Sala Samnak (2020-21)

Neon light installation
H:225 x W:300 x D:200 cm
A series of 6 paintings, 50 x 37.5cm each
Installation view, Mirage Contemporary Art Space, 2020
Digital rendering: Kong Siden
Production and installation: Prum Ero
Painting: Than Sok
catalogue

Sala Samnak considers a particular kind of communal space that exists throughout Cambodia: sala samnak, a rest hall. It is an old tradition of modest structure built on the roadside or in the village for passersby and visitors. In some cases, villagers use the space for communal ceremonies or events. I’m interested in the cultural and social functions of sala samnak. On the one hand, villagers interact and create communal relations through rituals. On the other hand, visitors and strangers may meet and converse as they commute along their respective journeys. These social relations and chances of an encounter are made possible under sala samnak, which is usually generously built by the villagers.

Dating back to at least before the Angkorian period, the early name of sala samnak is agni gRha which means house of fire, likely referring to rituals to the deities which took place in it. The architectural installation is made of blue neon light and appears suspended in midair and illuminates the whole space. The mesmerising and radiating quality of the light structure produces an otherworldly experience, suggesting as if its visibility occurs in our dream. The semi-immateriality, fragility, and hollowness of the skeletal neon installation hint at the precarious conditions and uneven relevance of sala samnak today.

Produced in collaboration with artist Than Sok, six paintings of glowing sala samnak are presented in various designs alongside the installation.