Spectrality and the Plural Body: A Comparative Study of the Works of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Korakrit Arunanondchai

Abstract

This article surveys the role of the spectral body as a device of transgression, multiplicity and entanglement, through a comparative study of the film Uncle Boonmee Who Recalls His Past Lives (2010), by the contemporary artist and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and short film installation by contemporary artist Korakrit Arunanondchai, titled No History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 5 (2018) at Serralves Contemporary Art Museum, Porto, co-produced with Alex Gjovic and boychild. The body enacts a spectral, pluralistic device in the narrative strategies devised by the authors, traversing physical and spiritual dimensions in diegetic and extra-diegetic spaces, entangling subjects, territories, esoteric and spiritual traditions, postcolonial histories, and sociological dimensions.