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New York Times
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Near Bangkok, a Sprawling Forest Where Art Seems to Grow on Trees
Three times a day, a delicate fog drifts from nozzles hidden in flower beds and rolls down sloping hills and into a large clearing in the Khao Yai Art Forest. The white mist unfurls across the landscape like a wave, skimming the grass and enveloping the forest-edged valley, before fading into a thin layer of moisture. Fog is rare in this rural part of central Thailand, bordering Khao Yai National Park. But this work, 'Khao Yai Fog Forest, Fog Landscape #48435' (2024) — created by the Japanese artist, Fujiko Nakaya — transcends nature itself. To create the fog and choreograph its presence across the 10,000-square-foot site, Ms. Nakaya altered the landscape and collaborated with Aquaria, a San Francisco company whose technology harvests atmospheric moisture for clean, drinkable water. 'In Buddhist philosophy, water descends from the sky to heal and connect us with nature,' said Marisa Chearavanont, a Korean-born art patron and philanthropist who lives in Bangkok, in an interview at the Khao Yai Art Forest at dusk, as the forest fog surrounded us. 'This mist is like a spiritual cleansing experience.' In 2022, driven by a personal search for healing in nature after Thailand's Covid lockdown, Ms. Chearavanont, who is in her early 60s, bought the site, some 160 acres of flatlands and forested hills in Khao Yai, a weekend retreat for Bangkok residents about 100 miles northeast of the city. Once the essential infrastructure was built, the Khao Yai Art Forest opened in February 2025, with artworks integrated in the natural landscape for visitors to explore freely during opening hours (admission is 500 Thai baht, or $14.64). 'We invite artists to create site-specific works using materials they find locally, like water, wood, stones, soil and wind,' Ms. Chearavanont said. Amid the trees, a towering stone sculpture titled 'God' (2024) by the Italian artist Francesco Arena features two boulders sourced locally and stacked vertically. Fragments of 10 stupas titled 'Pilgrimage to Eternity' (2024) by the Thai artist who goes by the pseudonym Ubatsat, made from local soil and covered in some moss, are gradually being re-appropriated by nature. The Berlin duo Elmgreen & Dragset have created a working cocktail lounge titled 'K-Bar' (2024) dedicated to the hard-drinking German artist Martin Kippenberger, who died in 1997. Once a month at dusk, the small, well-lighted building — with bar stools and a collection of bottles — comes to life, and a bartender serves drinks to visitors. Standing watch in a rice field is a bronze version of the French artist Louise Bourgeois's 30-foot-high spider sculpture called 'Maman' (1999–2002), on loan from the Easton Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving Bourgeois's legacy. The rice field is part of the Art Forest's organic farming program, which aims to promote healing through food in partnership with the Chef Cares Foundation, which Ms. Chearavanont founded in the early days of the Covid pandemic. Initially focused on feeding frontline workers, the foundation now works to assist underprivileged communities, in part by providing culinary training to children in need. The emphasis on site-specific art, regenerative farming and Buddhist principles sets the Khao Yai Art Forest apart from other major outdoor art initiatives —such as Inhotim museum in Brumadinho, Brazil, set within a 140-hectare botanical garden; Château La Coste, in the Provence region of France; and Naoshima island in Japan. 'In our modern, virtual world, we need to touch the land and restore our connection with nature,' said Ms. Chearavanont, who is married to Soopakij Chearavanont, chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, an agro-industrial conglomerate in Thailand. 'The idea behind the Art Forest was to bring communities together around art, help them reconnect with the land, feed them and restore the environment.' On a hilltop, 'Madrid Circle' (1986) by the British Land Art pioneer Richard Long features stones arranged in a circle, referencing his practice of walking as art. The work was part of a large batch that Ms. Chearavanont acquired from the estate of the Italian collector Giuseppe Panza in a sale facilitated by Stefano Rabolli Pansera, then a director at the gallery Hauser & Wirth. In 2022, Mr. Rabolli Pansera, an architect and curator, who has curated several national pavilions at the Venice Biennale, moved from St. Moritz, Switzerland, to Bangkok to steer Ms. Chearavanont's art programming as director. On advice of Mr. Rabolli Pansera, Ms. Chearavanont bought the Bangkok Kunsthalle in 2023, as an urban counterpart to the Art Forest. Located in the city's Chinatown, the nearly 65,000-square-foot Brutalist complex, which had been a fire-damaged printing house, comprises three connected buildings. As in the Art Forest where artists work with local materials, in the Kunsthalle, artists are invited to respond to the building's decayed state through art, film, music and architecture. 'We don't plan to restore the building,' Mr. Rabolli Pansera said in an interview at the Kunsthalle, where soot and traces of smoke were still visible on the walls. 'We invite artists to make interventions in the architecture itself. They can drill all the holes they want. Like the forest, the building is not a passive backdrop. It shapes the art and is part of the experience. This is land art 2.0.' Opened as an arts venue in 2024, the Kunsthalle regularly hosts exhibitions by local and international artists. In June, the Thai collective Yunglai will present a show reflecting on the building's history as a printing house. From Sept. 1 to Feb. 15, the show 'Description Without Place' will feature six inhabitation cells or 'Cellules d'Habitation,' tiny living pods created by the French Israeli artist Meir Eshel, who was known professionally as Absalon. 'We want our project to be attractive to artists and to show that we can produce new content and create new opportunities here,' Mr. Rabolli Pansera said. 'We also want to work with other global art institutions.' Next March, out at the Khao Yai Art Forest, the Colombian artist Delcy Morelos will unveil a site-specific installation near an excavated rock garden, following an introduction facilitated by the Dia Art Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit organization that initiates, supports and preserves art projects. 'We visited the Art Forest with Delcy after her show in New York, and she has now proposed an incredible project for the site,' said Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation in a phone interview from New York. 'We are also discussing showing works from our collection at the Bangkok Kunsthalle, our first exhibition in Thailand,' Ms. Morgan said. 'I plan to return with my curatorial team. Supporting artists together is key.' That collaboration represents a small part of a larger cultural transformation in Thailand, fueled by collectors and private investment. Dib Bangkok, the country's first major museum for international contemporary art, founded by the Thai businessman Purat Osathanugrah and housed in a warehouse transformed according to the Thai architect Kulapat Yantrasast's vision, is set to open in December. The Bangkok Art Biennale was first held in 2018, and it has since established itself on Southeast Asia's contemporary art calendar. The Access Bangkok Art Fair debuted last December. Ms. Chearavanont has already reshaped Thailand's cultural landscape. Her ambition is to position the country as a destination for contemporary art by attracting visitors and encouraging international artists to engage with its culture and environment. 'I am no longer collecting art, I am sharing art,' Ms. Chearavanont said. 'My vision is to put Thailand on the geopolitical map of the art world.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Biancalani's New Denim Wash Process Promotes Uniformity
A new set of denim washing processes from Biancalani Textile Machinery aims to give brands a competitive position in the denim market. The Prato, Italy-based company recently introduced a two-part solution that enhances fabric stability and uniformity while reducing costs and environmental impact of finishing treatments. More from Sourcing Journal Mills Update: Pakistan Producers on Trade Strategies and TENCEL™ Developments Retail Traffic Is Carter's Profitability Challenge A Quiet Revolution in Textiles: Artistic Milliners' Holistic Approach to Sustainability Whereas most machinery for fabric stabilization do not address shrinkage, Biancalani's continuous tumble washing range, called Aquaria, performs a pre-shrinking process with Aquafix and Aquastone. Aquafix enhances the stability of stretch fabrics by lowering shrinking in the warp and weft to 3-4 percent, from the average 15-20 percent shrinkage, the company stated. Aquastone eliminates the risk of getting non-uniform results between laundry processes. With traditional laundry processes, Biancalani said washing machines must be unloaded and reloaded every 250-500 garments, which increases the possibility of achieving different results between each batch. Aquastone is applied during the pre-stonewashing phase in the fabric piece, ensuring a uniform effect, more resistance and superior quality. This innovative approach also prevents stress rips. Biancalani said the alternative processes deliver a considerable cost savings because the fabric is pre-washed by the time it gets to the tailoring stage. The processes also significantly reduces production times, energy consumption and the use of chemical products. 'The final result is a superior-quality product obtained thanks to a continuous and repeatable process that is more sustainable and effective,' the company stated.
BBC News
18-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Two female king penguins join Bourton-on-the Water wildlife park
A wildlife park has welcomed two new females to its colony of king penguins in a bid to boost its breeding females, who have yet to be named, arrived at Birdland Park and Gardens in Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds last pair hatched in Wuppertal, Germany, in 2021 and 2023 and are believed to be the first female king penguins to be imported to the UK in 15 years. Staff learned in December that a supposed female called Maggie, who joined the park eight years ago, was in fact a male who has since been renamed Magnus. The discovery meant that for many years the park has had just one female, named the latest additions to the park arrived, Bill was also the only female King Penguin in the is 10 years older than she would live to in the wild. Head keeper Alistair Keen said: "We've not had a [king penguin] egg at Birdland for three years, and we've had no breeding success for nearly a decade now. "The fact we now have two young females who could potentially be breeding for another 10 to 15 years is absolutely massive for us and the breeding programme across Europe." The new penguins have joined the park as part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria Ex-situ programme aims to ensure a healthy and viable captive population of more than 500 endangered and threatened species is maintained in the long term."There was so much paper work to complete - jumping through various hoops and making phone calls and emails at all times of day," Mr Keen said. "It was a day-and-a-half for them to travel by road from Germany but they are feeding great, they are looking great so we just can't wait to get them out and meeting the boys." The pair will now go through a period of quarantine before they join the rest of the colony.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Air to water' innovative tech comes to Texas amid water crisis
MANOR, Texas (KXAN) — With a growing population and an increase in droughts, Texas is more desperate for water than ever before. New technology may provide a possible solution, and it comes from the air around us. 'There are 39 million billion gallons of water in the atmosphere around us,' said Brian Sheng, co-founder of water technology company Aquaria. 'Our machine is actually sucking in air first, and then we are lowering the atmospheric air into its dew point and then capturing that water.' Brian is referring to the Hydropack system. About the size of a Coke machine, the large grey box pulls in air and uses it to create water. The machine does this by simulating the same processes that occur when dew forms on grass in the morning. 'Our family is from an area in China called 'the land of 1,000 springs,' right? It's actually very much like Texas,' said Brian's brother and fellow co-founder Eric Sheng. 'They're the province that makes all the raw steel. They're the province that makes a lot of military equipment, and all the water is polluted.' Longhorn rancher, camp director worried proposed rock crusher could pollute water supply Growing up, the brothers had water on the brain. They developed the Hydropack technology to address these concerns. Now they're bringing the technology to Texas. Currently, seven of their products are located in the state. Two are in the Austin area, including a model in Manor. The machine pulls in air, turns it into water and then deposits it in a tank for consumption. During this process, it passes through six filters in order to cleanse the water. The smallest unit, called Hydropixel, can be placed indoors and generates 24 gallons of water per day. The largest unit, the Hydropack X, generates 246 gallons per day. All require power to work. Prices on the home units start at $10,000. There are some downsides. For one, the machine works best in humid air. While it can create water in arid climates, it functions better near the coast. Also, it doesn't work below a certain temperature. The closer to freezing, the less water in the air. However, when the air is hot it can pull in more water. 'In the future, we really envision ourselves to be supplying water for entire cities, for entire communities,' Eric said. The company plans to sell its first industrial-sized machines in the next two months. The company currently has devices in several states and eight countries. Similar technology has been developed at the University of Texas. There, Professor Guihua Yu has spent the last few years working on a hydrogel polymer. That substance can absorb water directly from the air, which can then be squeezed out and drank. University of Texas microgrid upgrade incoming; could prevent outages during extreme weather 'This actually is very easily accessible and extremely scalable and extremely also low cost material to start with,' Yu told KXAN in February 2024. Hydrogel doesn't require power to use but is much smaller than the Hydropack. Improving water stability in Texas is one of Gov. Greg Abbott's top goals of this current legislative session. Of those top priorities includes expanding the Texas Water Fund. That fund, established as part of the 88th legislative session, provides a resource for communities looking to improve their water infrastructure. While an initial investment was provided for the fund, state lawmakers like Sen. Charles Perry are looking to reinforce that. This session, Perry announced he aims to add a constitutional amendment to the state that would see the fund grow by a billion dollars per year for fifty years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
