I WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME (80+) (-3,653)
TYPE
6-channel video installation, 16:9, Sound, Color, 107:63 min.
YEAR
2022
PLACE
W139 Amsterdam
River City Bangkok
This immersive installation invites viewers into a multifaceted exploration of presence and absence, using six interconnected projections to create a dynamic narrative experience. Through a blend of visual storytelling and sound, the work reflects on themes of memory, identity, and the passage of time, the paradox of being simultaneously present and overlooked, inviting contemplation on the nature of existence.
Ten years before his passing, senior artist Chavalit Soemprungsuk began digitizing and sharing his lifetime collection on a social media platform. This extensive archive—comprising over ten thousand items, including scanned manuscripts, films, digital photographs, tagged locations, videos, live-streams, artworks, and personal commentaries—was made publicly accessible. While this act mirrors the behavior of ordinary social media users who document their lives online, Chavalit did so with the intent of preparing for his own death, believing that the digital collection would be for eternity.
I Was Here the Whole Time is part of Belle Phromchanya’s ongoing investigation into how personal legacies are shaped through tracing, reflecting, and renarrating found digital materials. The project questions our control and ownership over our data and the memories of others, navigating a landscape where reality dissolves into streams of information and cherished narratives are reduced to fleeting stimuli.
The project is supported by CBK Rotterdam, the Mondriaan Fonds, and the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, The Netherlands.
The installation was exhibited at W139 Amsterdam and in LESS IS OK, a retrospective posthumous exhibition celebrating Chavalit Soemprungsuk's life at River City Gallery, Bangkok.
CREDITS
Artistic Concept: Belle Phromchanya
Technical Production: Jakkarin Thepvong, Krispakorn Pankongchuen, Apasri Titatarn
Music: Sorrawit Kheansamer
PRESS & INFO
→ Thai PBS News
→ Office of Contemporary Art and Culture Thailand
→ Matichon Weekly Article