Khim's proposal: The Tainted Purity

One of the subjects that I found to have erotic qualities is the "purity that got tainted". 

This project aim is to "regain the honor" of the tainted subject, by implying on how to cope with the situation

 of the taint (construction and the coverage of site hoarding walls) during the remaining 4 years of the MRT

 construction in front of the blocked, traditional shophouses.

The Overview of the Project

The Erotic Site Research: The "blocked" row of shophouses

Master Axonometric: Extruding the systems within the proposed project

[1) The Lottery System  2) The Memory Wall  3) The Movable Transaction]

The Condition of the Site Prior to the Project Installation

Leading back to the installation of Project 2 which revolves around "the tainted purity", 

this proposal came about in regards to the site, at Charoenkrung Road in Yaowarat, 

where the traditional shophouses with historical backgrounds (the "purity" of tradition) 

are being knocked down in order to build the MRT (the "taint" of the approaching technology). 

The construction causes a part of the row of the shophouses to be "blocked" 

even though the business themselves are still operating. This means, the visibility 

of the shophouses are reduced, and respectively the customers and visitors. 

The blocked shophouses; the state of before and during the construction

After the construction: Will the visitors increase and revive the area?

The Effects of the Site Hoarding Wall

 

The Affected Area from the Construction

Researching on Similar Conditions: "Exodus" by Rem Koolhaas

Depicting the desperation to cross over to the other side and be released from the blockage.

The Project

The proposed project is focused on the revival of the blocked, operating shophouses. 

The aim is to make the "forgotten" shophouses "re-emerge" into its surrounding area

and be prosper once again in visitors and witnesses.

Introducing the System

The first floor of the shophouses have been relocated to the second floor. 

Thus, the "non-visible" aspects will once again become "visible", with an attached platform to enter 

the shophouses directly to the second floor via a movable, wheeled-ladder to show the surrounding 

area that "the shophouses are still in operation" and that they are still "accepting visitors".

The enlarged and extruded view of the system

The Lottery System:

The system is introduced to provide a "lottery" platform which allows 

people to draw their luck and exchange the lots of the winning 

number with the shop's "promotion" to attract more visitors into the shophouses.

The Movable Ladder and the Memory Wall:

The Movable Ladder: To allow direct transaction into the second floor of the shophouses

The Memory Wall: To paint the hoarding-construction wall, overlay it with white, to be able to "write" on it.

 Rather than being a nuisance that blocks the view for another 4 years of the construction, the wall turns into

 a memory note of the visitors who stumbled upon the area, and the residents who lived on with it.

The Axonometric View: The Site and the Destroyed Shophouses

The Demolished Shophouses: Located directly in front of the site

The Raised platform on the movable ladder allows the users to see the "on going change" 

or the "taint" in realization of the occurring incidents

The Existing Shophouses: The current prosper of the area, located right beside the blocked shophouses

The system allows the the site to re-emerge into the visibility of the prospered area

The Erotic Illustration

Depicting the state during the construction, to the revival of the purity, 

as the ravished maiden regains her "honor".

The Model

One Fragment of the Site hoarding Wall

Direct Transaction:

The wheeled-ladder which outwardly connects 

the first floor to the second floor

The Lottery Counter:

Towards the second floor, a lottery counter is placed to 

provide the exchange of the Lottery System

In Front of the Shophouses:

The lottery box and the wheeled, sliding ladder

Khim's site research: Yaowarat, Charoen Krung Road

Why This Site?

Yaowarat is undeniably one of the places submerged with a richness in tradition of the shophouses. Some shophouses within Charoen Krung road was said to be there for more than 50 years; not only they are rich in culture, they are also rich in tradition, in their origin. In comparison to the areas which have changed over time, they are still very "pure".

However, a part of them was now "tainted".

What I personally considered to be erotic was "something pure that got tainted", in which the site at Charoen Krung Road has shown the quantity of getting "contaminated" by the approaching technology of the MRT construction of the Wat Mangkorn Station which causes the traditional shophouses to be brought down in exchange.

Exploded Axonometric View of the Site

A: Commercial / Business Area

B: Restaurants

C: Hotels / Accommodations 

D: Demolished Shophouses

Dividing the areas within investigation, with the main focus being at the old and the new building of Beijing Tong Ren Tang, a well-known herbal store; it was one of the shophouses which got demolished due to the MRT construction. 

(*The focus was later changed to the "alley" in front of the affected shophouses, in which the operating shophouses within the area got "covered" by the construction wall, destroying their chances in business; upon an interview, this will continue for another 4 years)

The shophouses within the "D" area

Opposite of the destroyed shophouses are the "affected" 

shophouses which got blocked by the construction wall

The MRT Research

A research through the MRT lines: the line which got involved is the 

"Blue Line Extension" which consists of Wat Mangkorn Station

The shophouses that got covered was not planned to be demolished, they simply got "covered" by the construction wall, unable to hold their businesses and wiped away from the main road's visibility.

1: The entrance to the "affected" alley

2: The lighting condition within the alley solely depends on the 

shophouses within the area; the pathway itself is dark and cramped.

3: Upon interview, the shops relies mainly on their frequent customers. 

New customers are rare, since very few of them has noticed the 

"existence" of the shops beyond the construction area.

4: Signage has been made in substitution of the loss of visibility. 

Shops are harder to find, and thus required "direction boards"

The MRT construction: What lies below the ground?

The section displaying the difference in scale between the areas of the MRT has 

overtook and a 4 stories-high building (in this case, Beijing Tong Ren Tang)

The Study on Beijing Tong Ren Tang: The Separation of Floors

The History of the Incidents Happened on Beijing Tong Ren Tang, Thailand

The Previous Program

Initially, the plan was to focused on Beijing Tong Ren Tang and the situation it was facing against the construction of the MRT station. However, the building was unfortunately demolished and moved to Padung Dao Road.

The new "program" is focused around the shophouses within the tainted alley which got covered by the construction wall: how can the area cope with the remaining four years of the construction, how they survive, and how they adapt to it.

How would the "tainted" one regained their honor?

Khim's model behind the scenes

Khim's shophouse research: The Integration of Living and Working

The Integration of Living and Working

within the same place

The "ideal dream" of a home office or a live-in career that several individuals of the modern world has been dreaming of has actually been integrated before in a place that a lot of us would not have thought of: the shophouses. Generally, with the first floor opened for business and the upper floor for a living, this could be considered as the integration of living and working within the same area separated by the thresholds between floors as in the public space and a private space.

Khim's Video

SS01

SS01 from Khim Pisessith on Vimeo.

My research extends towards the idea of living and working within the same space and how the way the shophouse is divided into a public space and private space could save several difficulties both in terms of traveling and time management, similar to the conceptual dream of a live-in work space.

The shophouse I studied is similar to the one I have been living in for more than 10 years in terms of function and community, excluding the form of the roof. Since childhood, I have been living in the environment surrounded by shophouses and experience the community within the area, as well as knowing how the public and private space interconnects because the shophouse I lived in ran a laundry shop on the ground floor which allows me to participate in the activity of the shophouse as well.

Basing on my childhood experience, I divide the ground floor plan into three main parts:
1) The Hall
2) Under-stair Storage
3) Washing Area

The hall, being at the very front, is the public space to conduct business. The storage is mainly used to keep goods, washing machines, or sometimes shoes. The washing area is not for the laundry shop, but instead a private washing area for the residents who lived within the shophouse (the business is conducted only at the hall). The stairs, being the connection between the floors, acts as the 'linkage' between the working area (public) and the living area (private).

The storyboard for the animation was planned according to the idea of 'living' and 'working' within the same space interconnected by stairs.

Currently, the Laundry Shop in which I used to live in since 1993 has been rented by a different owner.

However, the surrounding community still remains as it is, 

almost completely unchanged from 7 years ago.

For the community and the 'communal space', the neighborhood remains to be close to one another, having the front of the shophouse and the hall area as the space for interactions.

Happyland Community Market, the place where the inhabitants of the shophouses gathers

Interview

Previous residents of a shophouse: a laundry shop

During my research, I went to interview the former workers of the laundry shop and the owner of the shophouse (the owner, in this case, is my mother) regarding their view towards living within a shop house.

"Target:

Previous owner of a shophouse with a laundry business (Female)

Previous workers of a laundry shop (2 Females, 1 Male)

Please mention some benefits of living within a shophouse.

Owner: “It’s quite lively there I guess...we live nearby one another and whenever something happens, everyone knows about it. Also, it’s like a home business...you don’t need to waste the transportation fees.”

Worker 1: “I lived there so I don’t really have a problem of traveling here and forth...the owner opens up a room for us workers to work full-time.”

Worker 2: “I like the community there. It won’t be lonely with lots of people surrounding you.”

Worker 3: “I only help out part-time so I’m not really a live-in. But it’s easy to buy goods when you are in need of them since everything was crammed into one place, like a community.”

Do you find it convenient whenever the lunch time arrives? For example, does being in a shophouse reduces the competition of rushing through your food?

Owner: “That was basically my home so yes, it’s quite convenient and comfortable.”

Worker 1: “I went to eat at a nearby market, but it’s so close that it wouldn’t even take more than 10 minutes to walk back.”

Worker 2: “I bought some food from the market to eat at my work place. We still need to get back to work in time, but it’s much less anxious than trying to go back to some place far off after you have your lunch.”

Do you prefer to live in a private house or a shophouse, if you are able to choose?

Owner: “A private house would be good, but if it’s for a live-in business or home office, then probably a shophouse.”

Khim's documentation and post-analysis on A Tainted Purity

Initial reaction of the visitors, staring into a white, still canvas

A shift has started to take place

Followed by a stronger crumbling effect

An gradual change in expression of the visitors along the 

crumbling effect which became more aggressive

 An experience at a closer distance

The Crumbled Space, The Crumbled Purity

Achievements:  By displaying a still, white canvas for a period of time, it is observable through the facial expression that the audience became faintly uneasy towards the fact that "nothing has happened". This then stimulates a question as the blank projection goes on: "So will anything happen here at all?".

When a 'change' happens on the mundane surface, it then creates a reaction towards the movement which was once still, and the sound of the room which was once silent. The purity of the space is now disturbed.

Realization:  An experience could be enhanced simply by relocating the viewpoint of the audience closer to the projection. It has been proved during the installation that people tend to feel more 'involved' being right under the projection rather than standing from a distance, as it stimulates a sense of 'gallery' which separates the audience from the installation. 

Future Expectations:  If this project is to be improved, I would consider the involvement of the audience and the distance between the viewer and the projected screen. The limitations of a 'framed' projection should be removed as well since it reminds the viewer of a 'screen' similar to that of a movie or a framed artwork. The installation should be implemented to be more subtle in terms of visual production, but effective in terms of impact.

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Through the exploration of personal experiences, I defined eroticism to be "something pure that got tainted". It was a summary towards small occurrences which stimulates the feeling of eroticism which may be as simple as a bed with a wrinkled bed sheet, or a white wall smudged with dirt. Those are precisely something abnormal that happens on a normal plane, looking so "out of place"and "altered" that they stimulates a reaction and curiosity from the viewer.

In application to the installation, the chosen site is a room filled with "rumors" of possibilities. It is a room in which no activities within the faculty are involved, containing a space which has not been assigned to any function or purposes. The room, to me, is "pure" in terms of having "no association" with any of the performances within the nearby area. It has not been tainted by human activities, and therefore it pertains its purity, as a "virgin".

By rumors, it is the rumors of the possibilities in which the room will be "used" in the future events. Some imply that it will be used as an i-Studio, some have heard that it would be available for rent, and some even suggested it to be a True Coffee. This is the moment where the room got "momentarily tainted" by the rumors which has shaken its state of purity, the status of not belonging to anything or anyone. My installation is a projected image of a white surface, a "crumbled space" in relation to the crumbled purity of the room. It is brief and ephemeral; one can witnessed the installation at night, and realised that the crumbling effect was forever gone by the next day. Like rumors that comes and goes, it  is a taint that deflowers the purity...and fades away.