Wantanocchio (2008)

Wantanocchio’08 is a prototype for Wantanocchiobot’09, combining references to Pinocchio, robotics, Western clothing, and Thai theatrical aesthetics. The figure takes the form of a miniature self-portrait, marked by an exaggerated, elongated nose and hybrid cultural signifiers.

Constructed from relatively valuable materials and fragments of online texts, the sculpture reflects on aspiration, imitation, and the circulation of identity within globalised visual culture. Tradition and contemporaneity are not presented as opposites, but as overlapping systems through which artistic subjectivity is produced.

These works emerged from an early engagement with questions of national identity, cultural translation, and the uneven power relations embedded in “Western” and “Asian” art discourses. Rather than offering fixed interpretations, the project invites viewers to confront how meaning is negotiated through visibility, representation, and expectation.