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Sutee, Tormentor of Elephants (excerpts) He feels attached to elephants, tormenting them in unusual ways. He cuts up the body, the trunk, the tusk, chaining and beating them for what purpose? Especially the white elephant which is a national symbol. Other elephants were made to bare the weight of a heavy stupa with pride. Why this mythical animal, an embodiment of faith, the lifeline of the jungle? This man is Sutee. Sutee who is determined to revitalize the disappearing meaning and existence of elephants right before our eyes. Floating Elephants. Small wooden elephants were placed in glasses loating in a large resin bowl. Above the bowl was an elephant-shaped ice cube melting in a tray, dripping into the bowl or the glasses. Once filled, the glasses sank to the bottom along with the wooden elephants. Now what, Sutee? What were you trying to say by drowning little wooden elephants? As for me, I dwelled on the resin bowl filled with water. Against the light, it seemed to have extracted the depth and intensity of the ocean. Perhaps he wanted to create the depth of a sea in our hearts and to sink the little wooden elephants, one by one. When the bottom is reached, the sediment is only mildly stirred. We move on to 1996. Sutee was attacking elephants again in the series called The Same Old Story, Repeating Again and Again. Elephant grinders made of fiber hung at even intervals on the wall. About ten of them. A ladle was placed on the grinders, waiting for engine oil to drip onto it from a higher spot until it was full. The ladle then tipped to pour the oil into a bucket below and returned to its original position to continue its work. I think Sutee's work at this stage was highly conceptual, as in experiments, although the idea of elephants provided connectedness. What we got was repetitiveness, inertia, boredom. I think he wanted to capture this feeling, piercing society even more deeply. We fastforward to 1998. This time he is using rubber, mechanical movements, resin: the interaction with the audience added a distinctive element to his exhibition. An outstanding work is called Depletion - Inflation which looks very attractive-deflated, crumpled, brown shapes still recognizable as a buffalo, an elephant, a tiger, made with rubber. They look sad, pathetic but with help of the audience, inflating air into these brown bags through a red hose resembling blood veins, they become full, plump. As the air escapes, they fall flat on the ground again. No explanation is needed once you blow into these brown shapes. Think of them as human, belong to a class or any being that's ill, begging for our care. Another remarkable piece The Eternal Banality, features the body of a Thai man and woman sitting and making a gesture of respect. Once the mechanical movement begins, the two figures bow and the heads open up to reveal the hollow space inside. This shocking question punches the audience right in the face. Sutee is offering his harsh commentary on the Thai man and woman. Is such inertia real, the head that empty? This is enough reason to expand our thoughts further. He or she will always obey indiscriminately, unconditionally, eternally? That... is something to think about. Is sutee being too harsh or right on target? To Sutee the artist, I give my support and my apology for branding him 'Tormentor of Elephants'. You should actually be the saviour of elephants, releasing the buried elephants from our consciousness into livelihood. To restore its glory and brilliance is a difficult task requiring the help of others. Good luck. Paretas Hutanggura.