Sawangwongse Yawnghwe

The Joker is anti-capitalism; he hates Wayne Enterprises, which makes and procures weapons for Batman. The Joker presents an arms list like it’s a menu, affixing it with words like “prix fixe,” “antipasti,” “primi,” “secondi,” “contorni,” and “dolci.” He plans to take over the world—by feeding everyone more sugar.

From the heights of KW Institute for Contemporary Art’s attic, overlooking the city and the 13th Berlin Biennale, he observes us from his lair. Cherry-red healing lamps shine from the tiny windows of his hideout. The broken pieces of his scattered childhood dream—a career as a stand-up comedian—have not been fully swept away. The Joker goes to therapy, only to realize the analyst is just as broken as he is. He turns to art history and Frantz Fanon’s how-to book, The Wretched of the Earth (1961).

Yellow contact lenses, lime-green makeup, and clown exercises are all part of the preparation for world takeover. The headquarters is a Gesamtkunstwerk-as-practical-joke. Sawangwongse Yawnghwe, playing the Joker in a video, rattles off statements that unravel the intricacies of the worlds of finance, military, and politics. An architectural model of the Shan Palace, occupied by the military for decades, is one day to be the Yawnghwe Museum. For now, a fictional Yawnghwe Museum roams in exile. A maze of banners hold linkages between conflicts, arms production, and the national manufacturing of weapons.

These networks commonly intersect behind the veneer of museum committees, biennale funding, and art patronage. The arms list mirrors an artist list. Exhibition-making is also an exercise of international soft power. The Joker mocks the militarization and weaponization of art. The Joker is a disruptive element in society. He expresses the grievances of the people.

Text: Sumesh Sharma