RECOGNISING THE ILLS OF SOCIETY

Trash is a constant element in the artwork by Cameron Platter, which is being displayed during “The Message Is The Message” at Warin Lab Contemporary, until Nov 18.

This is the first solo show in Thailand by the South African artist who encourages viewers to dig deeper into the multilayered concept of trash in an installation of pencil-on-paper drawings and sculptures that portray it as a metaphor for our society’s debris.

In his eyes, trash is the garbage of conformist common sense. It represents the way people become addicted to a Netflix series to the point where they neglect to realise that the worst inhumanities are flowing in the background of life.

It is also compared to the aberration of evil that wanders the Earth — be it excess, consumption, mutations, mass hysteria, plasticisers, cancers, toxic waste; as well as the maximalist disposable-culture of fast food, fast money, fake news, greed and crumbling latestage capitalism.

Hanging on the brightly painted gallery walls are large-scale drawings featuring different subject matters including two crocodiles’ outlines overlapping against a bricked wall, shrimps fluctuated with martini drinks and black cats, and an image of a fish.

Scattered in front of the drawings that look more like items on a fastfood menu are carved wooden copies of plastic stools that invite viewers to engage in the exhibition that represents an experience, rather than simply a collection of different works.

Warin Lab Contemporary is located at O.P. Garden, Charoen Krung 36 and opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30am to 7.30pm.