Adding a sparkle to life

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Adding-a-sparkle-to-life-30279528.html

FASHION

KUPLUTHAI PUNGKANON
THE NATION February 18, 2016 1:00 am

De Beers unleashes its Forevermark diamonds on Bangkok

KNOWN THE WORLD over for its exceptional diamond jewellery, the De Beers Group recently introduced its Forevermark diamond brand to Thailand with the opening of a counter at Siam Paragon.

Unyarat Pornprakit, chief executive officer of Jubilee Enterprise, threw a party to celebrate its arrival, drawing such A-listers and celebrities as Achara Umpujh, Nathasedh Poonsapmanee, Yumi Kiangsiri, Jirawan Chairungruang, Sasamon Sanguansin, Jareyadee Ple Spencer, Jay Spencer, Prachayamon Buranasiri and Sorat Amata-yakul.

Forevermark is recognised globally for its quality and grading standards. Through the very strict selection and grading process, each diamond bearing the Forevermark name is guaranteed to be beautiful and responsibly sourced. As further proof of quality, all the brand’s diamonds bear the Forevermark inscription, which is made through a patented technology from the De Beers Group.

Fewer than one per cent of the world’s diamonds is considered worthy of the Forevermark inscription and these are turned into exquisite jewellery by a design team based in Milan.

Unyarat says she plans to open some eight to 10 shops this year and will offer these world-class diamonds at prices ranging from Bt10,000 to Bt100,000.

“The brand is well-known amongst tourists as Forevermark now has 1,600 boutiques spread over 36 countries. The service is also remarkable, and Thai customers can receive service at any of the 160 Jubilee counters boasting the Forevermark brand. The designs are modern so the jewellery pieces will appeal to young people too,” she says.

The highlight of the party was the presentation of two Forevermark collections: the Forevermark Setting Collection and Encordia Collection. Both were presented to guests by model Kimberley Anne Tiamsiri.

The exclusive Forevermark Setting collection is designed to reveal the full beauty of a Forevermark diamond. Timeless, its unique four-pronged mount and secret piercing offer an extra precious promise.

The Encordia collection, meanwhile, embodies the symbiotic relationship between diamonds and stories by symbolising the unique and emotional bond between two people. The elegant knot crafted in a sleek and smooth loop of gold or platinum, represents the enduring bond between people, which is sealed by a beautiful Forevermark diamond that holds the knot in place, keeping it always secure.

Reconstructing Dada

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Reconstructing-Dada-30279527.html

ART

NATHALIE OLOF-ORS
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
ZURICH February 18, 2016 1:00 am

pic

A Zurich Museum celebrates the centenary of the movement by recreating lost work

A CENTURY AFTER Dadaism was founded in Zurich, a prestigious museum in the city is hosting an exhibit that aims to recreate one of the rebellious artistic movement’s great but unfinished projects.

Dadaism was born in 1916 at the famous Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich’s old town, where artists produced work partly inspired by the devastation of World War I that sought to challenge pre-existing notions of what constituted art.

One of its founders, Romanian-born Tristan Tzara, tried in 1921 to release a collection with some 200 contributions from some of Dadaism’s main contributors – a project named “Dadaglobe”, which ultimately faltered due to financing problems.

Thanks to artistic sleuthing, much of the collection has been reassembled and put on display Zurich’s Kunsthaus museum.

Entitled “Dadaglobe Reconstructed”, it includes some 160 works by 40 artists from across the world, including noted figures like Max Ernst, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeubeur. All had sent contributions to Tzara for the project.

The exhibit opened this month and will be on display in Zurich until May 1, before it shifts to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

Tzara’s Dadaglobe project was conceived as an anthology of the movement, which ran through the mid-1920s and used humour, wit and irony to highlight what some artists described as the social and cultural decay in Europe.

Dadaglobe gradually fell into oblivion, aside from passing interest from a few scholars.

In 2005, however, Adrian Sudhalter, an art historian and curator at MoMA, noticed a series of numerical markings on various pieces while participating in a Dada retrospective at the Beaubourg Museum in Paris.

“When we inspected the art work I started to see these numbers at the back of the works and asked myself, ‘what are these numbers’?”

Her curiosity piqued, Sudhalter headed to the archives of the Jacques Doucet library in Paris, which has a significant collection of Dada and surrealist material.

There she discovered a list which corresponded to the numbers and sequences she found on the pieces at the retrospective.

Baffled at first, she little by little realised the list was a complete inventory of Tzara’s intended Dadaglobe. She would be able to assemble “the pieces of the puzzle”.

“It was really artistic detective work,” Sudhalter says. “Because of this list and because of these numbers I realised it would be possible to put [Dadaglobe] back together again.”

Tzara, who died in 1963, commissioned pieces from the leading lights of Dadaism, many of whom sought to poke fun or mock outright a world thrust into upheaval by World War I.

The “Reconstructed” exhibit features work by German painter and sculptor Max Ernst, who fought in WWI and was reportedly traumatised by the experience, producing art that was partly concerned with the subject of mental illness.

Also featured are Hans Arp and Sophie Taeubeur, who were married and worked together in Zurich, turning out what were then groundbreaking multi-media projects.

Taeubeur, born in Davos, is pictured on Switzerland’s 50-franc note.

Sudhalter explains that in her research for the project she consulted with Michel Sanouillet, one of France’s most renowned experts of Dadaism, who spoke with Tzara a few years before his death.

“Tzara told [Sanouillet] that Dadaglobe was one of his biggest regrets,” Sudhalter says.

Eyes on the “inter” prize, Slot Machine is ready to pay off

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Eyes-on-the-inter-prize-Slot-Machine-is-ready-to-p-30279378.html

SOOPSIP

February 16, 2016 1:00 am

Slot Machine with producer Steve Lillywhite

Just how hot is Slot Machine, Thailand’s hottest rock band? Since late September the quartet has been maintaining a gruelling 24/7 schedule, playing everywhere but also doing nightly “homework with their teacher”

Singer Karinyawat “Foet” Durongjirakan, bassist Atirath “Gak” Pintong, guitarist Janevit “Vit” Chanpanyawong and drummer Settharat “Auto” Pancgchunan have been holed up at Karma Sound Studios, housed in a luxury residential complex in Pattaya, where famed British bands the Libertines and Jamiroquai earlier recorded.

The Slots are still working on their first full-length, English-language album, “Spin the World”, which is due to hit the stores and airwaves sometime in the next few months. We got the first preview in October when the single “Give It All to You” was released to a warm reception both at home and abroad.

Response has been keen in Taiwan and most recently Singapore, where the band was named the best Asian act in the “Visual and Pop Culture” category at the Prudential Eye Awards, which promote contemporary art. Fans gave it all to “Give It All to You” on YouTube, where it’s had more than 250,000 views, and the latest single, “I Know I Know” is fast catching up, topping 165,000 views despite just coming out on January 28. The Thai-language version, titled “Khon”, has capped them all with 4.7 million views.

Besides giving their homeboy fans a taste of the new material on a national tour, Slot Machine and producer Lillywhite – who’s previously worked with U2, Talking Heads and Peter Gabriel – are deep into post-production on the album.

Lillywhite happily sets them free to go out and play the music – he’s evidently enjoying life on the Thai coast – so if you haven’t caught them lately, they be playing in Chiang Mai on Friday, Nakhon Ratchasima on Saturday and Chiang Rai on February 27. For more dates, keep your eyes on the “slotmachine” page at Facebook.

It’s hard to believe that these are the same guys who emerged in 2004 with the self-titled debut album, but it was a dandy piece of work, with the great tune “Ro” (“I’m Waiting for You”). The follow-up CD was recorded with a Canadian producer, so hints of international stardom were already in the air a decade ago.

Then they warmed up the audience for Linkin Park in Bangkok, and meanwhile the awards started pouring in – song of the year, record of the year, best group, a nomination as best Southeast Asian act, and finally the best “contemporary art” band in all of Asia.

Successful gigs in Laos, Myanmar and New York and a sell-out show at Impact Arena last year proved to be the final incentives to “go inter”, and their label, BEC-Tero Music, agreed to put them on the launch pad. Prepare for take-off.

A tip of the hat to Thavibu

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/A-tip-of-the-hat-to-Thavibu-30279206.html

SOUTHEAST ASIAN CONTEMPORY ART

Phatarawadee Phataranawik
The Nation February 15, 2016 1:00 am

Jorn Middelborg of Thavibu Gallery says, ‘ I see the closing of the gallery as a new beginning.’ Nation/Anant Chantarasoot

The foresighted Bangkok gallery, which long ago began championing Southeast Asian contemporary art, is about to close

Last month’s announcement that Bangkok’s Thavibu Gallery will soon close, two decades after it pioneered regional integration through art and the online sale of art, came as a shock to the creative community. But Jorn Middelborg – who was selling Vietnamese and Burmese as well as Thai art from his premises at the Silom Galleria long before the Asean Economic Community was conceived – only sees the closing as “a new beginning”.

The Thavibu is selling off its stock of several hundred artworks through March, at a discount.

Middelborg, a Norwegian, arrived in Thailand nearly 20 years ago on a Unesco posting and turned the Thavibu into one of the few commercial galleries in Bangkok focused on modern and contemporary Asian art.

He was also a forerunner in selling art online. Thavibu.com has offered pieces by prominent Thai artists including Vasan Sitthiket, Jirapat Tatsanasomboon, Maitree Siriboon and Panya Vijinthanasarn, along with Myanmar masters and rising Vietnamese stars.

In 2014 the Thavibu hosted the first exhibition outside Myanmar of the politically charged art of Hla Myint Swe, who’d abandoned painting three years earlier to open a meditation centre.

Here Middleborg talks to The Nation in an exclusive interview about the gallery’s past and his future plans.

TELL US ABOUT THE GALLERY’S HISTORY AND ITS MISSION.

The Thavibu was established in 1998 to showcase works from Thailand, Vietnam and Burma – hence the name, Tha-Vi-Bu. Vietnamese art was booming, Burmese art was little known, and we are based in Bangkok, so Thai art was included as a natural focus. The Internet expanded rapidly around the same time and our website – the first “Internet gallery” in Thailand – was set up.

A painting sold in 1998 to a buyer in the US was probably the first artwork sold online from Thailand. The first painting we sold unseen online to the US that same year was by Sudjai Chaiyapan, probably for around $1,000 or $2,000.

We’ve always striven to be at the technical forefront and we have a presence on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and our own gallery app for the iPhone and iPad – it’s the only gallery app in Thailand!

WHO ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS PRIMARILY?

We have clients all over the world. The main markets in Asia have been Singapore and Hong Kong, being international cities. We have a few dedicated Thai collectors as well.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE PIECES IN YOUR COLLECTION REMAINING AT THE END OF MARCH?

We have a few hundred artworks in storage. Some I will retain for my own collection and some we’ll return, and our manager, Heide Park Charoenporn, will continue her own business with a selection of works.

YOU’VE SAID THE MAIN REASON FOR CLOSING IS THE “STRUCTURAL CHANGE” IN THE ART MARKET.

There are structural changes happening in more than just the art market. These days many markets split into a high end and a low end, with the middle part left out. High-end art is increasingly being sold at international auctions, while the lower-end art is more often sold directly from the artists’ studios.

In the past, art was exhibited in and sold mostly from galleries and the galleries went to great lengths to support the artists with exhibitions, catalogues and other publications, participation in art fairs and possibly featuring in museum collections and auction sales. Today, artworks are sold via a variety of channels.

YOU PLAN TO WORK AS AN INDEPENDENT ART ADVISER.

Yes. I see the closing of the gallery as a new beginning. Art advisers have now become common and serve important roles in the US, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong. Most importantly they serve as a bridge between the broader art world and the market. They make sure collectors acquire the best art with an eye to market conditions.

It’s not a one-man job, since we all need to work together to provide the best and most in-depth information and advice. I’ll draw on the network of museums, curators, auction houses, artists, galleries and others I’ve worked with.

HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERISE THE ASIAN ART MARKET AND SPECIFICALLY THAILAND’S?

I’m not so sure the art market in Singapore is booming. A third of the international galleries in the high-end Gillman Barracks area have recently closed. I’ve also received emails from galleries across Asia saying they’re concerned about the market situation in their countries.

The Thai art market is to some extent influenced negatively by the current political situation, though the international financial situation matters more.

WHAT WOULD YOU FORECAST FOR THE THAI AND ASIAN MARKETS?

All markets have their ups and downs and we have to adjust, but this time there’s a more profound trend of structural challenges that we have to address. Nobody can afford to be complacent in the current state.

THE THAVIBU IS KNOWN FOR PROMOTING VIETNAMESE, MYANMAR AND THAI ARTISTS. WILL YOU STILL WORK WITH THEM?

We’ve focused on these nationalities from the very beginning and some of the artists have become quite famous, such as Truong Tan in Vietnam, whose works have been collected by the Guggenheim Museum, and Nge Lay of Myanmar, who’s participated in numerous biennales. I will continue to work with these artists.

There are many galleries in Bangkok showing Thai contemporary art, so Thai art has good exposure. And some of the artists are already internationally famous.

I’m more concerned about the exposure of Myanmar and Vietnamese art. There are few good galleries in Yangon and Vietnam. Myanmar art is interesting on many levels, and the Vietnamese are among the best painters in Southeast Asia. I’ve been fortunate to work with them and hope to be able to continue to do so.

For the Thais, more local support is needed, both from private companies and collectors and from government agencies. In many countries, such as Singapore, there is strong public support for the arts, while in Thailand it’s mostly a private initiative.

Art, art production, exhibitions and promotion cost money. Public funding would nurture and help many more artists succeed on a wider stage. Success should be within reach for all talented individuals, not only those who can afford it.

AS AN EXPERIENCED DEALER, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ROOKIE COLLECTORS?

The first advice is always to buy what you like. The next level would be to have a focus for your collection. And, thirdly, use books, galleries, museums, curators, the Internet and the artists themselves to learn more. Collecting is a process whereby you constantly have to study and keep up to date.

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT TRENDS IN COLLECTING CONTEMPORARY ART IN ASIA?

Market trends shift, but there are a few constants. First, the most populous countries have the largest markets, such as China and India. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is the largest, followed by the Philippines. Thailand has the potential of being a major market for contemporary art since there are excellent artists here, but one drawback is that the artists sell much of their work directly to local collectors, so they don’t draw attention overseas.

I would encourage Thai collectors to buy their Thai art through international auctions, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, to increase the visibility of Thai contemporary art internationally. This will generate more global interest.

One way or another, we’re all doomed to detention

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/One-way-or-another-were-all-doomed-to-detention-30279205.html

THAILAND’S AGING SOCIETY

The Nation
email: ntsoopsip@gmail.com February 15, 2016 1:00 am

Old-timers in Tan Tia Subdistrict, Sukhothai, are sent to school, complete with juvenile uniforms, to learn how to care for themselves.

What the heck are we going to do with all these old people?

The United Nations, which seems to have given up on world peace and now spends all its time issuing scary statistics, says that in another 35 years there’ll be 101 geezers tottering around for every 100 kids under 14 making fun of them!

So one answer to the above question is to turn the old-timers loose cracking some insolent juvenile heads, but there’s a community in Sukhothai that’s got an alternative idea.

Tambon Tan Tia is taking the Ageing Society Challenge by sending all the old codgers back to school. Rather than the central government shifting some of its Army budget over to making these folks’ autumn years a pageant of fun and leisure, the local government in little Tan Tia is going to teach the old-timers how to take care of themselves.

“The School for the Elderly teaches seniors how to have a better quality of life,” says Achara Somuppahad, acting chief of Social Development and Human Security in the province. “The Tan Tia Sub-district Administrative Organisation has designed a learning pattern to develop our seniors’ potential in self-care for a better quality of life in all four dimensions – body, mind, socially and spiritually.”

Ongart Peng-eiam, the organisation’s chief executive, comes right out and says the idea is to make sure the wrinklies don’t become “a burden for their families, communities and society”.

Frankly we’d rather be sentenced to life in “attitude adjustment” at Camp Prayut, but evidently they’ve lured 60 Sukhothai seniors into the programme, which involves two semesters of 30 weeks each. They’re being schooled in “Dharma and Spirituality of Life”, “Wellbeing of Body and Mind”, “Folk Wisdom and Culture”, and “Citizen’s Roles and Responsibilities”. (Maybe this is an attitude-adjustment camp after all.)

It says here the aim is “to elevate our seniors’ quality of life and encourage them to develop lifelong learning.” We’re told the students – erm, seniors – ride their bicycles to school and have their own kiddie uniforms, and that everyone was laughing at the opening ceremony. Lifelong learning? We’d be laughing too! Get some chuckles in before the crying starts. The school day begins with singing the national anthem and raising the flag, plus a prayer and a solemn vow to “be a good person”.

Lucky Boontham Rueangmee, age 66, got elected class leader. “I’m so excited,” she giggles on the Administrative Organisation’s website (http://TanTia.go.th). “I feel just like I’m a high-school student again. Hopefully this activity will help me and my friends associate more with society.”

Can we find someone a little less enthusiastic? Not really. Glom Tengyam is at 80 the oldest “student”, not that you can actually tell the seniors from the juniors. She’d worked in the rice paddy until her worried family ordered her to stay home, but she started feeling lonesome. “When I heard about this programme I signed up immediately,” Glom says. “It’s a chance to meet people my own age and socialise and exercise together and grow stronger together.”

They need to put their heads together and form a union, that’s what they need to do.

We’re the next big thing, say dealers

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Were-the-next-big-thing-say-dealers-30279203.html

SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART MARKET

Christiane Oelrich
Deutsche Presse-Agentur February 15, 2016 1:00 am

Above: Thai artist Anon Pairot’s plastic cockroaches spell out the words “Life” and “Love” at Art Stage Singapore. Nation/Phatarawadee Phataranawik

Tintin Wulia was among the Indonesian artists at Art Stage Singapore. She made an installation of handmade passports. Nation/Phatarawadee Phataranawik

Tintin Wulia was among the Indonesian artists at Art Stage Singapore. She made an installation of handmade passports. Photo/DPA

Southeast Asia is becoming the world’s hotbed for contemporary art

Indonesian artist Tintin Wulia has had enough of borders. Her performance piece is called “Make your own passport”. At the recent Art Stage Singapore fair, she gave visitors paper, pens and glue and, while they got busy, she engaged them in conversation.

“We talk about origins, identity, globalisation, migration,” the 43-year-old explained. The topics fit in well with contemporary art in Southeast Asia, which was the focus at Art Stage.

But can such a broad label as “Southeast Asian art” mean anything, since the cultures and the languages of the region differ so much? “Is there such a label as European art?” counters Art Stage’s Swiss founder, Lorenzo Rudolf, who’s been director of Art Basel for years.

Geography links regions, he points out. Southeast Asia is the part of Asia that’s not China or India, both of which have thriving art scenes. But Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are still separated by history, religion and language. Rudolf’s top tip is Thailand – temple art has developed into a highly creative scene, he says.

“Contemporary art from Southeast Asia wasn’t on anybody in Europe’s radar until a couple of years ago,” says Berlin gallery owner Matthias Arndt, who sees himself as a pioneer, having shown the first exhibition by artists from the Philippines and Indonesia in Germany a couple of years ago.

He’s had a gallery in Singapore for six years and represents many artists as a manager and agent. His colleagues were sceptical at first, he says, but after the boom in Chinese art, museums and collectors are now looking further afield – to contemporary artists around Southeast Asia.

Is this going to be the next China? “In 10 years, definitely,” says Arndt.

Art Stage is one way of preparing the ground as a marketplace, forum for dialogue and information centre, he says. “Contemporary art has a young history here. For many artists it’s a break with their culture.”

Traditional art has often focused on calligraphy and paper-cutting. Colonialism brought new schools of thought and practice from the West, including painting outdoors and painting portraits, explains gallery owner Jacques Renaud. Artists have developed those ideas to create art with a local flavour and global appeal.

Frenchman Renaud’s gallery, ArtBlue in Singapore, specialises in Vietnamese art. He shows off work by Nguyen Lam, who uses brushstrokes inspired by calligraphy and meditation to create abstract works aimed at finding a perfect simplicity.

More than 170 galleries from 30 countries were represented this year at Art Stage, and they took in a wide range of art – from oil paintings to video installations, golden sculptures to 3D pictures, prints and collages to photos hung on strings.

Anon Pairot from Thailand wrote the words “happy” and “love” on two canvases, and if you stepped closer you could see the letters were empty spaces surrounded by thousands of plastic cockroaches.

“Is meaning meaningful when we come closer to the truth behind the meaning?” he asks.

Countries like Indonesia, with its 250-million-strong population, already have booming domestic art markets with well-established artists and collectors.

“That’s an advantage and a problem at the same time,” says Rudolf. “The collectors are friends of the artists, so they don’t need any galleries. That means the infrastructure needed for international success isn’t there.”

Very few are known abroad, such as Entang Wiharso and Eko Nugroho, who were at the 2013 Biennale in Venice. “On the whole, Asian art is still cheap,” says Rudolf.

Renaud has customers, however, who are prepared to pay S$14,000 (Bt355,000) for a Nguyen Lam abstract. Value is relative, he says. “If Singapore’s art museum wanted to buy one, you could stick another zero on the end quick enough.”

The power of money

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/The-power-of-money-30279202.html

Pawit Mahasarinand
Special to The Nation February 15, 2016 1:00 am

Audience members were assigned seating according to their economic status. Photo/Democrazy Studio

Those who were poor had to stand or sit on the floor, or they could earn their seat back by helping with housecleaning. Photo/Democrazy Studio

Democrazy Studio’s “Plan B: shows that hierarchy reigns supreme

Being able to choose a seat from a seat plan is well nigh impossible at Democrazy Studio though as the space is so small and every seat affords much the same view, it has never affected my viewing pleasure. So it was with some surprise that I was able to pick one at the “Plan B” box office last month. Once inside, though, I was quick to notice that the seats had yet to be placed on the audience stand and that actor Kwin Bhichitkul, attired all in black, had morphed into the usher, calling out the seat numbers, most of which were not booked, and putting the chairs on the stand accordingly, albeit not exactly as the seating plan dictated.

We hadn’t been seated for more than a few moments when a public announcement through the loudspeakers, in Thai and English, asked us to leave our seats. A new seating arrangement was then organised, rather in the style of a plane-boarding process where pregnant women and handicapped people are called first followed by the more elderly. Kwin felt I belonged in this latter category and allowed me to take my new seat – not the one I had booked -and shortly afterwards even offered me comfortable seat cushion!

As the evening wore on, the conditions set by the invisible power behind the microphone continued to vary. Those of us with comfortable seats, while uncertain whether we would soon lose them, were, for example, “those who drive supercars and never have difficulty finding parking space at department stores”, “those who receive more than eight months worth of bonus”, and “those wearing a watch worth more than Bt10,000”. The others had either to stand or sit on the floor, or on the mats Kwin would bring in after he finished mopping the floor.

In this way, each member of the audience had a different perspective and perception of the performance and each evening differed completely. For me, two moments stood out. The first was when a young man with an enormous bonus (especially when compared to my zero bonus), and thus fit the condition for a chair, preferred to sit on the floor with his friends. The second was when a friend of his offered to help Kwin with his cleaning.

“Plan B” is a simple and entertaining yet thought-provoking interactive work that keeps the audience’s limbs as well as their brains active at all times, both during and after the performance.

The professional directorial debut of Peerapol Kijruenpiromsuk and inspired by his research on homeless people, delivered much to think about, to discuss among ourselves and to relate to the society in which we live while his main message was conveyed clearly and soundly. Evidently, unlike many other directors or playwrights, he doesn’t want to stuff his own thoughts into his work and convince you to agree with them.

I for one will be looking forward to more works from this Democrazy member in the future in addition to those by multi-award winning director Thanapol Virulhakul.

Walking back to my car after the performance, I thought of how excited I was some 20 years ago to be leaving Thailand to live in the US for the first time. My idea of “All men are created equal” was such that, as naive as I was and thanks to all the Hollywood films I had watched, I wanted to permanently move there and realise my own American dream.

It took me just two weeks to realise that Hollywood had sold me a lie.

This year, Democrazy has a big international collaboration project and is already working with German actors, a dramaturg and producer on a new work “Happy Hunting Ground”. Supported by the Goethe Institut, it’s set to premiere in September here and then travel to Germany.

Prior to that, Thanapol’s “Hipster the King”- the biggest winner of AICT Thailand Awards 2014 and last seen at Offene Welt festival in Ludwigshafen, Germany – will be, along with B-Floor’s “Red Tanks”, part of Ueno Store House’s “Thailand Week” in Tokyo from February 24 to 28. They need our financial support to make this possible, and we can help by either bidding in an auction of “Hipster” character portraits, ongoing now online, or attending the fundraising performance tomorrow at 8pm. The suggested donation for the performance ticket is Bt3,000, but this is “sabai sabai” country, so you can always pay what you can.

On the Web: http://www.facebook.com/|DemocrazyStudio

Stepping into a painting

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Stepping-into-a-painting-30279200.html

ART

Agence France-Presse February 15, 2016 1:00 am

Vincent Van Gogh’s painting ‘The Bedroom’, left, has been painstakingly recreated at the Art Institute of Chicago. You can sleep there for $10 a night. APF Photo

You can now sleep in a replica of Van Gogh’s “Bedroom” for just $10

Have you ever stared at a painting and wished you could slip inside? You may have a chance. The Art Institute of Chicago has recreated Vincent Van Gogh’s bedroom in an apartment and is renting it out for $10 a night.

“This is so perfect I’m literally crying,” art student Genevieve Marie Gualtiere wrote on the museum’sFacebook page.

“Staying here would be my dream! I need it.”

Art lovers have already snapped up all available dates in February, but will have more chances to book as the museum releases more dates on Airbnb.

“We’re hoping it will inspire people to think in new ways about the painting,” says Amanda Hicks, a spokeswoman for the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Our version of Van Gogh’s bedroom is so popular and well-loved and well-known that this gives you a chance to think about it and walk in it and live in and just experience with fresh eyes this iconic work.”

A group of local artists helped to recreate in painstaking detail the simple wooden furniture and rich colours of Van Gogh’s “The Bedroom,” one of his most recognisable works.

It is a remarkable experience, Hicks said, to walk through a modern Chicago apartment, open a door and be “transported across the threshold into Van Gogh’s Bedroom.”

Reservations will be restricted to just a single night and will include two tickets to the museum and a special exhibit which brings together all three versions of Van Gogh’s “The Bedroom.”

The Art Institute owns one and the others are on loan from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

The exhibit also includes a recreation of “The Bedroom” and as visitors move through the gallery they will walk over a blueprint of Van Gogh’s home in Arles, France.

It opened Sunday and runs through May 10.

Those wishing to rent the room should watch the museum’s Facebook page for an announcement of when more dates will become available. There are no plans to make it available after the exhibit closes.

“We’re not planning on getting into the recreation of bedrooms business,” Hicks says.

On the Web: http://www.facebook.com/artic

The best of Japanese art

Posted on June 16, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/The-best-of-Japanese-art-30279087.html

ENTERTAINMENT

THE NATION February 13, 2016 1:00 am

Some of the country’s best-known contemporary artists have work on view at Central Embassy

BANGKOK MALL Central Embassy is promoting its |”One Life, Infinite Possibilities” campaign with a “Japanese Contemporary Art Show” until February 21, featuring 11 world-renowned figures.

The exhibition on G Floor being staged in collaboration with La Lanta Fine Art of Bangkok, Gallery Kogure in Tokyo and the YOD Gallery in Osaka, explains managing director Barom Bhicharnchitr. “We cater to every lifestyle, including that of people who love art and everyone seeking inspiration,” he says.

La Lanta director Sukontip Ostick calls Central Embassy “a fitting venue to showcase works by these internationally famous artists who have exhibited their paintings, sculptures and mixed media at major museums around the world”.

These are “talents you should not miss”, Sukontip says. Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami rose to fame in collaborations with Louis Vuitton. Yoshitomo Nara has had “numerous globally recognised works over the past decade”. The exhibition, he says, “also sheds light on the new generation of artists in Japan – eight rising stars”. The more than 50 artworks on view are all “uniquely interesting in their own right”.

Famed for finding unlimited uses for polka dots, Yayoi Kusama, 87, brought pop, minimalist and feminist art to Japan. She is celebrated for works such as “Infinity Dots Mirrored Room”, which was used in the Louis Vuitton Yayoi Kusama Collection. Auction house Christie’s set a record for her work – and for any living female artist – selling one piece in New York for $5.1 million.

Takashi Murakami, 54, paints, sculpts, creates posters and billboards and designs interiors and

home decor. As well as Vuitton, he’s worked with the commercial outfits Roppongi Hills and Yuzu, sharing a style that’s instantly recognisable for its candy colours and approachable subject characters.

Intimately knowledgeable of both Western art and the Japanese styles of old, he created “trans-dimensional paintings”, known as nihonga, to revolutionise the world of art.

Yoshitomo Nara, 57, is another of Japan’s best-known artists overseas and became one of the most influential at home when pop art was a big trend in the 1990s. He’s had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since age 25.

The characters of his paintings and sculptures are drawn from manga, including animals and particularly dogs, rendered with warm, gentle, friendly emotions inspired by childhood memories. He contrives installations in fibre and plastic as well. Nara’s influences also include Renaissance painting and minimalism.

The eight rising stars featured in the exhibition are Akaike Ryoto, Arata Huguchi, Hanae Sasaoka, Hiroyuki Matsuura, Motonori Uwasa, Ryuzo Satake, Shinichi Wasaka and Stitch Dog.

Woody relentless in pursuit of the skinny society

Posted on February 14, 2016 by SoClaimon

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SOOPSIP

The Nation February 12, 2016 1:00 am

Woody and Boom

HAVING SHED significant weight himself, TV host Woody Milintachinda continues his mission to rid the world of obesity, pummelling one celebrity after another into better shape. And the latest target is a former Miss Thailand.

Woody can be merciless in inflicting his self-styled “60-day Challenge” on the chubby. Chalermpon “Jack Fan Chan” Thikampornteerawong, his sidekick on the morning chat show “Tuen Mah Kui” (“Wake Up and Talk”), was his first victim – and quite reluctant, since he owed his fame to his girth. A decade earlier Jack had been the bulbous child bully in the hit movie “Fan Chan” (“My Girl”).

He wasn’t “Fan Chan” anymore, Woody insisted – he was just plain fat. So, under threat of losing his job if he didn’t accept the challenge, Jack went to work on his high cholesterol and high blood pressure and a passion for sweets that had rendered him diabetic. His exercise regime was torture for him and torture to watch, but he managed to drop from 126 kilograms to just under 100.

With Jack skeletonised, Woody turned his attention to actor-singer Pisanu “Boy” Nimsakul, who was actually quite svelte but wanted to get those six-pack abs that make the girls swoon. Woody’s “victims” were soon volunteering for the treatment. TV host Surivipa “Mam” Kultangwattana, politely referred to as “jolly”, dragged along her husband, Robert Poonpipat.

The latest recruit undergoing the challenge is Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee, who’s put on 20kg since she was Miss Thailand, the result of her metabolism-wrecking workaholic lifestyle and poor eating habits. Boom is no dummy being talked into a weight-loss spectacle – she has a PhD from Rangsit University and works as a lecturer.

She says she doesn’t care about people calling fat because her 100kg husband still loves her, and he used to be a personal fitness trainer. He once assured her she didn’t need to work out, saying if he wants to touch a well-muscled arm, he’s got two of his own. And anyway, Boom points out, her brain makes up for whatever she might lack in trim beauty.

Boom says slimming clinics often ask her to be their presenter – looking for those “before and after” pictures, no doubt – but she only became interested in slimming after seeing how happy Jack and Mam Surivipa were when they successfully completed Woody’s challenge. “I want to be able to smile like they do,” she says.

Rubbing his hands with glee, Woody has vowed to get Boom back into beauty-queen shape in no time. She currently weighs 77kg and Woody has given her to goal of dropping 10kg in 60 days, coached by his own on-air trainer. Boom notes that she actually weighed 62 or 63kg when she was a beauty queen, but the trainer reckons that’s not doable within two months, at least not in a healthy way.

Woody has “capped” the challenge by ordering Boom not to wear her Miss Thailand crown until she’s finished, which adds incentive, since she’ll have to turn down paid public appearances where the crown is required.

And finally, you are hereby warned: Woody says that, once Boom completes her mission, he’ll be going after “non-celebrities”.