Tao's proposal: TIME FOOD TRAVEL

TIME FOOD TRAVEL

This food museum / restaurant offers the customers a new way of dining by stimulating atmosphere and giving informations about the history of Thai fusion food. Also telling the history behind Thailand and Silom. Without any interior walls, this breath taking space is occupied with glass walkways and experiences which will tickles all 5 senses of all customers.

Tao's site research : Silom

Tao's model behind the scenes

 Interior of the model

Interior of the first floor in detail

Tao's shophouse research: possibilities of space in a shophouse

HR05 from Napone Chinwatanakit on Vimeo.

Animation showing researches on possibilities of spaces in a shophouse

Tao's documentation and post-analysis on Karma

FINAL PRODUCT

 Dripping water from the Ice pack.

 Closed-up detail of the ice-cold curtains

Last few layers of ice curtains, which melts down the first

Half-melt ice pack curtains in the middle of the walkway

People walking in the installation

 REACTION FROM AUDIENCE

          The reaction from the audience are different from each other. Some of them say that, the moment which ice touches their skin without being prepare gives them goosebumps. Some says that my installation reminds them of a Thai movie named "Jun-Da-Ra" which is a very erotic movie. It is because the most famous scene from the movie was when the main character uses ice to rub against a female character. Some asked me before they even enter "is there anything in there that is rather dangerous?" Some of the audience found my installation to be amusing and relaxing due to the hot temperature from outdoor. It can be said that the installation was quite successful in terms of erotic through touching which was one of the keyword I mentioned early.

          But saying that my installation was completely successful would not be entirely true. That would be considered as a lie. Most of the audience who walked through my installation did not receive the message behind it. I consider this part of the installation as a failure. Only 1 or 2 person asked me whether the installation was about life. Even the instructors who came to my installation did not mention anything about the message I was trying to give. 

          To conclude on the installation, I consider the installation to be not as good as it would be. I walked through obstacles along the way, which includes rebuilding and buying the installation again because half of it was trashed by the faculty's janitors the morning before the presentation. That tragedy causes my installation to not be 100% complete as like everyone would want their works to be. In order to improve the installations, I came up with several things that I conclude from documenting the audience:

• Let them walk into the installation 1 by 1. People who entered in pairs or groups seems to be amused with the ice and wetness. If people walk in alone, maybe they would took more time to investigate the installation.
• The path is too straight forward. Redesigning patterns of the ice pack curtains to redirect the path that people will take and make it more unpredictable.
• Make brochures with brief description of the installation.
• Cut out the meaning part? concentrate only of the touching experiences.
• Hang other materials which would relate to other meanings which supports the concept?  

         Lastly, I am quite happy with my installation and in see people walking through my installation with different reactions, it was very enjoyable to observe the reactions. I think I was going too fast with the process, eager to finish it on time. I was afraid that using ice will not be successful due to the amount of variables I need to deal with, so the time spent on the concept and procedure was not enough, causing weakness in concept. 

  EROTIC INTERPRETATION

      For me, the word erotic goes only in one direction. Erotic involves a couple, it involves a couple, it involves love, and it surely involves sex. My own definition of erotic can be described through action between 2 people, or between a person and a medium, or even a person and an object. From the first project, the erotic photographs, I focus mainly on taking photographs of obvious eroticism and objects which made me feel tempting to touch or observe it. It seems like my definition of erotic involves touching very strongly. So the installation I've accomplished on the second project answers my own question or what is erotic?

Tao's installation drawing : Karma

AXONOMETRIC DRAWINGS

Axonometric drawing of installation without covering cloth in room 314

The layout of the installation was set to surprise the audience who is thinking that they are heading into a same boring space. Surprisingly, they will found out when they open the door that the room they use to know had change into an icy cold walkway. The walkway would be completely dark so the audience will only be able to use their sense of touch to guide them through. 

Detailed axonometric drawing of installation with black cloth

Installation drawing with dimension

CONSTRUCTION

The whole frame are made up of nearly 100 pieces PVC pipes with different sizes. There are 4 length of pipes i used: 200cm, 140cm, 90cm, and 10cm. For the joints i used 90degree 2 ways joint, and 3ways joint. I also used several 110cm timbers to carry the ice pack curtains.  

INTENDED EFFECT

Ice packs curtains would be hang up at the same time, the time gap between each layer will be 5 minutes. This process will take exactly 25 mins to set up the installation. This will emphasize the difference between each curtain layers, showing different states of water. 

As the audience walks through the installation, they will receive the underlining message behind the installation. It would be more clear because using only the sense of touch will make the audience concentrate. The coolness will seems to be nice and people will tend to like it. But as they would further, they will notice that it is not that admirable as it were at the beginning. The ice pack will start to melt and eventually become water, this process will make the audience wet and would understand the statement I am saying using my installation.

Tao's installation development: Karma

DEVELOPMENT I : THE DEFINITION OF EROTIC

In order to start thinking about the installation, my first priority was to be clear and understand my own definition of the word erotic.

When it comes to erotic, my definition towards is very straight forward. Erotic leads to love, which invites a couple into the story. Then love basically leads you further to sex, which is the process of "making love". I divide the expression, which involves in making love, into three words:

• Darkness
• Touching
• Surprise

DEVELOPMENT II : APPLYING INSPIRATION FROM ARTIST

From studying the artist Bill Viola and El Anatsui, I came up with inspirations from the artists which i would like to apply to my installation. In order to locate my site and start with the ideas, I combine the inspirations I received with my definition of erotic.

CONCEPT

To construct a meaning installation with underlining statement on "truth of life" of human beings. Emphasize the effect of the installation using the site and materials.

In physiology, body water is the water content of the human body. A significant fraction of the human body is made up of water. The total amount of water in a man of average weight (70 kilograms) is approximately 40 liters, average 57percent of his body weight, but it progressively decreases from birth to old age, most of the decrease occurring during the first 10 years of life. Also, obesity decreases the percentage of water in the body, sometimes to as low as 45 percent.  

Ice cubes symbolizes the cycle of life, going around over again, from birth to death....

Can be used very effectively with touching when the space is dark.

DEVELOPMENT III : SITE ANALYSIS

 From Development II, the site I need in the faculty needs to a area where people use it daily. In order to kiss the faculty, I planned to transform that area of the faculty where people uses and walk by without giving attention to it. Two space came to my decision.

10th Floor Walkway

Room 314 on 3rd floor

At last, the better site for my project was room 314. Eventhough the circulation in that room was not as directed as the walkway on 10th floor. All the variables can be controlled, which benefits more when working with complicated materials such as ice.

DEVELOPMENT IV : INSTALLATION CONCEPT

Walking through layers of ice curtains in different states. From solid to liquid state. 

• Ice represents pureness and clarity of new born baby
• Audience walking through the space represents your love ones

The older you grow, the pureness and clarity decrease through time. The older you get more sin you give to your love ones, represented by the water which melts from ice and make the audience wet. 

DEVELOPMENT V : EXPERIMENTING MATERIALS

Ice Cube

Experimenting with ice to find the exact time it uses to melt in room temperature.

takes 12 ~ 13 minutes to melt entirely. Depends on the temperature of the initial ice cube.

Ice Pack

Working with real ice can be very hard to work with due to limit amount of time you have to work. I decided to use artificial ice or ice packs instead.

This is what it looks like

Ice Pack Preparation 

The ice pack cannot be used immediately. I soaked it in water container for a day to let the labels fall off, then leave it to try. After the ice packs dry out, it is ready to be pierce in small holes so that all of it could be sew together to form an ice pack curtain.

Tao's research on Bill Viola and El Anatsui

Bill Viola

          Bill Viola is a contemporary video artist. He was born in 25 January, 1951 in Queens, New York, USA. He graduated from Syracuse University with Bachelor in Fine Arts. His works can be categorize in the field of 

• Video Art 
• Electronic Art 
• New Media Art. 

His concept focuses mainly on ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, death, and aspects of consciousness. His works caught my attention instantly. The procedure in which he captures a period of time when an actor passes through a medium affect on me was very erotic.

The Reflecting Pool

This video of Bill Viola shows himself walking out of the forest and stands infront of the artificial pool. He approaches the edge of the pool then squats to make a powerful jump into the pool. But when he leaps above the pool, his body freezes mid-air above the surface of the water. His silhouette dissolves gradually into the forest background. Then his reflection of him standing still appears on the water surface. The Reflecting Pool represents a baptism, a person rebirth as reflected by the water. His statement was that "it is not ultimately possible for the human being to differentiate between reality and illusion; rather, our true identity is only perceivable when it is reflected in the world". 

The Ascension, 2000

This title of the video itself tells it all. The video film by Bill Viola shows a action of the rise to heaven, after death. The actor simply sinks himself into the body of water which symbolizes the feeling of letting go of everything, or the end of everything (death). After a certain period of time, the actor rises to the surface of the water. This was the part which expresses the act of ascension. This video by the artist was both meaningful and erotic. The performance of the actor emphasizes what the artist is trying to tell through his installation.

The Quintet of the Astonished, 2000

This video was mainly to capture the emotions and actions of the five performer. This video was actually a series of related videos called the Quintet Series, which captures emotions and actions of the performer within varieties of circumstances. It is amazing how the artist himself captures every bits of details thorough a slow-motion video. In my opinion, the eroticism of this video lies beneath the expression of each performer. The facial expressions and moving bodies of the performers tells what kind of medium they are touching or experiencing. 

El Anatsui

          El Anatsui, a Ghanaian sculptor, was born in 1944. He spend most of his active career in Nigeria. He trained at the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, in central Ghana. Anatsui preferred media are clay and wood, however he tends to appreciate other materials if it proves to be more meaningful or suits better with his installation. He experiments with variety of media which includes 

• Wood
• Ceramics
• Clays
• Paint
• Metal sheets
• Recycle materials / containers

I appreciate his installation by two reasons. One is that the surfaces of his artworks makes me tempting to touch and feel the surface. The second reason, and the important one, is that his artworks are very powerful when it comes to meanings. From every details from the materials he uses to his intention toward the audience. His idea focus mainly on speaking against today's decaying society and African traditions.

The Skin of Earth, 2006

This art piece was construct entirely of aluminum and copper wire. The aluminum sheets were used aluminum bottle lids. His intention upon the project was to reflect the original objects. The artist was showing that these aluminum lids can be reused not only by recycling it, but it can also be used as an art or for other purpose. 

Adinkra Sasa, 2003

This installation, made up of aluminum, copper wire, and fabric, expresses a very strong message toward the audience. Adinkra is a piece of cloth which is use in Ghanaian traditional funeral. He polished the piece with black shinny color giving it an expensive look. The message behind is the sorrows in the conquer of European colonial powers in the Africa. The valuable black cloth symbolizes the European colonials, while applying the cloth with funeral Adinkra to remind of the Africans who died.

The Crumbling Wall, 2000

This installation was the one which touches me the most. The art piece was constructed entirely with steel sheets. The steel plates are used in preparation of traditional African's Gari. By rusting the steel plates and decaying it, the artist message was giving very strongly towards the African society. His installation statement was against the destruction and corruption in the African politics. The plates symbolizes the decay of African traditions which were done by the cruel politicians. 

Inspirations from the artists

The two artist I chose have two things in common. Both of their works are very meaningful and touchy. Viola's meaning within his videos are telling about the truth of life. What every human being needs to go through. He emphasize the action with a medium and filming his performer or himself move through it and touching the medium, expressing a very meaningful visual. Anatsui also works with giving meaning and giving touchy texture to his installation using varieties of materials. The materials itself symbolizes statement that the artist himself is making to the audiences.

 

Tao's teaser: KARMA

EROTIC ARCHITECTURE PHOTOGRAPHY

This photo was taken at the BACC. This photograph expresses erotic architecture using the quality of light. Light changes the tone of the object; making the same material looks differently. The escalator in the middle also expresses penetration.

This photograph was taken on the pedestrian walkway of Sathorn Road. It expresses eroticism very straightforwardly. The shape of the bicycle parking racks resembles the shape of sexual organs. Light from vehicles on the streets gives shadow to the racks, which emphasizes the erotic shape even more.

This photograph of a sculpture was taken at MOCA (the Museum of Contemporary Art). It expresses erotic through the sense of mysterious. It reminds me of the curviness of human body. The light reflecting the curve surface of the sculpture makes the curve more visible.

­This photograph of a Sculpture was taken outside MOCA. The round shape of the sculpture resembles women’s breasts. The craftwork on the wall behind gives a feeling of romance. The reflection on the water gives a feeling of an upside down world.