Have you ever bought flowers?
And when you bought flowers, what stories did you see in them?
YUMMY ROSE, exhibition by Naraphat Sakarthornsap, tells the significant theme related to the production system, consumption, and trading of flowers in ‘Pak Khlong Talat’ the flower market of downtown Bangkok, particularly focusing on market manipulation and price control of flowers. It emphasizes on observing the fresh flower purchasing industry, which impacts the flower growers' production, marking the beginning of renewed attention to the origins of flowers that bloom from the dedication of flower gardeners.
In this sense, "flowers" hold significance in society, as they serve as representatives conveying individuals' thoughts and feelings, and tools for conveying emotions, love, concern, sympathy, or even sadness in life.
When flowers are used as a symbol of gratitude, people imagine their lives in a wide sense and create narratives to arrange flowers into exquisite arrangements that suit different occasions and the tastes of those involved. Beneath the surface of each layer of arrangement, among the enormous variety of flowers, are hidden flowers that have other details deeply overlaid through arrangement, trimming, and modification. From planting to harvesting to distributing, gardeners handle every step of the flower cycle. But the issue for gardeners comes from the costs and unstable purchase prices from middlemen, which forces small-scale gardeners to give up themselves to the economic circumstances they find themselves in.
The artist presents images of a hundred red roses that journeyed from farms in Chiang Mai province to Bangkok. The shaking force from their trucks caused some of these flowers to lose their shape.
Naraphat's work intentionally presents the transformation of flowers for consumption, reflecting the image of raw material management before being sold as products and entering a business process filled with persuasive advertising strategies, which filter data, images, and limit what is presented to what the business group desires. Even if there are any regulations, they cannot prevent or protect against the exploitation that appears along this flower path entirely.
The consumption lifestyle persists through the use of products that respond to needs, while product manufacturing companies create desires beyond necessity using media as a tool. This leads viewers to perceive that the existence of these beautiful floral plants is only an indication of social status and not to give any viewpoint to the labor force who sweat in producing these flowers.
information provided by event organizer
