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Bundith Phunsombatlert

Born 1972, Bangkok, Thailand. Lives and works in Rhode Island, New York.

Originally trained in printmaking, Bundith Phunsombatlert began working with new media technologies in 2004 during a residency at the 12th International Symposium for the Electronic Arts in Helsinki, Finland. The introduction of new media, sculpture and installation elements in his work allowed his practice to extend beyond print's traditional boundaries. Phunsombatlert's work playfully satirises the consumerist obsessions of Thailand's burgeoning middle class urban population, but his critiques are equally applicable internationally. His Ready-Made Human Products for Sale, 2000, installed in a Bangkok shopping mall, presented 'amputated' photo-screenprinted facial organs of Thailand's most popular celebrities, individually presented for purchase on hygienic plastic. Commenting on cosmetic surgery as well as the illegal organ trade, the shop front installation presented a fractured, identikit view of the glamorous figures of popular Thai celebrities.

Phunsombatlert is currently studying at the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States, after receiving a Master's degree in Printmaking from Silpakorn University, Bangkok. His work has recently been included in the Athens Video Art Festival, Athens, Greece, 2009; the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, China, 2008; and the Freewaves 10th Biennial Festival of Film, Video and Experimental New Media, UCLA Hammer Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 2006. Phunsombatlert's solo exhibition On the Ball, The Game Has Begun, 'Beware Crossing the Grid', at Bangkok University Gallery, 2006, expanded his exploration of consumerism into the realm of politics.

Venue: Auckland Art Gallery