Bodies of Force (2025–2026) by Wantanee Siripattananuntakul

Bodies of Force is a three-channel video installation filmed at Mount Merapi, Goa Cemara, and the Cemeti Institute for Art and Society in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The work begins with the release of a coin from an elevated position. From that moment onward, gravity, wind, surface texture, and surrounding conditions shape its movement.

The coin carries a parrot on one side and an eagle—the emblem of the Indonesian state—on the other. As it spins and slows, these images turn with the metal surface that holds them.

Each channel consists of a single continuous on-site take. Duration is established at the point of capture rather than through post-production. Movement unfolds within the limits of terrain and atmosphere; the camera does not intervene.

Removed from economic circulation, the coin functions as a material body rather than a unit of exchange. Human action initiates the event, but does not determine its trajectory. Spin, deviation, and friction arise through contact with volcanic terrain, coastal wind, and institutional ground.

Motion does not fully settle into rest.