WARIN LAB CONTEMPORARY Reincarnations III – Ecologies of Life

Reincarnations is an ongoing, multidisciplinary art project by Thai artist Ruangsak Anuwatwimon, which looks at endangered ecologies or extinct species as the consequence of human actions and not because of organic evolution.

Specifically, Reincarnations III at Warin Lab features two- and three-dimensional works based on research conducted by the artist on the Bhutan Glory butterfly and the Japanese wolf. The butterfly and the wolf are accompanied by a newly commissioned piece on the rare, now extinct Schomburgk’s Deer native to the Rangsit area, in the outskirts of Bangkok. The causes of its extinction, predating WWII, are still unclear.

The choice of this particular deer for Reincarnations III is suggested by the location of Warin Lab and to which the artist responds with site-specific research. In fact, the gallery occupies the former house of Khun Boonsong Lekagul, a medical doctor and also the first researcher and ecologist of Thailand’s wildlife. In the 1950s and 60s, Khun Boonsong Lekagul not only research on and led preservation efforts of endangered animal species in Thailand, but also produced and collected a number of books on wildlife, including Schomburgk’s Deer.

Crossing multiple disciplines, Reincarnations III – Ecologies of Life invites visitors to reflect on the importance of caring for our planet and the life that surrounds us, including humans, starkly manifested by this coronavirus pandemic, while emphasizing the role of art for powerful engagement and social activism at a time of increasingly fluid and overlapping confines of art and society.