DuckUnit: Concert Design, Art Spaces and Stage Mechanics
Discover Bangkok-based design studio DuckUnit, founded in 2005, blending light, mechanical movement, and art spaces for global stages and installations.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Bangkok-based design studio DuckUnit was founded in 2005 by Wit Pimkanchanapong
- Currently led by Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid
- Specializes in merging light, mechanics, and art into concerts and installations
- Created major international works like A Flower of Forgetfulness in Brussels
In contemporary performance where the boundary between audience and spectacle continually blurs, the Bangkok-based design and production studio DuckUnit has emerged as a creative powerhouse. Established in 2005 by Wit Pimkanchanapong, the studio is now spearheaded by Rueangrith Suntisuk and Pornpan Arayaveerasid, alongside a dedicated team of creatives who bring theatrical spectacles and mechanical installations to life.
Operating out of Thailand while tackling projects across the globe—such as ongoing technical explorations in Paris—DuckUnit utilizes light, mechanical movement, and stagecraft to bridge the worlds of music, theatre, and contemporary art.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
One of their recent milestones includes a large-scale installation titled A Flower of Forgetfulness at the international performing arts festival Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, Belgium. Created in collaboration with renowned Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul alongside sound designers Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr and Koichi Shimizu, the piece brought projected visuals, light, sound, and precise mechanical movement into dialogue inside an ancient chapel.
DuckUnit's seamless integration into high-profile international art festivals alongside visionary directors like Apichatpong Weerasethakul highlights the rising influence of Thai spatial design on the global stage. By merging rigorous mechanical timing with profound narrative environments, the studio redefines how temporary architecture and performance art intersect.
The studio's unusual moniker stems from its multidisciplinary origins. Rueangrith Suntisuk explains that the name DuckUnit reflects a curious collective approach, akin to a flock of ducks capable of navigating diverse creative terrains without being confined to a single discipline.
"We started as a design collective working across many fields, from concerts and theatre to art."
Rueangrith Suntisuk
When approaching traditional concert stages, such as their work on the FLURE LIFE show for the Thai alt-rock band, DuckUnit typically designs environments where the audience shares a unified point of view. Giant watercolor illustrations of eyeballs, snakes, and sleeping faces rise and fall to visually narrate the band's musical fable.
Conversely, their art installations invert this dynamic. Projects like the silent disco Embargo of Silence and the outdoor installation Two Who Remember the Sea—created in partnership with Weerasethakul and Guo-Liang Tan—encourage audiences to dissolve into the exhibition space, transforming viewers into active participants within the artwork itself.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Further demonstrating their mastery across artistic domains, the studio collaborated with artist Korakrit Arunanondchai on Lover after Death for the 2025 Taipei Biennial, suspending semi-transparent projection screens that diffused ambient light across the gallery architecture. Suntisuk notes that while concertgoers usually arrive with high expectations, art audiences often begin with a blank slate, a dichotomy that continues to shape the studio's innovative technical trajectory.
Source: designboom
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