Thai's proposal: Green Communal Living Modular

As this project derived from the previous projecto of the 'erotic site analysis', which the erotic quaility within my site is the way each people within the site participate and intimately interact with other people around them. Through, the act of sharing; either spaces or objects between each others.

However, from my observation of the site, there are no any existing of the space in which people can interact with each other properly, especially, for the people within the community themselves. Therefore, from my obervation; yet again, that the site has lack the green space; I have design to turn the shophouse into an 'Green Space' in which people can properly interact with each other ; and yet, promote more interaction between people and give benefit to both the community and passerby....

Analysis of the quaility of the shophouse and its space...

As I started the project with the quaility of the shophouse and the 4 x 4 x 3 m space within the shophoues and how this space can turn in the the unit of the single shophouse and the modular system of the design.

The modular unit of the shophouse can then turn into many different communal single space unit

Then this modular unit of the shophouse can be turn into different and unique communal living space for both the community and passerby; and then each units can be combine to form larger space and can be place anywhere within the site; as it is one of the great advantage of the modular system.

The abstract combination of the modular units.

Prototype of the combination of modular for smallest unit of the shophouse, which is  one.

The idea of the main atrium and open space.

As I develop my project furthur, the one idea that strick my mind in the idea of the 'main atrium' with in the space. As this element would promote visuality for all the space and blur the bounday of the space within one building and trun it into one whole space; which then would promote more interaction between people, as I give them oppotunity of see other people activities...

The idea of main atrium integrate into three units of the shophouse.

Then moving on to the final stage of the my project...

The possible floor plan combination of one unit shophouse

The Master Axon for one unit shophouse 'Communal Green Space'

By adding the vertical screen structure, is the derived form the first project; which is also about the participationg and interaction through the act of sharing. However, is the idea or sense of ambiguity which will allure people to interact with other. As they would only get the glimp of the activities within the space, and would be force to enter the space if they would like to know more about the activities and interact with other people.

Exploded Axon of the floor plan and elements of design.

The research on the facade element and the rooftop graden floor layering

By adding the element such as the hydroponic system the space and become more interactive and benefit to the community, as they share their product and activities.

Research on the supporting structure of the rooftop garden.

Possible floor plan for two shophouse unit.

Interior perspective rendering: view from the second floor

Interior perspective rendering: view of the first floor

Thai's site research: Chok-Chai 4 Market

Chok Chai 4 Market, one of the most well-know market in Ladphrao Road, was situated in the form of small community within the lager community area. The area consisted of various group of people--including local people (as owner of shophouse and common workers), non-local (people from different provience), and passerby--which 'interacted' with each othe in a very 'intimate' mean such as the sharing space, goods, and even customers between the street vendors and shophouses.

In a way, by the intimate character of the community, which allow them to share space with other localers, it also force many customers and passer by to personal space  to overlap  with other customers and force them to interact and sharing thing such as seating and kitchen wears with each other in an unwilling fashion.

Overall view of the Chok Chai 4 Market

Diagram showing the circulation of different group of people and how their activities overlap each other during the day

Detail axonometic of different location of the site, where there exist the overlapping of space between people activities and other people activities and space, it also show how the private and public space blend with each other within the site.

Diagram showing the overlapping space between vendors and how these spaces become sharing space, and also the diagram show how the personal space of people overlap with each other and were force to interact with each other in unwilling fashion, of sharing space and objects--such as seat and kitchen wear.

Thai's Shophouse research: Gerneral Construction and What have been Violated

I choose my father's office as a case study for my shophouse research. The shophouse itself is a bit unique, due to the fact that it is the combination of two block of shophouse and the dimension of the spaces a little bit odd...

Consist of total five floor--1st, mezzanine, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and the flat roof top...the different in color show the original form of each of the house, which is commonly 4m width

The section cut of the shoยhouse and the customization and zoning within the building...

I also then study the rule and regulation about the general dimension and customization of the shophouse, which the general dimension was include with in the diagram above...list in red was some of the rules that have been violated and in green are things that are according to the rules.

This is the animation about the construction of the shophouse, which show some basic structure of the shophouse, such as the foundation, beams, columns, floors, and partitions. The ending part of the animation was, of course, weird; due to the fact that the vedio hasn't been finish yet. The ending part of the vedio is normally set to show the infomations about the rule and regulation of the shophouse and how people customized and violate these set of rule and regulation....

Another link for the animation: https://vimeo.com/61580720

Thai's documentation and post-analysis on: All in Your Head

First set of personal questions for the outsider participant...

One of my classmate, who approch my installation and try to inspect the space, which seem to be ambiguous and dark...

According to the rule an direction, she start to write some of her thoughts on the wall...

On the other side, people are trying to inspect and interpret the meaning of these word according to their own judgment and understanding, without her noticing it...

On to the second half of the program...

While the people on the outside try to inspect the holes on the wall the participant within the exhibiton room write they thought and idea toward that person according to their action...

Even doodle some picture is possible if the participant would like to do so...

Overall oberservation

From the overall oberservation, the technique and the method of the execution method work pretty well, which create enoughe sense of ambiguity for people to be curious enough to enter and inspect the space.  The lighting was at it optimum state, which result in a perfect one-way mirror as I have expected--only one side of the glass wall is possible to see through, while the other side could see only their reflection in the mirror.

Eventhough the technique and the effect work perfectly fine, there still lot of problem within the installation. Firstly, there are too many set of rule, which some of them are too strict and unclear, which result in the time the audience took to understand the procedural of the installation and their willingness to participate within the installation--which I wish to achive; however, unsuccess. Therefore, the reaction of most of the audience seem to be confuse with the installation and almost impossible to interact with the installation unless the procedure was explained to them by the artists. Also some of the relationship between the first an second program are to abstract to understand and their relation seem to be unconnect at all. However, they seem to enjoy the freedom of how they would like to express their thought, either by writing or drawing.

In conclusion, the technique and the site context are interesting enough; however, there are alot more to be imporve on the sequence and program of the installation.

Thai's installation drawing: All in Your Head

Axonometiric Drawing of the Site without the installation

Axonometic of the Site with the installation and circulation of the sequence of the program.

Sequence of the program and rule of how to interact with the installation.

Thai's installation development: All in Your Head

After the research on the two artists, Rirkit Tiravanija and El Anatusi, I started my project by the defining the meaning of the word 'erotic' for myself, which are:

Erotic is something born form the sense of intimacy--the feeling of warm, friendliness, and casual--that provoke the interaction--touching and exchanging--of oneself with the surrounding and other people; however, these feeling are still ambiguous; yet, there are still a sense of desire for....

In other word, the project is about the sense of willingness, participations, and interaction between the audiences.

Start off with the brainstorming of some idea of how I would like the people to interact with each other through their own willingness and sense of casualty, by trying to set some boundary or a space with the sense of casualness.

1st Site

Looking at some possible site, which some interesting context. The first one is the Traditional Thai style pavilion, because it promote some simple action, such as take off the shoes, which are casual action and people who follow without doubt.

Proposal 

Therefore, moving on to the activities, by being intemacy and interaction I think of the activity that involve sharing, because by sharing it show how friendliness and warm people are which promote more interaction.

Mean: Through the action of writing on the glass wall, with the act of leaving or exchanging secret message for others people to see....

I decide to choose the mirror due to the fact that it promote more of the interaction between people on different side of the glass, with some sense of secure.

Different method of how to use the glass wall to promote interaction between people.

1. Multiple layer of glass wall to promote more interaction.
2. Concreal some part of the glass wall to promote different level of intimacy and their reaction.
3. Putting a glass wall in between two wall or partition, which might promote the participants to interact with both each other and the site.
4. Creating one-way mirror promte sense of privacy and willing to interact in private activity.

Choosing Site

At this point with the some amount and idea of the proposal it possible to choose the site, which is the 'Exhibition Room' of the First Floor....

Exhibition Room--First Floor, Faculty of Architecture, view from outside of the room

View from inside the room to the outside space

I choose this site not because of the already exsiting glass wall, but also because of the context of the space which have some relationship to my proposal, which is the revealing or the exhibiting of people thought and idea.

Site Orthographic Drawing and Space Analysis

Final Proposal

I decide to combine different method of how to use the glass wall--main mean is the use of one-way mirror to establish some sense of secure and willingness of participation also to give out the sense of ambiguity of the installation. Then allow the paticipant on each site of the glass wall to exhibit their idea on to the wall, then circulate each of them around to see their reaction.

Experiment on Light and Film

Light and Visuality Testing Diagram

Look from the side with higer light source, the result is the sence behide the film become a bit obscure and can't be seen clearly.

Look from the side with lower light source, result in the view behide the film can be see clear; this also show that the letter on the film can be see clearly on the other side without being unclear...

Thai's research on Rirkit Tiravanija and El Anatusi

RIRKIT TIRAVANIJA

(Born 1961 and still active in the present day)

General Biography

Rirkirt Tiravanija, (Thai: ฤกษ์ฤทธิ์ ตีระวนิชม pronunciation: [ruuk-rit tira-wani]), a few very successful and internationally renowned Thai contemporary artist in foreign country. He was born in Buenos Aires, Agentina, in 1961; to a son of Thai diplomat and oral surgeon. He is a Thai-based artist, who currently residing and working in New York, Berlin, and Chiang Mai (Northern  provience of Thailand).

Education Background

• Carleton University, major in history Ontario College of Art (1980-1984) 
• Banff Center School of Fine Art (1984) 
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1984-1986) 
• Whitney Independent Studies Program in New York (1985-1986)

Relaitonal Art

Most of his works are called relational aesthic, or relational art, which is a form of art which involve the audience into the artwork and the reaction and interaction of these people itself become a work of art. It is the a type of artwork that destroyed the boundaries between artworks, audiences/participants, and the artistis; which give them change to closely interact with each other in a very casual way.

"...a set of artistic partices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relation and their social context, rather thatn an independent and private space."

--Nicolas Bourriaud, the developer of relational art

Works, Exhibition, and Eroticness within Artworks

His installation often take form of a stages/room for sharing meal, reading of playing music; or an architecture/structures for living and socializing; which is the main concept and context of his works, bring and joing people together. His works are mainly based on the interaction and exchange--idea, argument, feeling, etc.--among the participants.

"It is not what you see that is important but what take place between people..."

"The situation is not about looking at art. It about being in the space, and being able to participate to an activity..."

--Rirkit Tiravnija

Untitled 1992, (Free/Still): The casualness of the space spark the warm and secure feeling of the visitor, which they would feel more intimate to unexpected contact.

To put it simpler, he trying to shift the nature of how the visitors visit the museum/gallery, which considers to be semi-private space; where there aren't many interacteion between people and each of them seem to have their own private personal space. His mean is to bring in common activities, such as cooking, eating, sleeping, and other everyday activities, into the space; which result in turning the semi-private space within the gallery into a social space, where the visitors feel more intimate and casual--which provoke an unexpected contact and interaction between strangers. The eroticness within is his artwork are the sense of intimacy which could spark the moment of contact and interaction between people, which bring them closer to each others.

Untitle 1996, (Tomorrow is Another Day): The replica of Rirkit's apartment in New York, where he allows the participant to do any activity with in this particular space--eating, sleeping, taking shower, party, etc.

Who scred of Red, Yellow, and Green (2010): Providing a common with space to the participants to exhibit their idea toward to political problem in Thai at that moment--add the sense of casualty of the space by serving free food, in this case red, yellow, and green thai curry; which also act as a symoblic representation to the fight between the red, yellow, and blue shirts at that moment.

It could be said that the other erotic part of his works is the exhibiton or the revealing of  what each participants are thinking--similarly to the revealing of their secrets of the others people around them. It's due to these actions of exchanging and interaction between each others in an intimate ways that bring people closer and joining them together in a more erotic way.


EL ANATSUI
(Born 1944 still active in the present day)
 

General Biography

El Anatsui, born in Anyako, Nigeria, in 1944, is a Ghanaian sculptor, who was much active for his career in Nigeria. He is a scupltor who specialized in creating wood and clay sculptures; however, they were very well known to the outsider.

However, recently, he has became a world renowed artists through his new form of art sculptures, which were created from recycle materials, such as aluminums bottle lid and discared metal objects....

Educational Background

• Kumasi College of Art
• Kumasi University of Science and Technology

Recycle Art Sculpture--Materials and its Context

"Art grows out of each particular situation, and I believe that artists are better off working with whatever their environment throw up."

--El Anatusi

Most of his recents artworks often resemble the woven cloths, such as "kente cloth", which are the local cloth within Nigeria. These art sculptures are made out of throw away object and recycle materials--normally  aluminium bottle lid and discarded metals.

His works are often rich in its context about cultural, social, and economy of the historise and modern Wes Africa, as he said in one of his interview, "...the bottle lid was brought from the Europe, by using this materials as part of my works ,it show our relationship with the European and the civilization they have brought to us in the history...".

 Artworks, Sculptures, and Eroticness

Grace and Gravity: The sculpture come in the form of the woven cloth, which is flexible and changeable through time; which give the sculpture the ability to change and adapted to particular space everytime it was putted on display.

He, El Anatusi, see art work as similar to human life which change over the course of time; therefore, he also give his artwork ability to change through time everytime it was installed and put on display. Similarly to the act of eroticness, which form and act of seduction, alluring people in to touch to see, change through the course of time and try of people who are watching.

As it was mentioned eariler, that his work often rich in its context; however, most of the time these context and meaning are very ambiguous to the audiences. 

Gli: The word gli mean both wall and disrupted in the Ghanaian language, which give the artwork the idea of free interpretation about the meaning of the artwork itself; also due to the fact that this piece of artwork literaly mean wall and look like a wall; yet, it seem to be transparent but still disrupted.

Similarly to the work erotic, which the word itself seem ambiguous and dark; yet it provoke our curiousity and desire to know, to touch, to feel, and to interprete what it mean. This can also be seen in the material he used and from the point of view the audience look a his artwork--from a far they seem like a normal woven cloth, but at a closer look they transformed into something unexpected and contradicted to our imagination.