Are these hands conveying something?

Project year: 2018
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

The project came out of  the observation of everyday life in Bangkok city. In particular, in the oldest shopping center in Bangkok City called "Nightingale Olympics"

  Wherever you turn at Nightingale Olympics Department store, you cannot ignore the presence of the mannequins, standing proudly in different positions, seemingly frozen in time. When I first walked into the antique building, these figures greeted me in their vintage clothes, their facial expressions stoic,and their gestures mysterious. Thesevariations of actions fascinated me the most, especially the hands. Some of them are pointing to objects, showcasing the products they are selling. Some are pointing to themselves. Some seems like it was in the midst of doing something. Nevertheless, are these hands conveying something to us?

    It’s true that these hands gestures may look like typical mannequin hands, but the more that I pay attention to them, I started to notice some strange characteristics about them. Half of these hand gestures are rarely seen in modern day mannequins. The odd twists and turns of their wrists and fingers make them stand out from the rest.

But why do the creators of thesehuman-likefigures decided to construct these hands in those positions?

    Are these rigid hand movements representing the act of pretigitation? (an act used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate.)

    Are they trying to communicate with us through sign language?

    Or is it simply just a general observation of beauty? An imitation ofhow beauty queens walk and talk in the 60s?

    Moreover, these hands also got me thinking of how these mannequinsactually are inanimate objects that has hands and arms to represent something. What about other objects that has arms? Are the hands on the arms of chairs conveying something to us? Are the hands on the clocks trying to tell us something?