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During my research in Thailand, I noticed that court-oriented Nang Yai received significant institutional recognition, while Nang Telung ("Uncle's Skin")—an articulated folk art form of popular entertainment—remains relatively marginalized. In response, I transform the official royal iconography ubiquitous in art studios into movable folk puppets. By "returning joints to these figures," I aim to engage with the omnipresent symbols of power in everyday life and unveil the political construction behind what is labeled as "tradition." Textually, I focus on the foundational legend of Phra Pathom Chedi. The spatial layout of modern Nakhon Pathom was actually born out of forced displacement during King Rama V’s reconstruction of the grand stupa. Yet official narratives erased this history, replacing it with an origin myth of patricide and maternal incest. This mirrors Freud's famous case study of "Little Hans"—a narrative mediated and dictated entirely by the father. In much the same way, the city’s origins and traditions were co-authored solely by figures of authority. Through the fluid adaptability of folk shadow puppetry, this project seeks to pry open these monopolized histories and collective memories.

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