Marking Culture and Art – A Million Cats and One Cat: Line Art of the Metropolis

"You might be wondering what those oddly-postured cats in these drawings are. Actually, I created them based on images generated by Generative AI or Chatbot AI, which we've all become familiar with in this era. Many people use it for work, and some feel it's already become part of their lives," says Niem Mawon Konong, discussing her AI artwork in the solo exhibition "Millions of CATS and ONE CAT."

Siam Paragon, in collaboration with Joyman Gallery and M Contemporary, has created a special artistic experience through the exhibition "TRILLION STORIES UNDER THE SKY," inviting everyone to explore the meaning of identity and the world we inhabit while questioning humanity, cities, and relationships in our current era. Through two solo exhibitions by contemporary artists who interpret the world with distinctive perspectives, the exhibition opens "millions of stories" under one sky, running until May 22 at Art Jewel, Asia's newest art exhibition space on the 5th floor of Siam Paragon.

The "TRILLION STORIES UNDER THE SKY" exhibition combines two compelling shows: "Millions of CATS and ONE CAT," a solo exhibition by Niem Mawon Konong that explores relationships between images, systems, and identity in an era of information overload and artificial intelligence's daily presence. Through countless cats depicted across 27 acrylic paintings on canvas, the work reflects the coexistence in a world where differences gradually fade and sameness becomes the social standard. Rather than providing answers, this exhibition opens space for viewers to question perception, understanding, and the meaning of existence in a world filled with unprecedented "abundance" and "similarity."

"I myself use AI, but I see it more as a toy than a serious tool because it's unreliable. This series of paintings formed somewhere between me playing with its unreliability. Small deviations in each result sparked imagination for the next set of commands. I felt like I was playing catch with it—we took turns speaking sentence by sentence, and before I knew it, we had created a long story," Niem explains. "Among a million cats, there is one cat. While creating this series, I thought about the massive data that feeds AI—millions of images and sounds circulating within it, forming a massive storm consuming everything. But on another side, in a quiet corner, there's another set of information that no one else can perceive except ourselves."

Meanwhile, "BENEATH THE HORIZON LINE," a solo exhibition by Zillustation (Karun Jiamuviriyasathian), invites viewers to slow down and discover the beauty of the city in dimensions they may never have noticed before. The work presents the "city" as a living space filled with stories, encounters, and memories. The series stands out with delicate black and white lines from a black ink pen, conveying artistic maps that blend reality and imagination with pop art aesthetics and contemporary cultural references in sophisticated layers, creating a world that appears surreal yet reflects the hidden beauty and lifestyle of the metropolis.