product design | lean start-up | ​ business model generation | collaborative storytelling | installation design / build | book publishing | crowdfunding

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AT A GLANCE 
What is it? Social enterprise project that included a book, a line of wearables, a 150-meter installation, exhibition, public events, and a Kickstarter campaign that raised over 22K.

Why did I do this? As a Fulbright Research Fellow, I sought to model Lean Start-up strategies of design and innovation at the Rajamangala University of Technology, Pohchang Campus, after determining a need to forge a connection between artists and contemporary designers.

Where was this? Bangkok, reaching a global audience.

With whom?  Thai Sculpture Department at Pohchang College of Art & Design, the Buddhadasa Indapanno Archives, and Good After Nine

Public Art

Wearables

3D Modeling

Design/Build

Logo

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THE STORY 
In the years 2011-2015, I worked in Sri Lanka and Thailand and focused on how to assist traditional Buddhist artists from this region to bridge the gap between traditional art and contemporary design, and thereby reach a wider market.

The challenges involved language and economic barriers, limited exposure to technological resources and new innovation strategies, and the need for a platform through which to collaborate outside their own circles. ​

​As a Fulbright Research Fellow, I was based in the Thai Sculpture Department at Pohchang and its classical studios that instantly transports any visitor to mythical lands conjured in bronze, plaster, and clay.

How do we bridge mythology and modernity?

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The best way to share what I knew was to demonstrate.
​So I created a social enterprise project called AKSHA. ​

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AKSHA was based on the principle that the purpose of Buddhist art--to inspire people in meditation--could be used as a foundation for collaboration with contemporary designers. A successful Kickstarter campaign enabled us to test a global market for such products. In just 4 weeks we had backers from North America, Europe, Russia, as well as South and Southeast Asia. The project ultimately raised over 22K USD in sales and donations. 
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Dear little child, listen to me
There was once a Nalikae Tree
On an island in the middle of a hot wax sea.
Nothing at all could trouble it,
not thunder, wind, nor rain.
It can only be reached by those
Beyond wish for merit or gain." 
- Interpretation of an ancient Thai lullaby.

I wrote a storybook and asked 10 local artists to illustrate it. Then we built everything in the story out in real life--at larger than life scale.

This served to gather and mobilize all the stakeholders of the project--artists and their apprentices, designers, academic and private institutions, and the public. 

The storybook was based on a lullaby and was called "The Nalikae Tree". It was published in both English and Thai, and contained the story as well as the process for the entire project.

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To find the Nalikae Tree, a little girl builds a bridge of her thoughts across the hot wax sea. She strives to pass two doors that emerge in her path, but at the second one she falls into the sea.  (To read the full story, request a copy.)

The reason I selected this lullaby, is that it is the inspiration for the architecture for a modern center for Buddhist study called the Buddhadasa Indapanno Archives (BIA). Before the project, many did not realize this fact. The book and installation, along with 6 weeks of public events and exhibitions and coverage from newspaper, magazine, and television served to raise awareness of it. These also brought the lullaby, back into modern usage, inspiring reinterpretations and recordings by pop musicians and poets. 

So, I designed a bridge 150 m long and 4 m wide that went through the building, across the lake and to the island, up to the tree. Managing the construction meant 14-hour days for two weeks, working with teams of builders, volunteers, BIA staff, students and professors.

​At the foot of the tree, we installed 4 permanent sculptures that represented the beads the child found in the story. These sculptures were based on the designs we created for the accessories in the AKSHA Kickstarter, and they functioned as long-lasting mementos of the story and the project for people around the world.