Project for Casole Surasi Kusolwong, 2001

The curator Jérôme Sans for the 6th edition of Arte all'Arte invited Thai artist Surasi Kusolwong, who created one of his installations in the Piazza del Comune in Casole d’Elsa.

"Surasi Kusolwong dà vita nella piazza del Comune a una delle sue installazioni/mercatino, una vendita a prezzo imbattibile di articoli rigorosamente “made in Thailand”. Tutto a prezzo unico per sovvertire la scala di valori e di potere d’acquisto detenuti solo da una parte della popolazione. Nella via principale l’artista allestisce festoni di oggetti in plastica, a “decorare” e animare in modo inatteso e insolito il cuore di Casole: sinfonia di colori e atmosfera popolare kitsch, come si addice a una festosa fiera di paese ma anche una critica allo strapotere del materialismo”

Jérôme Sans, “Arte all’Arte VI”, 2001

Interview by Jérôme Sans and Pier Luigi Tazzi

Is this the first time you set up a real market in a public place?

No, it had already happened in Pescara, under the arches of a bridge on the highway. The difference in location compared to Casole is evident: in Pescara, it was an urban structure, an unused place, not frequented, and I wanted to bring life to this space, while in Casole, human relations are warm and people are always present. The place I chose, in front of the town hall, is already frequented, I just wanted to expand the human presence.

You set up real markets in towns or cities where people gather around common-use products. What is your relationship with markets?

It’s a relationship based on my memories: it’s everyday life. When I was little, I had to go every day with my mother or grandmother to buy what we needed, and this action was repeated every day, every week, every year. In market places, you meet other people, talk to neighbors, friends, and relatives, share stories, and ask for help. This usually happens in the morning. You can follow the rhythm of your community, your society, through the flow of the market. When I approached the art world, few things felt as natural to me. The art market is very different from the market I’m referring to. No one is interested in your life, no one wants to give you things: it’s a purely economic transaction. The market, as I see it, is a place of feelings, of human relationships, and therefore holds many meanings.

Why a mobile market in Casole?

A mobile market implies different directions. You move from one place to another and create a situation with mobile objects. It’s not about the mobility of the objects themselves; it’s a characteristic of our feelings that are set in motion with this type of market. We can shop. We can buy things for ourselves or for others, take them home or move them to another country. This kind of moving objects is not only about people, but also about the art scene, which moves in various forms of presentation. So I used the square of Casole: as a field of situations. The consequences of my market will be visible inside many homes in the town. Casole has twelve hundred inhabitants: when they take my objects home, they will use them in whatever way is most useful to them and will begin to live with this new presence. That’s why the title of the installation is “Life goes on.”

Is there a connection with the real markets that can be found in the countryside from one town to another or in the urban context from one neighborhood to another?

Of course, everything is in motion. Casole is full of moving objects, the connection with other cities has already happened. Whatever happens in New York is known. I find the art market strange. I’m not at all interested in how it is structured, and only by chance do I find myself having to deal with its mechanisms. It’s lifeless. It’s not to scale with humans. It’s too far away. Even though to do our work we need money, money cannot generate the world of art. It’s not enough. Something is missing. The art market is a closed system, the real market is open. For many people, it is difficult to understand, follow, and make contact with the art market. It’s strange.

The only analogy between the art market and the everyday market is therefore only in the word. 

The everyday market is for ordinary people, without limitations. It’s natural. It begins as soon as the sun rises. The supermarket is different, every item is cataloged just like in the art market (painting, sculpture, photography…), a consumption system complete with a cash register. In both cases, I recreate a place for the community: the market is the place for exchanges (of feelings, objects, thoughts), and the garlands are a kind of celebration, through the use of the space between two buildings. These hanging objects refer to clothes hanging on the streets of Italy. But their meaning goes far beyond that. They are a link between people, they have their own joy. Their message is not utopian at all, they are an invitation to enjoy and celebrate life. A collective celebration that involves the whole community.

At the end of the exhibition, the garlands will be divided among the inhabitants of the houses from where the cords are hung, and then they will begin to use the objects. For me, my work truly begins at that moment, not with the installation in the street.

You don't propose forms, you propose experiences.

Exactly. When the market moves, it loses its form, or rather, it doesn’t lose it, it changes it, creating a new one, one that is closer to the people, to the community. Imagine the objects entering every home and taking as many forms as there are people who bought them. It’s an open structure. Some establish a relationship with the object by using it, while others buy it simply because it’s cheap, without really knowing what to do with it. But one thing is essential: in the end, people forget that it is a work of art. And they use it as they see fit.

From “Arte all’Arte VI”, 2001