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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Interview by Harry Thorfinn-George

Pink Man pushing his pink trolley through a field in Thailand: Manit Sriwanichpoom’s best photograph

‘People were always talking about money’ … detail of Pink Man on Tour #6 (Amazing Rice Field, Chiang Mai, 1998).
‘People were always talking about money’ … detail of Pink Man on Tour #6 (Amazing Rice Field, Chiang Mai, 1998). Photograph: Manit Sriwanichpoom

The idea for Pink Man was born when I went to the first giant mall that opened in Bangkok. It was a warehouse on the outskirts of town that was so huge you got lost among stacks of products. Normally I would go to the supermarket with a small basket, but the trolleys I saw there were so big you could lie down in them. I saw a family in front of me filling one and I thought: “How many days will it take them to finish that? How much money do you need to fill this?” It reminded me of Duane Hanson’s hyperreal sculptures of American families but also how his art reflected his time. I thought my art should reflect my time, too.

I was born in 1961 and lived by the canals with rice fields right in front of me. I couldn’t believe how society had changed within my lifetime, how it had happened right in front of my eyes. In many ways my art is a reflection of my life. When I pass away you can look at my art and you will see my life.

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