Practice - Based Research in Digital Arts: A Case Study of Wat Phumin, Nan Province, Thailand

Abstract

Thai mural paintings have played a significant role in Thai society since the Sukhothai kingdom period (1238 -1438 AD) until present. Wattana Boonjub (2009) points out that Mural painting were used for teaching the Thai people in the past. Throughout history, temples have become a crucial part of Thai' lives; for example, Wat Phumin in Nan province. Wat Phumin has exceptional architecture, beautiful visual presentations of Buddhist storytelling on the walls which depict scenes from the Buddhist Jataka tales, and scenes of everyday life in Nan.These unique characteristics have attracted many visitors to this temple over the years. In addition, when those interested visit Wat Phumin, they experience this temple as a Museum.In fact, Loic Tallon et al. (2008) suggests that the museum experience provides an appropriate situation for learning history in an unconventional setting. As a result, previous research titled “Visual research practices on Thai Lanna mural painting: A case study of Wat Phumin, Nan province” was presented at The 4th International Conference for Asia Pacific Arts Studies (ICAPAS 2016). The results indicated that the information concerning the Lanna mural paintings inside the temples was overwhelming. However, there are no directions facilitating Thai and foreign visitors in viewing and understanding at the first episode of storytelling on Lanna mural paintings inside Wat Phumin. Therefore, this research is the result of finding a solution to facilitating visitors in viewing Buddhist Jataka tales through digital arts and digital technology (such as responsive web design, QR codes, etc.) with practice-based design research.