Photo Exhibit in BKK for New Breast Cancer Center

Soft Power is more than a photography exhibit or art installation. It is an evocative space in which fashion photography, soft and hard sculpture, furniture, and lingerie meld together seemlessly to express an essence of femininity and enrapture those who enter it. Soft Power is sensually inviting and creative. The lighting is dramatic and well placed. What I enjoyed most are the elements adored by women, of flowers, books, butterflies, bathtubs, even a dining table! and the colors. The effect is fun, magical, and bold. Darkness envelops visitors as they enter the exhibition by a sloping hallway, and the sense of being enclosed is very strong for a moment. A single painting on a wall provides a frame of reference. Suddenly, a white bookshelf appears under a spotlight. As if by magic the shelf slides to the left to reveal a hidden room. One enters and the motion-sensored door closes quickly behind. The space inside is open but dark like the night and navigable only by staircases. I include a photo below of the camera flash-lit space so you can see.

One reaches four galleries at regular intervals by moving up the stairs and down.

The first room features two freestanding white bathtubs on pieces of garden slate. A thick swarm of blue, purple and white butterflies appear to fly from one tub into the other through a giant silver picture frame. Elements of nature and electric shades of blue are calming and refreshing. Each of the photographs tells a story. The women model innerwear that fits the personalities they express. Imagining a soak in the bath, one wishes all her cares would fly away like the butterflies! The pair of girlie bathtubs bring to mind the good company of sisters or girlfriends.

The second rectangular gallery is furnished with a giant black dining table. The table top supports a beautiful black and purple trunk with white flowers growing from the center of it and into the ceiling! Organic foliage hangs from the tree for a jungle effect. Contrastingly bright white and pink images of blossoming flowers on flat screens nested into the table top appear next to more floral arrangements and a set of lingerie. I interpreted this piece as a dining table, infused with women's traditional gender role of preparing meals for the family. Instead, this table represents more about her inner self. A third room is very bright in contrast to the others, and features a shiny catwalk that you walk onto. See the photo below. Sterile white surfaces display photographs in black and white. As I walked in university students were taking funny pictures with the photographs. The song playing low was Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson’s Scream! which is so amazing. A large flat screen displays moving psychaedelic shapes. The room seems a teeny bit like the white spaceship of the Jacksons' Scream music video. The photos express some of the same great energy and reminded me of the spaceship's "Gallery" of art too. (Never forget the best of MJ!) The sensuality and white minimalism reminded me a bit of Bjork's All is Full of Love music video I viewed in college that amplifies the physical building blocks of attraction through two white robots who fall in love. However, the tone of this gallery is more about anger and the fighter inside a person rather than romance. My favorite room is one in which an impossible staircase made of sheer red fabric leads toward the ceiling and a tiny light in the distance casts shadows off it over everything. A generous pool of red flower petals cover the floor beneath it. A set of intimates lie on the stairs as if they were recently cast off, Cinderella slipper-like. With the staircase, painted frames and wall trimmings give the playful illusion of a grander, whimsical space that a photograph simply can't capture. The elegant composition of this space reminds me of that beautiful Dior commercial for j'adore Dior perfume in which Charliz Theron walks powerfully toward the camera, removes her earrings followed by her hat and the chunky jewels about her neck that, in one fell swoop, she throws carelessly to the floor. She slips off her dress and moves forward like a lioness, leaving all her material things behind. She says"Don't pretend, Feel what's real." Quotes painted on the wall at the entrance of each space tap into female desires and instincts including the drive to love, to nurture, to protect children, to adapt, to make peace, to transform, to fight when needed, and to survive. The following quote comes at the beginning of the exhibition.

In retrospect, I realize that additional wall text would be a distraction and detract from the success of the psychological and emotional impact through its visual components. The quotations can be interpreted together with the artwork. Music playing matched the mood of each room tastefully.

I wonder if the effect of this beautiful exhibition is empowering enough to women with varying ideas of what Soft Power is. Images of extremely thin models in most of the galleries make it clear what kind of beauty is being celebrated. I’m content to say my ample curves aren't defined by the ideal imagined here. It's a shame that the exhibition is not handicap accessible since the four main rooms are reachable only by a labyrinth of dimly lit stairways that, while adding interest to the space, are not practical for many visitors. As someone with some experience styling fabric, I thought a few of the display boxes needed my expertise. The intent of the exhibition is to generate interest to market the lingerie so that proceeds benefit the National Institute's future Breast Cancer Center. I have some ideas that could've improved its effectiveness. For example, the message could have reached a more mature audience with not much effort.