by bria4123 on October 31, 2012
“All Lan Na wats are beautiful.” I agreed with the gentleman in Nan who told me this (Nan is a historic city that thrived within the northern Thai kingdom of Lan Na in the 15th and early 16th century). And every wat is different.
But northern Thai wats have common features that make them many people’s favorites. I met several locals who prefer northern Thailand to the south, and I encountered many Westerners who decided to move there. Come and explore some of northern Thailand’s magic. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 30, 2012
I’ve been sloppy. I’ve invoked Thai perspective and Western perspective several times, but perspective is a controversial term. What is a perspective?
The word’s origin shows Western preferences that many cultures don’t share. The ancient Latin perspicere meant to look at closely. Mut many cultures conceive vision in other ways, and several focus on other senses than vision. A different way of apprehending the world emerged in Thailand. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 30, 2012
I was annoyed at first. I couldn’t find a little-known temple in Nan, so I popped into a little grocery store for a snack and directions.
Both men in the above photo pointed in opposite directions. But they quickly showed as muchThai grace as the temple I searched for had. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 29, 2012
The more you examine a culture’s way of thinking, the richer it becomes.
The above statue of the Sleeping Buddha (at Wat Phra That Chae Haeng, in Nan, Thailand) is based on different ideas about the most basic forms in art and reality than the West’s focus on abstract lines and shapes. But these forms are infinitely rich. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 29, 2012
The Kingdom of Lan Na emerged when the Thais liberated themselves from the Khmers in the 13th century. Lan Na thrived in northern Thailand, and it created some of the world’s greatest art.
Lan Na enjoyed its heyday in the late 15th century, so it created this art when Italians developed works that Westerners have taken for granted as the most beautiful. So Lan Na art is a great medium for exploring another culture’s way of looking at the world. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 29, 2012
A Thai temple’s forms help you get into its spirit long before you go inside.
We’ll examine this spirit in this post, and see some of the depths of one of the world’s most fascinating cultures. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 28, 2012
Grace becomes cash at Wat Khanika Phon in Bangkok.
Many pretty forms and colors blend in Thai temples, so why not include some money? Come in and see more of the wealth in Thai perspectives. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 28, 2012
Gonna wai with a little help from my friends.
Buddha statues comprise a major Thai art form. But most books on Thai art don’t look at them with Thai eyes. Here, we’ll begin to delve into the infinite depths of Thai perspectives. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 27, 2012
Though he sports more tattoos than teeth, this resident of Sukhothai, Thailand follows the forms that his city’s artists perfected.
After exploring Sukhothai’s ancient ritual center, I wandered through the town’s outskirts and the countryside. The people charmed me as much as Sukhothai’s art did. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on October 27, 2012
While Florentine artists and architects were developing three dimensional perspective in the 15th century, Thai sculptors perfected their own art forms.
They express a different way of seeing the world, but this way is equally fascinating. [click to continue…]
