Ever since watching Jonathan Harris' TED talk on "The Web as Art," I've wanted to go to Bhutan. He created an interactive art project on happiness in the last Himalayan kingdom, which I found incredibly memorable due to Jonathan's powerful use of symbols.
Here's the introduction to his project:
"In Bhutan, happiness is no laughing matter -- academics study it, spreadsheets track it, billboards tout it, conferences debate it, and every year, foreign intellectuals flock to Thimphu to share their ideas about what exactly makes a person happy. Instead of "Gross National Product," Bhutan uses "Gross National Happiness" to measure its socio-economic prosperity, essentially organizing its national agenda around the basic tenets of Buddhism.
Today, I wanted to practice documentary-style photography on my way to the wet market. This little excursion soon turned up into me drinking beers at a hawker with a bunch of 50+ year old Singaporean men. An interesting afternoon to say the least. Take a look.
