Transcript Society /Culture

Montien Boonma
Thailand
Cultural commentary –
Traditions and heritage
Montien Boonma
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1953-2000
Thailand
Studied in Bangkok, Rome, Paris
Initially trained as painter
Buddhist
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Some themes:
Rural and urban
Traditional and modern
Developed and developing countries
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From http://nga.gov.au/Boonma/edu.cfm
Montien Boonma - Buffaloes from the Field to the Town, 1988,
Unhusked rice, sacks, straw, horn, stools, 80x180x160 cm
Montien Boonma
Buffaloes from the Field to the Town
1988
Unhusked rice, sacks, straw, horn, stools
• 2 sacks on stools
• On one sack, a horn
• On the other, a curving, coiling structure made of straw, resembling a tail
• Abstract representation of a buffalo
• Whole structure looks very rugged
• Ragged sacks, ragged bundle of straw
• Earthy brown colours
Montien Boonma
Buffaloes from the Field to the Town
1988
Unhusked rice, sacks, straw, horn, stools
• What do the various parts represent?
• Buffaloes used by farmers to plow fields
• Straw is fed to buffaloes
• Rice is harvested and stored in man-made sacks
• Their horns are used to make various objects like jewellery
• Buffalo milk, meat and leather are also used by man
• What is the significance of the stools here?
Montien Boonma
Buffaloes from the Field to the Town
1988
Unhusked rice, sacks, straw, horn, stools
• The buffalo is a very important animal
• Integral to many people’s lives
• What does the buffalo truly represent?
• Man-made vs natural?
• Man’s relationship with nature?
• Urban vs rural?
Marcel Duchamp
Fountain
1917
Porcelain urinal
“shifting the focus of art from
physical craft to intellectual
interpretation”
Pablo Picasso
Bull’s Head
1942
Bicycle seat and handlebars
Montien Boonma - Nature’s Breath: Arokhayasala , 1995,
Metal, herbs, terracotta, 256x215x215 cm
Montien Boonma - Nature’s Breath: Arokhayasala , 1995,
Metal, herbs, terracotta, 256x215x215 cm
• Perforated metal boxes
• Forming 3 curved columns converging at top
• Covered with various herbs
• Lungs made of terracotta at top
Montien Boonma - Nature’s Breath: Arokhayasala , 1995,
Metal, herbs, terracotta, 256x215x215 cm
• Sight and smell
• Herbs often used in rituals and healing
• Wife died of lung cancer, he of lung cancer and brain tumor
Montien Boonma - Nature’s Breath: Arokhayasala , 1995,
Metal, herbs, terracotta, 256x215x215 cm
• “[I wanted] viewers to cleanse and cure the mind in order to experience the condition of
relaxation and mindfulness. The atmosphere is similar to monasteries, temples, or hospitals of
mindfulness (sati). Meditation, space, border, sounds, material, and aroma in surrounding
space of the work are the essence that arouse viewer’s perception.”
Stupas
Phra Pathom Chedi, Thailand
Great Stupa at Sanchi, India
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"When my wife was bed-ridden, in critical condition, I went and made propitiations at
shrines everywhere. I would chant continuously the Jinapanjara (an ancient mantra
popularised by the late Buddhist saint, Somdej Toh of Wat Rakhang) and whatever I
found in Lok Thip magazine (literally 'Heavenly World', a journal focused on the
Buddhist supernatural). I took an oath to Mother Khun Im (Avalokiteshvara, the
bodhisattva of compassion) to stop eating beef. I went to pray at the Buddha relics of
Doi Suthep and Khruba Sriwichai. I recited the names of all the Buddhas, gurus, and
deities - it was what I hung on to, like a kind of plea.
"I donated a pair of buffaloes, trying to find a pregnant one. The temple did a ritual
saying, 'may you be free from calamity and bad Karma'. The buffallo was named
'Boonrod' (the merit of escape), because my name is 'Boonma' (the approach of merit).
In the end it gave birth to a pair of twins, one male, one female. It turned out I saved
three lives from the slaughterhouse, so I thought my wife would make it... The omens
seemed to suggest that we had made merit in time.
"When we pray, even monks, they never really get there. Though they might feel they
receive some kind of blessing, or inspiration. Every person's life is a process of building
belief or faith - an empire for us to be able to survive. Without this empire, or this faith,
we would be uncontrollable, we wouldn't know what to do, why should we work, ...Why
should we live?
Even though we know we must die, we still try to discover something, so that we can
pass a better day. Those who are sick understand this."
Earth Stupa, 1989
Black Stupa, 1989
Montien Boonma
Lotus Sound
1992
Terracotta, lotus petals,
gold foil
350 x 300 x 300 cm.
Montien Boonma
Alokhayasan: Temple of the Mind
1995-6
metal lungs, herbs, pigments and glue installed
with herb boxes