Critical Video Art on Perceptions of Violence in Thai Culture: The Eyes Wide Shut—Realm of Thai Bullfighting The Eyes Wide Shut: Realm of Thai Bullfight
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Abstract
This article presents the creative process and critical analysis of a video art work entitled “The Eyes Wide Shut: Realm of Thai Bullfight.” Its aim is to develop the concept of “Violence Gaze,” extending Mulvey’s (1975) Male Gaze and Lacan’s (1998) Scopic Register into a critique of contemporary Thai culture. The process comprised three phases: (1) fieldwork at the Ban Nam Krachai bullfighting arena, Songkhla Province (2012), following visual-anthropological principles of non-intervention; (2) theoretical development of gaze theory drawing on Mulvey, Lacan, Sartre, Foucault, and Arendt; and (3) creative production using roughly 150x temporal elongation, hyper-naturalistic sharpness and contrast, and dual-screen parallel editing. The findings show that a process-centered design built on confrontational experience can prompt viewers to recognize their own complicity in violence through (1) temporal elongation that dismantles desensitization, (2) hyper-sharp imagery that evokes being “gazed back at,” and (3) a dual-screen arrangement that forces selective looking. Process evaluation with a small audience group confirmed the hypothesis of cultural complicity. The study’s original contributions are (1) the concept of “Violence Gaze,” articulating how violence is normalized within Thai culture; (2) a socially engaged art-design process foregrounding experience over information; and (3) a method for evaluating art through observation of audiences’ behavioral and physical responses.
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