For the Bangkok Art Biennale, a traditional Thai “Huatong” longtail boat, indigenous to the South of Thailand becomes a vessel that joins Sachs’ ongoing Space Program. Through an extensive collaboration between Sachs, Tom Sachs Studio, boat builders in Krabi and the family-run boat yard at Wat Bawornmongkol, a fisherman’s longtail boat takes on its second life, ready for its next journey through time and space. In keeping with the traditions of boatmaking in Thailand as well the rituals that accompany this long-standing craft, a hybrid vessel that is a dialogue between Sachs and the craftsmen is fabricated, joined by the love of the sea and is brought to life. It was Sachs’encounter with the longtail boat of the South on his first visit to Thailand in 2012 that inspired this project and why a seafaring boat from the South of Thailand will have its lone presence on the Chao Phraya River before being installed at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. Like the tide and wind that inform life at sea, there is no finite end to the journey, so long as the spirit of collaboration and exploration continues.

Tom Sachs, Infinity, 2022
Image courtesy of the artist.