Alumni Profile:

SFPC Alumni Profiles is a series featuring students who are practicing poetic computation in their communities and work.

Where are you from and where are you living now?

Kengchakaj Kengkarnka: I'm originally from Bangkok, Thailand, where I was born and raised, and moved to the US in 2015. I currently live in Brooklyn.

When did you study at SFPC?

KK: After my partner Fame Nitcha Tothong completed an SFPC intensive in 2018, my curiosity led me to take my first class: Bootcamp for New Coders, taught by Matt Jacobson and Robby Kraft, which laid the foundation for understanding creative coding as an art practice (still learning!). Then I took Artist Statement: A User Guide with Celine Wong Katzman, AncestryAndMe with American Artist and Zainab Aliyu, and The Musical Web with Tommy Martinez.

How would you describe your work or practice?

KK: My background is in improvised music, and my medium of expression spans acoustic piano, electronics, analog synthesizer, multichannel spatial audio, instrument making, and live coding. I primarily work within Southeast Asian sound cultures¹. I am also one half of elekhlekha อีเหละเขละขละ, a collaborative practice with Fame Nitcha Tothong. elekhlekha focuses on research that examines and decodes past histories by creating, using code, algorithms, multimedia, and technology to experiment, explore, and define decolonized possibilities.

Can you share about a project you made while studying at SFPC?

KK: I decided to take The Musical Web to develop elekhlekha's ongoing project "Network Gong Ensemble Archive"—a communal sonic experience and experimental, interactive community-based, archive of Southeast Asian sound cultures. While the project paused after class due to scheduling constraints, we recently resumed work. We reconnected with Tommy Martinez through the Processing Foundation Fellowship Program, where he serves as a mentor. It's been a meaningful full-circle moment that started with my SFPC experience.

What are some other projects you have worked on before or after your time at SFPC?

KK: I released "Lak Lan ลักลั่น," my debut acoustic jazz album, in 2019—around the same time my interactions with Nitcha and the 2018 spring SFPC cohort expanded my interests and led us to collaborate under elekhlekha. We began with "Jitr จิตร", a live coding project that won the Lumen Prize Gold Award in 2022, and have since expanded from live audiovisual performances to installations, prints, web-based projects, and educational workshops.

How do you define poetic computation?

KK: For elekhlekha, practicing poetic computation, opens possibilities beyond binary, standard thinking when we hack systems not made for us—using their tools to tell our stories rooted in our ways of being. Poetic computation is about reclaiming agency, restoring lost innovation, and reimagining processes and modes of expression to liberate ourselves from oppressive, colonial systems.

What is a meaningful fact, lesson, or something else that you learned at SFPC? Does it impact your work today? If so, how?

KK: Coming from a music background, exposure to other creative modes of expression was invaluable. I learned how to move forward with care and inclusivity in our fast-paced world, and connected with creative peers through SFPC—many of whom I've had the privilege to collaborate and work with since.

Who is an artist, scholar, political organizer, scientist or leader who inspires you?

KK: Jit Phumisak จิตร ภูมิศักดิ์, a Thai radical thinker, writer, and Marxist historian, is probably the most influential figure in elekhlekha's creative work. He was assassinated by government officials in 1966 for challenging dominant narratives and power structures. His courage to think beyond convention during Thailand's turbulent Cold War period inspired us to be more courageous to break silence and speak our mind, unlearn/relearn and committed to decolonize our creative practice. While we don't agree with all of his positions, we deeply empathize with his willingness to risk everything for intellectual freedom and social transformation. His quote, "We should have as many sounds (voices) interspersing as possible" ("เราควรมีเสียงแทรกเพิ่มขึ้นให้มากที่สุดเท่าที่จะมากได้"), embodies our artistic philosophy of creating space for marginalized voices by challenging homogenous narratives through multiplicity.