Chanasorn Chaikitiporn

Picturesque and Unusual, 2025 / MacRae and Kerr, 2025 (set of 3 prints)
inkjet on paper, aluminium frame
29.7 x 21 cm
 
Edition limited to 5 copies + 1 AP
Each set is accompanied by a signed and numbered certificate of authenticity by the artist.
 
Picturesque and Unusual (2025) is a selection drawn from the article or memoir Picturesque and Unusual Siam (1923), written by Henry MacRae (1876–1944), a Canadian filmmaker from the early days of Hollywood. The original text was based on MacRae’s travels and filmmaking adventures across various countries in the South Seas. In this work, the artist divides the selected passages into two parts: the first describes MacRae’s experiences working with local people, and the second offers his depiction of Siam (Thailand) through a Western gaze. One of these two sections is deliberately rendered difficult to read, disrupting the flow and encouraging new interpretations of the text.
 
MacRae and Kerr (2025) presents a behind-the-scenes image of the first Hollywood-Thai film, Miss Suwanna of Siam, being shot at Wat Phra Kaew (The Grand Palace). In the photograph, Henry MacRae and his assistant Robert Kerr are seen standing alongside court officials and staff from the State Railways of Siam—then the center of national film production during the monarchy era—gathered around a Bell & Howell 2709 camera.