Bangkoked with Oat Montien
The rumors are true… Next week, BUTT will be in Bangkok! Who better to introduce us to the sex drenched metropolis than erotic artist Oat Montien. Having grown up among sex workers, the city’s queer underbelly unravels in the Krung Thep native’s kaleidoscopic video works – one of which will be screened at the Bangkok Kunsthalle on 18 December.
Would you describe Bangkok as a sexually liberated place?
It really is THE capital for gay sex in Asia. Everyone flies in from China, Malaysia, Singapore… That’s why we have so many saunas and sex parties here – I’ve been around the world and never seen anywhere quite like it.
What’s the biggest sexual stereotype about Thailand, and is there any truth to it?
A lot of people think Bangkok is a crazy wild place for all kinds of sexual experiences… and that’s all true (laughs). But there’s this stereotype that ‘if you hook up with a Thai girl you don’t know if they were a man before.’ I mean, yes, we do have the most beautiful dolls in the world – but most of them are really proud of being ladyboys or “kathoey”, you know? So this whole idea of them trying to seduce people by pretending to be something that they’re not just isn’t true.
Can you describe an average day in Bangkok?
I love the contrast in our lifestyle here… Like you could be filming fisting p*rn one day, and then the next morning you can casually go to the temple and do merit rituals with the monks. Spirituality, sex and capitalism all go hand in hand on these streets.
You recently made a film about one of Bangkok’s most notorious cruising grounds. What’s your own relationship to the space?
So much of life in Bangkok is all about how much money you have and how that gives you access to different spaces. But in cruising grounds, you get all types of people. While I was filming ‘Mochit’, this police guy walked in, and he was watching for a bit and started to unbuckle his pants and pull out his dick… I guess he wanted to join in as well. You really never really know what you’re going to get there.
When’s the last time you were shocked by something?
If you hang out with me for one night in Bangkok, I’ll take you to sex shows, drag shows, ping pong shows, crazy BDSM stuff… I’ve seen it all. What is still shocking though is the contrast of floating from one space to another. You could be in the most expensive six star hotel, and right next to it are the street food stalls serving the working girls, and they coexist.
What’s the biggest inspiration behind your work?
Growing up in a brothel, I have a special relationship with colored lights. My mother would ask me to help manage the spotlight for the shows on her stage. She told me I could use any colors I want, except green because ‘it made the girls look like ghosts’ and white because ‘it’s too real.’ That process of creating erotic fantasies by illuminating their naked bodies really stuck with me. Now, many of my films are inspired by Bangkok’s queer underbelly. We have a lot of hidden nooks and crannies that are simply pure gold for inspiration. I love going out at night and looking at all the different lights that shine together so beautifully…neons from the drag queen bars, street food stall signs, skyscraper windows, strangers’ cigarettes…
