the land
Initiated in 1998, the land (more direct translation from Thai to English would be, the rice field) was the merging of ideas by different artists to cultivate a place of and for social engagement.
The land is located in proximity to the village of Sanpatong, a twenty minutes drive from the center of the provincial capital Chiang Mai. As some rice farmers are having difficult times in the area, due to the levels of floods and high water level, rice farming has not been very productive. Because of this, some rice fields in the area have been offered for development, as the rice farmers are looking to find better areas for the fields.
Though initially the action to aquire the rice fields were initiated by two artists from Thailand, the land was initiated with anonymity and with out the concept of ownership. The land was to be cultivated as an open space, though with certain intentions towards community, towards discussions and towards experimentation in other fields of thoughts. (2025)
- Publications
- Daniel Birnbaum, "The Lay of the Land: An Experiment in Art and Community in Thailand", Artforum, Summer 2005.
- Philip Tinari, "Reluctantly Re-reading the Land", LEAP, 22 Apr 2011.
- Clare Veal, "Bringing The Land Foundation Back to Earth: a new model for the critical analysis of relational art", Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, 6:1, 2014.
- Links
- See also