, Singapore  

FABRICATED REALITIES encompasses a compilation of recent video art and films made by artists from the Asia-Pacific region. These three programs address the complexity of contemporaneity, questioning the coexistence of humans, a variety of non-human species and the advanced technology that challenges the perception of our history. As the manifestation of artists’ reality, the works were rendered unconsciously from artists’ anxiety, hopes and fears, particularly during the COVID-19 period and their concern about our planetary situation and Earth’s future. They touched upon the good, the bad and the ugly of the history of the human relationship with non-human, nature and technology. Artists traverse back and forth between the past and future, through technology, archival materials and storytelling. Many films dealt with the migration history of humans and non-humans, unfolding the entangled relationship of pre-nations/states in this region. Some address the complex connection between humans’ relationship with nature & cultures and the changing landscapes from Mongolia to the South China Sea, while others are concerned about the fabricated reality constructed by Artificial Intelligence, games and Virtual Reality. They prompt us to reconsider the critical questions on how we can trust the images, and how we can distinguish the fiction and reality that was fabricated and constructed by both technology and human beings. It is about the reality of the now, how we live and go through these uncertain times together, after COVID-19, and how to cope with an unprecedented global moment such as this.