Wat Changkhong is a century-old temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The temple had been abandoned many decades ago and remained closed to the public.  

In 2023, local NGO activists wanted to revive activities at the temple and encouraged DDMY Studio to be part of the team. Our team at DDMY studio carried out ground research at the temple and came across an irony that would later conceptualise the project.  

The name of the temple translates to “Crafters of the Gong,” yet our ground team could not find any Gong at the temple. This irony inspired us to create this art.  

In traditional Lanna belief, women were not allowed inside temples. Hence, the people of today, are still hesitant and uncomfortable confronting this subject. Our ground team’s research led us to believe that many locals in the area are also uncomfortable about this topic.  

So, our team at DDMY studio wanted to tackle this subject right off the bat. Our art installation requires all visitors to pay their respects and homage from the entrance (no one may enter inside). At the entrance, we have designed a system that can recognize the gestures of the audience.  When the audience puts their palms together to form a praying posture, a gong sound will be played, and lamps around the alter will glow up in random patterns emanating a holy and divine aura.