Korakrit Arunanondchai’s (Thailand/US) works bring together video, sculptures, and paintings with a form of storytelling that moves between reality and fiction. In Songs for living, a companion piece with his earlier film Songs for dying, the ghosts of our ancestors reconnect with life, in a desire to heal following personal loss and ecological upheaval. Through these works, Korakrit unfolds thoughts on the origin of the world, and its cycles of life and death, growth and decomposition.
Made in collaboration with cinematographer Alex Gvojic (US), Songs for living is a collage of visual languages and musical styles weaving together stories of grief, transformation, and spiritual power. Filmed mid-pandemic, mostly in a relatively abandoned New York, this abstract montage explores possible ways to move forward in the face of loss and grief: both personal and global.
Filled with rituals and scenes of consumption, the film’s style references science fiction and horror (The Crow, The Hunger Games) as well as the Buddhist mythological bird-man Garuda that is part of the national symbols of Thailand. Songs for living's rapid flow of images mirrors our sense of being overwhelmed by life's events. It seeks out the strength in feelings of collectivity, offering a twisted, fantastical hope for a different kind of future.
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