Bangkok Belgium can be somewhat understood, but what about Bantam... what does it mean? Danny Devos, a 40-year-old Belgian artist, explains the meaning of the three years that appear on his business card. The three figures have both similarities and differences. Bangkok is like the city where he had the opportunity to participate in an art project with a 33-year-old Thai artist, Sutee Kunavichayanont, which means that Bangkok represents the Thai artist. Belgium refers to him, the representative artist from Belgium, and Bantam. You may have heard of the bantamweight boxing category. That's right, boxers who have a compact physique, neither too small nor too big, much like him and Sutee, representatives from two countries selected to work together for a full month.

Three years Bangkok Belgium Bantam thus refers to the collaborative art project between Danny and Sutee, who are one of 13 pairs selected to work together in the first art collaboration project between Thailand and the European Union. In this project, artists from European countries will come to stay and work in Thailand, collaborating closely with Thai artists for a month, and then showcasing their works together in an exhibition titled “Another Identity” (ALTER EGO) which opened...

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"Presented on February 1st.

The purpose of this project is to facilitate communication and interaction between European and Thai cultures, including the aspect of art." Sutee described ALTER EGO as a psychological term that refers to Freud's theory, which is like another self of the same person. "For example, at work, one is a boss who likes to scold employees, but upon returning home, they become a timid person afraid of their wife. This suggests a rather negative meaning as it represents another self that has a bad side, which is not very good. However, the reason for this name could be that artists from two continents come together, both hoping to discover another self in another part of the world, or they each become parts of each other's identities. But if that were the case, it would be difficult because even those who are our life partners are not like that."

Sutee introduces himself to a new coworker by referring to an art portfolio, which many friends exclaim is terrible because Danny’s performance art mostly depicts themes of pain, death, and a dark worldview. At one exhibition, Danny once hid in a museum without anyone knowing, not even the guards. There was no food, no water, and only one close friend knew. This friend went to a pub and told everyone to help find him, saying that if they couldn’t find Danny, he would surely die. The next day was a holiday, and no one could go looking for him; they had to wait another day until the museum opened. Destiny led a woman artist to find him, and after that, the two got married. Danny later shared that it was his first love. Sutee mentioned that it might be because of the recent works that involved the theme of extending the lives of wild animals that made the curator, Assoc. Prof. Somporn Rod, interested.

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“For the first three or four days we met, we hardly talked about art at all. We talked about life, the weather, and found that we had compatible attitudes, such as issues in society, social problems, until we finally agreed to work separately but share our thoughts together, focusing on the process of working rather than the end result that is tangible, to express identity." Both met every day, talked every day, and then each went their separate ways to work according to their interests, with Danny taking his camera to photograph the streets in Bangkok, capturing images of interest every day for a whole month.

Sutee used his camera to document what he encountered each day for an entire month as well. As the exhibition date approached, they helped to construct a small room resembling a temporary shelter, which symbolised their brief meeting in the short term before they were ready to depart. Then Sutee displayed photographs that had stories similar to his daily journal across the entire wall by tearing calendars, daily horoscopes, and compiling images from each day’s journey, while Danny arranged his photographs in computers categorise images of events seen each day and link them with information about people and significant events that have occurred over the past 15 years. Danny recounted his journey to Bangkok on New Year's Eve while on a plane filled with weary traveleres. Upon arriving in Bangkok, the artist he was supposed to work with happened to be vacationing in another province. On the first day, he wandered around Bangkok, questioning why he was there. However, after meeting Sutee, Danny acknowledged that he was indeed fortunate to be working alongside Sutee because they shared similar ideas.

“We talk about everything except art. When we communicate, it builds trust; we understand each other and know each of us has ideas to share. I traveled here with just a single suitcase, without any prepared tools, thinking that since I had come to work here, I needed to start fresh."

"Here" during one month that passed, what he learned from his collaborators is the way of the Buddhists, the non-attachment to material things. Past work is like something that has already died, to be observed for reflection. The Buddhist way of thinking can answer almost all his lingering questions. Danny shared that before coming to Thailand, he had thoughts of suicide because there was nothing interesting left in his life. But after meeting Sutee and his wife, he discovered something new: the middle path, which may be due to the fact that in his life he usually did things at extremes in the realm of art.

One month, although it was a rather short time to create artworks and get to know his fellow artists, Danny said it was a very valuable time for him. This trip to Bangkok made him discover another positive aspect of himself, and what made P.P. feel very good. Danny said he no longer had thoughts of suicide, and he returned home with several books on the philosophy of Buddhism.

There is another barrier I want to talk about the artworks of two collaborating artists again because it is quite interesting indeed, as there are many similarities in their differences. But because Danny is an artist who is very interested in computers, it allows us to view the works of both artists, 3 Years Bangkok Belgium Bantam, on the internet http://www.magic.be/ClubMoral/DDV/3B

Let's see what they discover each day.