THE CHINATOWN EFFECT Authentic Trans-Territorial Pavilion
INDA Design and Build 2019_Sabrina Morreale and Lorenzo Perri
3rd-30th June 2019
Cho Why Gallery, Bangkok
COPY CULTURE The Chinese have two different concepts of a copy. Fangzhipin are imitations where the difference from the original is obvious. These are small models or copies that can be purchased in a museum shop, for example. The second concept for a copy is Fuzhipin. They are exact reproductions of the original, which, for the Chinese, are of equal value to the original. It has absolutely no negative connotations. The discrepancy with regard to the understanding of what a copy is has often led to misunderstandings and arguments between Chinese and Western culture. Especially for Europeans, it’s difficult to accept that identity and renewal can be not mutually exclusive. Instead, in the Chinese culture - where continual reproduction represents a technique for conservation and preservation - replicas are anything but mere copies. DOMESTIC(ATED) DRAGONS The Oxford Dictionary defines “Chinatown” as “a district of any non-Chinese town, especially a city or seaport, in which the population is predominantly of Chinese origin”. However, some Chinatowns may have little to do with China, while they certainly have in common with other Chinatowns in different locations. Indeed, if one hand these communities were able to resist and preserve their cultural origins more than other ethnic enclaves, they were also subject to a natural process of diffusion, exposure and commodification - that witnessed the raise of a worldwide shared Chinatownised identity. Travellers find there secure places where to recollect memories and authentic experiences. Clusters of exotic stimulating clichés - goods, signs and behaviours - that trigger an intuitive sense of familiarity and international domesticity. WORKSHOP (3rd-30th June 2019)
INDA Design and Build 2019_Sabrina Morreale and Lorenzo Perri
Students will investigate the notion of commonality and stereotype - in relationship to the world of Chinatown(s) and the Chinese cultural attitude towards reproducibility. This will lead to the construction of a small lightweight pavilion, assembled and exhibited at the ATT19 Gallery (19 Captain Bush Ln, Charoen Krung Rd Soi 30, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500).
A Very Small Part of Architecture, Highgate Cemetery by Sam Jacob
The students will construct the whole pavilion: metallic frames and scaffolding, covered with fabric surfaces and crafteed model units. The pavilion itself will be a geometrical, material and spatial manifestation of shared stereotypical Chinatownising forces: an inhabitable red & gold folie - a purposely architectural cliché. Once inside, a tran-territorial Chinatownised world will be represented through edited videos on multiple screens. We will show moments, public rituals and private objects from Yaowarat in Bangkok; then, with the contribution of a network of friends living in various interational Chinese communities, we will accurately and playfully pair them with similar but geographically displaced settings. This series of crafted mutual copies will highlight invisible cultural clashes and subtle aesthetic overlappings. Welcome to the realm of authentic replicas. First Week_ Sampling Chinatownised Moments + Video Editing (pairs) Second Week_ Pavilion Design + Metallic Structure Construction Third Week_ Pavilion Design + Fabric assembling and construction Fourth Week_ Curating the Stageset + Exhibition Opening
Att19 will be our location where our pavilion will be constructed and exhibited (https://www.gqthailand.com/life/article/ancient-history-in-new-multi-arts-space)