Bangkok Design Week

2024

(O)oab Auan
The Never-Fading Scent

By Place/narrative & Phasom.Arom Design Studios

The aroma of coconut milk and candle smoke wafts through the air, evoking memories of the traditional Thai desserts that have been a part of the lives of the people of Nang Loeng for centuries. These aromas are reinterpreted through experiments with human sensory perception, where the sense of smell is linked to the sense of taste of Thai desserts that is familiar to all Thai people from childhood. This allows audience to feel as if they are tasting Thai desserts without actually tasting them.

The exhibition takes us on a journey to Nang Loeng, using the enveloping aroma and concentrated density in the center to tell the story. Experimenting with cutting off external stimulus from the context that is difficult to control from entering the exhibition. Using various distances that are derived from human proportions and perception of distance. The attraction of the denser aroma inside is further enhanced by using materials such as plastic rope curtains made from recycled water bottles in the Nang Loeng community, which are then stretched into rope. These materials, achieved through the use of plastic rope curtains made from recycled water bottles from the Nang Loeng community's plastic bank. The plastic bottles are turned into plastic ropes that can be used to make plastic brooms, ropes, or recycled back into the bottle recycling cycle.

Read more here.