The Horde is a group of fifteen fiberglass sculptures, ranging from two to five meters high. They are set as a mob, interacting with one another and forming a space inside which visitors are invited to step and stroll. The giant figures resemble organic beings; mushrooms which sprout from the earth. These ‘creatures’ harbor holes, asperities, imperfections and a sword-like long ‘nose’ creating a silent dialogue and tension between them.

This installation is made specifically for the garden of Wat Arun. Akarapat received a strong Buddhist education, thus most of his work is infused with Buddhist thought. This is the first time he has created an installation to be set on temple grounds. The sculptures are all coated in snowy glittering hues, which vary and interact with the surrounding light and echoes the temple’s white tones.

Akarapat is very interested and inspired by primitive and sacred arts. The phallic aspect of this set of sculptures could be associated with the Lingam, a symbol of divine generative energy. But the shapes are voluntarily kept abstract and remain a pending question as to what they are or symbolize. Akarapat is attached to the idea of openness. He wants the spectator to make his own interpretation and to feel the work rather than to think about it. The overwhelming size of the sculptures suggests a feeling of powerful beings. The Horde could reflect tensions in today’s global society, whitewashed by the media exposing a distorted and sugar-coated vision of our tormented reality. But as the artist says: the viewer is free to interpret the work and let his own imagination wander.  

Lapse of Memory, another set of sculptures by Akarapat is also exhibited in Siwamokkhaphiman Hall, National Museum of Bangkok.