The people of Cambodia find themselves culturally traumatized today by the actions of the Khmer Rouge 30 years ago. The Decapitation of knowledge; the burning of books, the defacement of heritage sites such as the bullet holes in Angkor Wat; add a thin layer to a thick history which forever transforms the connotations of ‘place.’ This palimpsest inspires the project to challenge the way a user might engage with the idea of knowledge. Therefore the project advances on this notion of historic transformation by intercepting an existing and struggling shadow theater program between the national archive and library of Cambodia. Ultimately it is the users relationship to the the generation of place through actions that literally amplifies the problematic of the shadow theater and converts it into an archive. The resonance of each consecutive program space affects the others in what is essentially a holistic dramatization of the user’s actions, the resurfacing of knowledge and from afar an awareness of historic dilution.
this landscape was an articulation of Lebbues Woods' 'City of Earth.' By focusing on the individual domain, a series of temples synced the cosmological desires of Buddhist monks to the sedimental al movement of the Earth itself.
inside a monk converses with the amplification of the earth's movements as it resonates inside through sound and light.
a prototype installation of shadow language
the observations that bridged together from Lebbues' world and the conditions and circumstances in Cambodia began to manifest concepts.
courtyarding the adjacent spaces, both sides allow users to pear in and experience a program that goes deep into the ground.
through the tunnels users get a first glimpse, a play of darkness and brightness.
an experience grounded in ash and smoke
the smoke and shadows collide inside to form new and distorted images
the implications of shadow theatres below resonate to the surface
viewers can pear in from the street level and experience the shadow theatres heat and resonance.
