The Brokens Are Alright
A manifesto by Pitchaya Koowattanataworn
proposing future of nature in a optimistic yet hazardous vibe
Style and photograph by Pitchaya Koowattanataworn, Photo edit by Pin Meekham and Pasinee Pramunwong
Pitchaya Koowattanataworn’s artist manifesto is to disrupt the value of things, to see the charm of what people may see as ‘malfunction’. She was studying for a master's degree in Paris when the city was in lockdown due to the pandemic. On the kitchen table, she started a still-life based photo series featuring her everyday objects, leftovers, broken gadgets, and then the series expanded to the subjects that were not only in her room. She worked with a friend to make a photo of a bag from pasta, went to a tombstone engraver, or shot a model. It became a book called ‘The Charm of Malfunction”. The book where we find new functions of objects and how the expiration date doesn’t mean they have to go straight to trash.
Video courtesy of Pitchaya Koowattanataworn
“People prioritize their life on expiration date” Pitchaya once told “not only stuff, but everything in life. Our health, our loved ones, the work deadline, the moments.” and the thing that is in every aspect of our life and will expire very soon: is nature.
Foods, furniture, clothes, weather, lifestyle, decorations, vehicle fuel, light, arts, sources of electricity, etc - the scope of nature Pitchaya talking about is large. In ‘The Charm of Malfunction’ there is a The ‘New Old’ chapter which she suggests that fusing the past with the present will bring us new things and the ‘Nature Future’ chapter she imagines the way people will use technology to make nature still exist.
Pitchaya Koowattanataworn. The Charm of Malfunction (2021)
Pitchaya Koowattanataworn. The Charm of Malfunction (2021)
So in the future — or the future in Pitchaya’s Universe, no matter how hard we try to preserve the globe, nature may have to evolve with technology and not be the same as it is now. Yet it still functions in any form, Pitchaya encourages us to embrace the imperfection of it. “What about the other stages when things might not be at their peaks, but still function? Can those minor moments also be appreciated?” She writes in the ‘Best Before’ chapter.
Pitchaya’s work is a deep dive to the meaning of nature, of preserving it,and future possibilities. She lets us see the beauty of rotten things to compare it with the big picture of global conditions. Her urgent words that we familiar with our computer pop-up engraved as for us to see the permanant urgents of the environment now. The way she incorporates man-made material into plants is such an interesting proposal for nature survival. Pitchaya’s view on nature is realistic and futuristic at the same time.
Pitchaya Koowattanataworn. The Charm of Malfunction (2021)
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This writing is based on conversation with Pitchaya Koowattanataworn and Pin Meekham
