The 2nd Workshop Summary Report

Before too long, I would like to make a summary report of our 2nd part workshop with Cedric Ragot. :) It was great fun and very interesting as expected. Although we had some problems with the students from other universities who could not attend this part because of their school schedule, we tried to make it within the students in Chulalongkorn University.

The same as the 1st part workshop, with Cedric, we began with a lecture in Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University. The lecture has two parts: the first one is about his work, he showed us his newly finished website, very interesting. The second part is about the workshop idea by Cedric's wife, Anne-Lucie, also very intersting.

Then, we gave a brief to the students. This time, we had 2 newly graduates, Tanya and Ma, joining us in this workshop too. And of course, we began to work, and work...

The discussion with Tanya, Ma and Pom. They showed us some of their interesting ideas...


In the evening, 7-8 of the 4th year students came into our workshop space and asked if they could take part. Cedric and Anne-Lucie kindly gave their lecture to them again as an introduction to the workshop. :)


The 2nd day of the workshop, in the afternoon, we all were invited to the press conference of the whole event: the exhibition, the workshop, the art installation of 'the place & the plate' as part of La Fete 2007.


We also stopped by at the exhibition space to see the work-in-progress. Wit was very tired. I was very amazed by the number of those boxes he had to deal with!


During these days, we also gave some 'Thai food lessons' to Cedric and Anne-Lucie. Dim Sum, Thai desserts and so on.



On the 3rd day, pim began to work on some models for the students. As you can see, it is her favourite job and she is very good at doing it too.


Meanwhile we worked with students on different things. In this picture, I was helping Oam to make an investigation on this project, how to have a bowl of noodle soup in a bed...


Cedric is helping Lukkang to make a 3-d computer model for her project too.


This is Tanya's project model made by Pim, a tool to hold a bowl of soup in a fancy party, where fancy dressed people have to eat noodle soup or sharkfin soup standing and walking . Cedric is testing it.

Or's project is a bag+cup for drinking take-away soymilk. Very interesting solution after a few days of struggling....


Oam was working on two projects. This one is a bowl with a spoon resting place, a small 'cut' in a shape of traditional Thai Motive, with golden trim. Very simple and cute project.



The other project of Oam is a bowl to use in a bed. There are three legs to be stable. :)


Pom 's project is a bowl for breakfast in a car. Since thousands of Bangkok kids have their breakfast in their car going to school every morning. Pom's solution is this so called 'bean bag' bowl. You can see it in the plates he posted here too.


Dia is a super girl. She worked on three projects on this workshop. The first one is a common soup bowl where you can place a serving spoon in the middle. Because usually it is a bit annoying trying to find this serving spoon. It looks like a small boat floating on water. And if you put the bowl upside down. It will become a small flower pot too. :O


Another project of Dia is a Pillow Bowl - a bowl to use in bed, similar to Oam's idea with different solution.


Dia's third project is also a cute one. She plays with the bowls, plates and cups stacking on the top of each other while being carried to a table. Surprise arrives when you find that some of them are not separated, but a bowl is shaped in several bowls stacked on each other.


Job's computer gamer bowl project. You can also find his presentation panels here in the blog too.

Actually there are few more projects. But I don't have their images... Hey you guys should posted all your works here as soon as possible. Looking forward to.

20 June 2007: Working and Working

The first draft ideas of every student were presented to us yesterday.. today we begins in the morning from 9 am. The students work on formulating their idea into an object.

Our great supporters from Jim Thomson Art Center, Tan and Now. We are fed with good lunch, snacks and drinks all day long.

Some students begin to work on sketch models.. with a lot of documentations.


Some have great computer modelling skill... they spend most of their time in front of computers.


Anne, Pim and I were orbitting around the students all day long, from one to another.. until the last students left around 9 pm.!

This is what we teachers do in the afternoon when our brain cell start to die...we do research on stick food!... The grilled pork/chicken/liver on stick and sticky rice (so many sticks now..) sold in front of our building... an experience for farang : )




We, the three teachers, went for our cool dinner of Koren Barbeque, Thai style. very yummy. ! Anne also learned many Thai utensils such as the grill pan where you can grill the meat and boil the vegetable at the same time... :)
This is soup too... , see, we're working even during dinner!

18 June 2005: The First Day of the Workshop

Finally the workshop began.
Anne Xiradakis arrived on Sunday morning, Pim and I met her to prepare the workshop and had dinner together - it was a Thai dinner, of course, at Talingpling Restaurant at Pan Road. Anne got a quite an introduction to Thai food!


The first day of the workshop started with Anne's lecture at Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University. There were around 150s students and people at the lecture. It was quite successful indeed. Her lecture was divided into two parts: the first part was about her works where you can find in her website, the second part was about a historical survey of food+soup culture in France - very interesting indeed, I also learned that the French got a very sophisticate table set from Russia!



After the lecture, we met the students from 3 universities: Chulalongkorn, King Mongkut Thonburi and King Mongkut Lakrabang. We gave them a brief to make an exploration + investigation about Thai food and eating culture with images, sketches and so on. Besides, they had to do a shopping for cooking 'a soup' for the evening dinner altogether - it was quite an event.

After lunch at Jim Thompson House where Anne had a chance to meet Jeab (Gridtiya), our Thai curator and to see the house, we went also for a shopping for some ingredients Anne needed for her 'soup' at Siam Paragon, one of the supermarket lover's paradise....

Around 5 pm. we arrived to VER Gallery where we would have the cooking session and the dinner party altogether. The Gallery is owned by Rirkrit Tiravanija where there are always nice and interesting people around. It is situated next to Chao Phraya River, next to Millenium Hilton Hotel but surrounded by very local market and the traffic of people going in and out from the ferry - very interesting location.

The gallery is equipped with quite a full-option kitchen for cooking our dinner.


The students were having fun preparing their soups. Every couple had to make one soup + Anne's soup, we ended up having eight kinds of soup!


The bitter melon stuffed with mince and spices soup... it was the first time them to make it!

The ingredients for 'Palo Soup'. They were boiling the stock.

To make a simple clear soup with egg sausage 'more design', the students painted the egg sausage with food colors! I was very impressed.


While waiting for the soup to be read, we were having fun, food and wine.

The first soup was ready- Tom Yam Kung with Fondue style! Very creative :)


Clear soup with seaweed, mince balls and egg sausage. The other one is Tom Kha Kai!

This one is Squid with lime and garlic soup.. I am not so sure if it is soup.. it is something in between.

"Jab Chai" or 10-Vegetable Soup. It is a Chinese origin, very convenient if you have a lot left over...


Finally the bitter melon soup is finished too... although it took them quite sometime.

Anne's Soup, Tomato Soup with little alphabet pasta - she got the recipe from her grandmother!


A little technical problem happened while the cooking process was going on: the gas was finished! it was too late to get a replacement, so a guy from Ver Gallery made this three chachoal stoves for us! Very impressive indeed. Anne also cooked her soup on this stove!


Everything was ready... we had them all...It was unbelievable that we could cook and ate them all...very good and pleasant. :) Although it was quite hot from the food and the weather....


As the Chinese say, every party will come to the end... we ended everything with dish washing session. The students were doing well...


At the end, we all were hot, exhausted and super full... Our beloved curator, Jeab, said ...'it is a paradise in hell'. Our experience of the moment, Bangkok in general, both could fit perfectly with the sentence. Here is the picture from the window of the gallery before we left. Paradise in Hell...


Let's see what the students would show us for their first presentation...:) We were all excited.

The Place and the Plate: the workshop

THE PLACE AND THE PLATE
A blend inspired by the East and the West, modernity and tradition, heritage and innovation: the similarities between Jim Thompson’s life, house and this project are so striking that “La Fête” could not have found a better “place” to serve its “plates”.
As Jim Thompson did in boosting up the silk industry by modernising it while keeping up its strong traditional identity., numerous designers have also used their culture in order to create a future that is rooted and makes references to the past, as they are faced to a world that is more and more homogeneous and standardized, by suggesting a new approach to the French tableware.

Accompanied by a background sound effect which brings out a culinary atmosphere, the exhibition will show videos of bars and restaurants that have been created by designers and will compare typical French and Thai tableware pieces and their role in enhancing creativity and know-how, in encouraging innovation. Thus the permanent pursuit of a new energy will be highlighted by reinterpreting tradition, integrating the use new techniques, new methods and new productions forms. In Thailand where the culinary art and ultra modern designs are of the essence, the “Place and the Plate” will find its place naturally!

Being the spearhead of “Fooding” = Food + Feeling), term invented by Alexandre Cammas at the beginning of the year 2000 to evoke alternative gastronomy by combining a pleasing atmosphere with pleasurable food(the pleasure of the place and the plate), the imagination of designers compete with the biggest table-ware factories.
Thus, to conclude this fourth edition, “La Fête” will invite its guests to taste a healthy menu created in the breast-shaped moulds of the artist, Pinare Sampitak for the pleasure the pupils and the taste buds.

Workshops will be organized before the exhibition period and for the opening ceremony with French designer Cédric Rogot and Anne Xiradakis and Thai designers: Rachaporn Choochuey and Pim Sudhikam.