Lost Time in Nang Loeng

2023 · arTech EUNIC · VR film & installation · With Keir Flint

Lost Time in Nang Loeng is an immersive 360° video and installation created with Keir Flint for arTech EUNIC. The work grew from our time with the Nang Loeng community in Bangkok, where redevelopment and the prospect of gentrification raised questions about what happens to a neighbourhood’s culture when its surroundings change.

We walked its narrow sois, learned traditional Thai dance and listened to the people who sustain its traditions. My experience of getting lost there became the starting point for a virtual walk through Baan Nang Loeng, the market, residential lanes and an arch made from coffin wood. Pa’Dang’s account of the community’s history and future gives the journey its human centre.

I recorded the sound and worked on the installation, while Keir filmed and edited the VR footage. Ambient recordings and cinematic sound accompany the walk; a fabric projection shares the headset experience with the surrounding audience. Together, we wanted to preserve a sense of Nang Loeng as we encountered it and invite people to consider what could be lost.

The installation was shown at Bangkok 1899 from 17–30 November 2023. Following a warm reception, we also exhibited the work at H.M. The King’s Birthday Party in 2024.