Technique and medium: Computer graphic, projection.
Tell us about the concept behind this exhibition.
The exhibition consists of three parts: my self-portrait, an installation, and pieces of text. The 28 self-portraits come under the theme of “Me, Myself and I.” The installation will represent my death scene, using a plaster mannequin as a body, and two small screens serving as the eyes. On top will be a projector screen showing what I’m thinking and would like to say at the moment of my death. The text pieces will be quotes about my life experience. For example, one of the quotes will be “Stop watching porn, and you’ll be more productive.” There will be 20 such quotes.

What about this image of the brain scan in particular?
It is one of the scenes presented on the screen in the installation part. The brain represents my own brain if it could speak, what it would confess in its last moments.

Do the colors red, yellow and green represent anything?
The color usage was selected from my own preferences, as it was my brain, but they do not have some specific meaning. I simply used them to separate the parts of my brain.

Why was the idea of the deathbed confession appealing to you?
In art, we often see artists like Marcel Duchamp and Goya and their work about death. Even in movies, many have significant death scenes, where the actor has something to say before he or she passes away. The concept of the deathbed confession comes from that same impulse, but this exhibition is not the last work before I die; rather, it’s a confession of myself on what art is in my perspective, a confession of my own philosophy.

What do you expect the audience will get out of your work?
I don’t know what exactly they will get out of it. The best I can do is to express my message through my work and let it speak for itself. Vasachol Quadri

What is the story about?
In brief, I would say it is about the unconscious sexual desires of humans.

What style of theater would you say it is?
It’s not a traditional play with a full story line and lots of dialogue. It’s more a piece of conceptual art that uses performance, installation, graphics and film in expressing a whole thought. I would call myself a performance designer rather than a director.

The play is inspired by a short story by Tomorn Sukpreecha. Tell us more about the adaptation.
The story is about a boy who is in love with his mom’s high heels. His mom punishes him for having sex with her shoes. The story made me think that everyone has their own way of enjoying sex. So, I created the characters and the story to express this idea. The show is like a sex discussion, except done through a variety of characters and techniques. The challenge is to go beyond people’s expectations that this is merely an erotic play. It’s more than that.

Do you see a relationship between your previous play, Silent Scream: Journey to the Dream of a Murderer, and Fin?
The concept for both plays came from short stories. For Silent Scream, I was inspired by the female character in Albert Camus’ The Misunderstanding. The differences are in the staging techniques. As the name implies, Silent Scream was largely a silent performance with very little dialogue. But for Fin, I decided to use more visual art.

Who should watch this play?
Certainly not those who are expecting a fun, romantic stage play. I’d recommend it for anyone who loves theater or anyone who just loves experiencing works of art.

What would you say is the highlight of the show?
This is collaborative show, involving artists who are experts in particular types of art, each creating their own presentation to represent our concept. Making the play has been like mixing a salad, with me as the chef. Vasachol Quadri

Check out Fin: Fetishism Story at Democrazy Theater Studio

We speak to BK Magazine’s Production Supervisor, Komkrit Klinkaeo, who drove 2,010km from Bangkok to Luang Prabang and back again in a 1960 VW beetle. Trust us, there’s plenty to see on your way to this World Heritage City, with gorgeous Lao-style temples and colonial French architecture (not to mention Lao food and baguette sandwiches) upon arrival. But before you jump into your car, Komkrit has some tips on the practical aspects of driving from here to Nong Khai, across the border, and deep into Laos.

How far is it?

1,005 km, one-way. It’s pretty tiring. Don’t try to do it in less than seven days.

What do you need?

- Your Car’s Passport. Register your car at the Department of Land Transport (1032 Phahonyothin Rd., Chomphon, Chatuchak, 02-271-8888) to get a vehicle passport (a.k.a. a purple passport. It’s B50) so that you’ll be authorized to drive the car outside of Thailand. As Laos is our ASEAN neighbor, Thai driving licenses are accepted. If you’re not Thai, but have a Thai or international license, that works, too.
- Your Passport. Most nationalities can get a visa on arrival. Thais don’t need one as, again, they are ASEAN members.
- Your car’s insurance documents.

What’s the plan?

Day 1: Starting from Bangkok, you will take around six hours driving along Phahonyothin and then Mitraphap roads heading directly to Nong Khai, the topmost northeastern province. A night’s stay in Nong Khai is recommended.
Day 2: Cross the 1st Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge for the immigration process to get into Laos. If you’ve already prepared all your documents, this won’t take so long and you can continue on the short 20km drive to get to Laos’ capital city, Vientiane, which sits right across, on the other side of the Mekong River. Stay overnight so you will have an opportunity to visit several tourist attractions in Vientianne, including Phra That Luang, Wat Phra Kaew and Talat Chao.
Day 3: Though the actual distance to Luang Prabang is not far from here, there are thousands of curves and turns on the way, so you better stop at Vang Vieng, a small town that sits between two big cities, to enjoy the picturesque scenes and slow lifestyle of the locals. Don’t miss kayaking or rubber ringing along its main river with lots of fun activities along the way.
Day 4: Another four hours gets you to Luang Prabang, the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Day 5-7: Put the car in reverse and make your way back.

How much was the fuel?

About B8,000.

You went as a caravan of 20 VW beetles and minivans. Any bust engines?

We have spare engines. We can fix anything. Three cars broke down but no one got left behind.

Bang Luang

Charansanitwong Road soi 3. Open daily 10am-5pm.
Just 500 meters from the busy Charansanitwong Rd., Bang Luang is the coolest, quietest market in the big bad city. Started by an artist, Chumpon Akpanthanont, who renovated an old wooden house into an art gallery, it now attracts more and more tourists every weekend. In turn, its growing popularity has encourage people in the community to renovate their beautiful old homes.
Highlights: The performers from the dearly missed Joe Louis Theater stage Thai traditional puppetry performances everyday at 2pm (except Wed). There are art classes like water painting or traditional printing for a mere B50. Foodies can buy from vendors in their boats on the canal, or just walk across the bridge to devour gway jab and sticky rice with mango at the riverside shop on the corner.

Bang Nampueng

Prapradaeng, Samut Prakarn. Open Sat-Sun 8am-5pm.
It might be situated out of Bangkok but this market is really easy to access. Busy only on the weekend, it extends down a narrow concrete walkway along a tiny canal. Like all markets, there’s a lot of great food, but you’ll also find herbal products and other goods.
Highlights: The hoi tod served in tiny cups and the guay tiew ruea are the most popular items. You can also break a sweat by renting a rowboat to cruise along the canal (B20 per hour). As it’s nearly Songkran, Prapradaeng is also one of the biggest splash sites in town. Be aware of the fact that they will host Songkran the weekend after (Apr 16-17).

Talingchan

Talingchan District Office. Open Sat-Sun 8am-4pm.
Talingchan floating market is tucked away in a suburb sometimes called Klong Chak Phra. It’s a great spot to feel like you’re outside of Bangkok, even though it’s just 30 minutes from the CBD. The market sits on the banks a small canal connecting the larger Bangkok Noi and Bangkok Yai canals. The market itself is started in 1987 with only five bamboo rafts but now, thousands of shoppers swarm the riverside shops and stalls every weekend.
Highlight: The pontoons, which have been set up with little tables and chairs, bob up and down as the boats cruise by. There, you can stock up on moo satay, kanom jeen, grilled seafood, Thai desserts, fresh fruits and vegetables from vendors’ gardens. Our favorite? The mee krob Mae Lek and the kanom bueng yuan in front of the entrance.
Bonus: From here you can visit two floating markets—Wat Saphan and Lat Mayom—as part of a one-hour boat tour (B90 for adults, B50 for kids). There are some live fish, turtles and eels available in this market that you’re meant to release to make merit. Talingchan market itself also has live Thai classical music, making your shopping there a moment lost in time.

-These temples were mostly built under King Suriyavarman I, who reigned from 1002-1050 and Suriyavarman II (1113-1150), and hence often predate the more famous Angkor Wat.

- Suriyavarman I was the son of a king who ruled over an ancient Malay kingdom which included Korat and Southern Thailand. He was the one to add Lopburi and half of southern Thailand to the empire and re-establish the Khmer capital in Angkor.

- Khmer temples were either built as Hindu temples, sometimes with subsequent conversions to Buddhism, or built directly as Buddhist temples. Polish up on your Ramayana (or at least its Khmer version, the Reamker).

BK: What did you do before coming to Thailand?
Luke: I was working in the tech industry for 8 or 9 years. When the tech bubble burst I didn’t know what to do with my life. I talked to my yoga trainer and asked him. He told me that maybe I was simply in the wrong career and that I should learn to become a yoga trainer. So I went to India to learn the art. When I was in India I visited Thailand where I told myself I’d stay a year. One year turned into six.

BK: After six years, what have you learned about Thailand?
Luke: I’m studying at Ramkhaemhang University with students who are paying B25 a credit. At the same time, I’m teaching people who can afford to pay B3,000 a month to practice yoga. There really is such a divide. I’m always learning.

BK: What’s the story with your TV show Farang Pok Pok?
Luke: A friend of mine told me about the position, so I tried out and I’ve filmed six episodes so far. All my friends are saying “Wow! You’re doing a TV show!” but it really has a very backpacker-theme, it isn’t hiso. It’s about living like real people do. It’s such an experience. I recently stayed at a house that used a car battery for electricity. Filming is challenging! Speaking Thai in front of the camera isn’t easy. The other thing is that I don’t actually watch TV, so I wasn’t sure what to do.

BK: What’s your hometown like?
Luke: I come from a small city in America. At home you can go to the local bar and the bartender will say, “Hey, I got a present for you,” and he’ll bring you out a pound of deer meat.

BK: Has traveling changed your perceptions?
Luke: Through the TV show I’ve also learned that you really don’t need a lot of money to live an agricultural lifestyle. I had dinner with a family one time where the host built a fire to cook the rice, went outside and gathered up some vegetables from the garden and served us all dinner.

BK: What has been your craziest experience thus far?
Luke: Well, the riots were pretty scary. I’d stocked up enough food for a few days and then I’d just stay in my apartment and practice yoga. Yoga has built such a strong foundation that I was able to steady and focus my mind during it all.

BK: Do you plan to stay here permanently?
Luke: I like it here. I’m in a relationship, I have a good job, I’ll soon graduate and I just wrote a book that’ll be coming out in July. Who knows? I’d really like to stay, though.

BK: Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?
Luke: I’ve just started to film a documentary. Info will be released on my website soon, www.luke.org. Interview by Cole Pennington and Sritala Dhanasarnsombut

“Disney’s animated film featured characters that were more alive and human than this live-action film.” Rebecca Murray, About.com

“This is Beauty and the Beast for the Twilight generation; they’ve paid for abs and sparkles, and they insist on getting their money’s worth.” Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

“There is one good thing you can say about Beastly: The title perfectly sums up what you’ll see on screen.” Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic

“A kiss may cure the monster, but not even campy performances from Mary-Kate Olsen and Neil Patrick Harris can save this ugly snarl of cliches.” Peter Debruge, Variety

“Getting teens to look past the superficial may be a noble goal, but when they’re staring at the pretty but talentless Pettyfer, it’s a hard lesson to take seriously.” Sandie Angulo Chen, Washington Post