PINK MAN IN PARADISE (Indonesia, 2003)

Around midnight on October 12, 2002, a bomb exploded in front of a nightclub in Bali. More than 200 people, primarily Australian tourists, lost their lives. It was the largest attack ever committed on the Indonesian island, in the blink of an eye turning it from a tropical paradise into a hell. At the same moment it became clear that no one, anywhere, was safe from Islamic terrorism. That realization is also found in Pink Man, introduced by Manit Sriwanichpoom in a previous series as a critical commentary on the replacement of traditional culture by commercial ideals. As the archetypical tourist with a compulsive need for excitement and relaxation, he wanders across Bali, in search of the lost paradise.

PINK MAN IN PARADISE (Indonesia, 2003)

PINK MAN IN PARADISE (Indonesia, 2003)

THIS BLOODLESS WAR

Increasing consumption at the expense of Asia's unique identity and culture is an important theme in Sriwanichpoom's work. In This Bloodless War (1997) he recreated famous photographs from the Vietnam War, which according to Sriwanichpoom was as drastic then as the loss of Asian culture is now. The casualties are no longer the victims of American soldiers. There are no weapons or corpses here. In place of these there are people in brand name clothing who scream, run and fall just as the victims in the famous photographs of thirty years ago did. In his work Sriwanichpoom (b. 1961) makes frequent use of historic image material in order to draw historic parallels.

THIS BLOODLESS WAR

THIS BLOODLESS WAR

THIS BLOODLESS WAR

THIS BLOODLESS WAR