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The man was enraged, 'Why did you cut down that tree?' The cause
of his anger was not known to Khun Arthit and his two operatives.
'We didn't understand what he was saying, or why he seemed so angry. '
The man, a true conservationist, had failed to notice something
unusual about the tree that would have saved him from this burst
of emotion. He failed to see that this was no ordinary tree, that
it had plastic leaves. Looking through pictures of Khun Arthit's
rich portfolio of projects completed however, I can sympathize with
him. I was dumbfounded to get 'no' answers to questions related
to what I saw on those pictures, questions I thought were straightforward,
like 'Is this made out of clay?' or 'Is it stone?'
This is the art of Khun Arthit Piamsuphasup; the art of making
anything and everything look real. Khun Arthit, with his team of
20, is the man behind the huge prehistoric beings of Dino Park in
Karon
Beach, the waterfalls of the Diamond Cliff Resort and the 14
different rooms of the 3-storey Horror House in Pattaya
and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Khun Arthit has been involved
in Phuket
Fantasea, is responsible for changing the looks of its souvenir
shops and Games World, has worked on Soi Movies in Patong
Beach, made waterfalls and rock work in Patong's Taipan disco,
given elegance to Princess Gems International at the Boat Lagoon
and is about to finish Phi Phi Bird's Nest, a new restaurant serving
the expensive delicacy in Saphan Hin.
A graduate of the College of Fine Arts and Sulapakorn University,
Khun Arthit has a knack of capturing peoples' visions and turning
them into reality. He is able to put a concept onto paper, something
very few of us are able to do. He will design the site based on
the client's concept and will execute it with utmost responsibility
and attention to detail. He has seen considerable success through
word of mouth only, for he has made no attempt to advertise in the
seven years since his business began. 'I get clients who just
say 'I want this. Can you do it? When will you finish?' and leave
the rest up to me.' Khun Arthit's clients are confident that
his ideas will be to their liking and that he will not charge a
fortune.
The clients' first concern before commissioning any art work is
usually finances. Says Khun Arthit 'Our style is to make everything
from affordable material. The concept is to save money while making
something look good. If the customer has the money, then it's different.
But most people are after a look with the least amount of money.
' He adds, 'I understand people who have a dream, who want to do
something like artwork in a pub, restaurant or resort. If they hired
a very good artist from Bangkok,
it would often be financially impossible to do what they want. They
would have to put their ideas in their pockets. However, I can make
their dreams come true. '
The materials used are simple: iron rods, bent to the rough shape
of the object to be constructed are covered by mosquito net to give
the structure a three-dimensional look. Concrete, white cement or
foam is then applied over the mosquito net. Now comes the real art:
the object has to be carved into its exact shape and it is the final
touches that give the pieces their life-like appearances. The most
challenging part of the operation is in creating the desired texture,
whether it be sandstone, marble, wood, bronze, rock or tile. At
Phi
Phi Bird's Nest Restaurant in Saphan Hin, the results are astonishing.
The place looks like a cave with the ceiling being a forest of slippery
stalagmites about to release tricklets of water onto the floor.
I was amazed at the effect. 'Do you experiment before creating
something?' I ask. 'No. ' He said, adding, 'I'm not sitting
in the office just designing. I go on site to work. If you had met
me last week, I wouldn't have been able to shake your hand, because
my hands were so dirty. ' Khun Arthit is unpretentious and humble.
'What would you call your work?' I ask carefully. He smiles
when he replies, 'Actually, I don't know what I'm doing. The scope
is so big, but basically it's interior design for the entertainment
industry'.
An artist like Khun Arthit does not stop at that. Apart from two
restaurants in Pattaya, he has been requested to landscape a private
property in Phuket.
Khun Arthit's refined work cannot be appreciated fully through merely
looking at pictures of his portfolio. A personal visit however,
to a completed project, is certain to persuade the most choosy of
clients.
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