Dong-na Project,    installation view
"Believe"    Gallery at Red cat  , Installation view
2006  Singapore Biennale, Tanglin Camp, Singapore
2007  Red Cat Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.

Mitr Jai-in is a painter who lives miles outside of Bangkok in Lumphoon district, Thailand. His paintings are part of a conceptual practice in which each canvas serves as an empty platform that can embody various notions, ideas, or functions. He asked us to use his paintings to create spherical ideas as a tool to encourage such concepts and have usefulness.
Dong-na is a village whose highest level of instruction is primary school, and three teachers are responsible for many children. Located in south eastern Thailand, in Ubon ratchathani, near the Me Kong River, Dong-na does not appear on the map of Thailand. Three years ago, we began working on a project to build a library for this small community near Chiang Mai. At that time we could not find a sponsor who could help us realize it.
We are interested in the meaning of art in society. If we accept “Art” as a tool, then what can art possibly do for the public? What if a so-called“work of art” could initiate other forms for people to understand notions and thoughts related to art? What forms would it take? How can art as a tool be used for society and not kept distant from people? Can this tool allow people to share both physically and mentally with each other and move our ideas in a direction they currently cannot reach?
The Dong-na Project participates in Mitr Jai-in's practice to enable our library project by naming each painting after specific objects and elements that compose the library. When sold, a painting generates the funds to acquire that element, thereby transforming into an integral part of the completed library. For example, the painting entitled Window will be sold to cover the cost of an actual window for the library that will become part of the Dong-na primary school.
- Pratchaya Phinthong & Pattara Chanruechachai,
<
Back to Top