At its core, Kedsuda Loogthong’s artistic practice explores the poetics of the mundane and repetition. Loogthong privileges the mundane over the extraordinary and there is a certain sense of honesty – simplicity of voice – to that approach. In Chinese classical poetry, there is a conundrum of superiority between the styles of the T’ang and the Sung, as the former prizes intensity and virtuosity in poetry, whereas the former purports the plain and mundane approach. However deceptively simple Sung poetry may seem, there is an underlayer of complexity in the approach. Loogthong’s conceptual constructs mirror this approach, albeit often misinterpreted because of the contemporary life’s predilection to spectacles.
In this body of works, Loogthong communicates her narrative through the mundane notion of goat herds in the city versus those from a rural village. As stated by Loogthong, “Goat is the animal that lives a simple life compared with others. Goat is able to eat anything. After several observations, it seems that the life of a goat is different from the herds I’ve met. Living life in a confined area reminded me of a certain group of minorities who live their life unusually.”
Loogthong’s conceptual framework reflects the simple form, presented in different actions. There is a sense of displacement of the subject matter within its landscape and is rendered by Loogthong through the emotive and seemingly awkward facial expressions of her subject matter. The notion of uprooting and more perversely, forced relocation in the name of ‘progress’, is thus put into question. The intention is to record memory – possibly her own – linking the past and present vis-a-vis her subject matter of the goat (and its daily routine) within contemporary life’s ever-changing built and lived environment.
