Sound from the Hiders // เสียงจากผู้ซ่อนตัว
The 24th Silpa Bhirasri Creativity Grants Exhibition // Art Centre Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, 2025

This work is inspired by a childhood memory of growing up in a house by a canal. We recall being surrounded by the constant hum of insects at dusk. Driven by curiosity, they would try to find the source of these sounds. Yet, upon approaching, the sounds would vanish, only to return once a proper distance was restored.
This memory is combined with observations of hermit crabs using rusty, discarded cans as shells. Similarly, when approached for a closer look, the crabs would instinctively retreat and hide, remaining motionless inside their shells.
These experiences sparked the inspiration for this work: a series of sculptures that mimic and manipulate these behaviors. Each sculpture creates its own sound and light, encased in found objects that function as a shell. The artworks’ interaction with the audience is conditioned by distance, when audience gets too close, the sound will go silent, and the piece will “hide” within its shell.
Set in an environment filled with objects discarded by human activity, the works question the audiences’ sense of space. The act of getting closer and our curiosity become a disturbance to the sounds and lights in the exhibition space.
The installation aims to provoke questions in the minds of the audience, such as: “How do we find a balance in our proximity to others?” “Can we accept the act of hiding?” Or perhaps a simpler question like: “How long has it been since we truly listened to the sounds around us?”