In the pop menagerie with Goh M

“DO YOU SMELL a stink coming from my T-shirt?” rapper Goh M asks when we meet him at the Gaysorn mall, where he’s preparing a solo exhibition of his artwork. “My pig splashed its droppings on my shirt while I was trying to catch it for a vaccination.”

It’s not what you’d called an auspicious first encounter with one of the bad boys of the hip-hop trio Buddha Bless, but the guy is known to be compassionate when it comes to animals, especially abandoned ones. 

He owns eight Chihuahuas and has adopted 12 stray dogs and cats, a turtle (also abandoned) and a poodle and a wild boar that are both crippled. The wild boar you can understand being crippled, the poodle not so much.

Now Goh M – his real name is Kittipong Khamsat – is spreading his compassion around in the hope of making more people care about all creatures great and small. His paintings and installations in the exhibition “Love All Life”, continuing right through February, feature his Chihuahua Copter, the damaged warthog Pigkul, the injured poodle Pinky and a chicken whose name, CP, is perhaps homage to Thailand’s largest purveyor of deceased chickens, KFC notwithstanding.

Goh M, being in a rap band, is quite deft at graffiti, as is clear in his spray-paint-on-foam renditions of these adorable pets. The two dogs and the boar are riding swings suspended from the ceiling on the mall’s fifth floor, each ballooned to four metres in height. CP the chicken – in sculpture form – has fallen off its swing and plunged to the lower level, claws pointed skyward.

“CP emerged from a GMO egg, but it was really difficult helping it hatch,” says its owner, who’s taken dozens of rescued animals to the vet in the past 10 years and pays for their neutering out of his own pocket.

Alas, having survived for two years as a genetically modified hatchling, CP died last month. “I’ve just found out that chickens born this way have short life spans,” says Goh M, still fuming and not just from the pig muck. 

“So, in my installation art, I want to remind people to live mindfully,” he says, sounding a lot like the Buddha who blessed him. “Riding on a swing is fun and exciting, but if you’re not balance and secure, you can be injured.”

A doodler since childhood, Goh M once worked part-time creating scenery for TV commercials and music videos. He studied at the College of Fine Arts, but didn’t last long. “I didn’t like the academic approach. I love street art – graffiti and pop art are more to my taste.”

Pop is predominant in the 10 acrylics on canvas he has on display, all bright colours and whimsy, but he’s also taking on controversial issues with a satirical bite. 

“Nugget” has multiple renditions of CP, some cut in halves and others curled up like intestines. It’s something to think about next time you’re at McDonald’s.

“Male chicks serve no commercial purpose because they don’t lay eggs and can’t be fattened up quickly enough to produce meat that can be sold,” who’s planning to give up eating chicken now that he’s shunned beef and pork. 

“The vast majority of male chicks are tossed into grinders to make pet food. There’s debate as to whether the meat is also used in chicken nuggets. Many companies say it’s not, but I have my doubts.”

“Pig Candy” has multiple Pigkuls vividly painted, piled up and dabbed with red. “I saw frozen barbecued baby suckling pigs piled up in the freezer at a hypermarket. Pork is actually tasteless until cooked, and even then all the flavour comes from the seasonings.”

Goh M has managed to find new homes for more than 100 stray dogs through his Facebook page, where he has 18,500 followers. He also makes and sells handbags, backpacks, tumblers and pillows bearing cartoon animal patterns.

“I spend nearly Bt100,000 a month helping animals, but I do get support from dog-lovers who want to contribute. There’s no partying for me anymore – when I finish work I go home, spend time rescuing animals and make my art.”

“Work” also entails producing the TV show “Marhgarb Marhjorn”, airing Saturdays on True Vision Block A, which deals with the plight of stray dogs.

“Anyone considering buying a pedigree pet should think about all the time, energy and money required, and if they’re not ready, they shouldn’t do it. Otherwise, the pet will just end up as a burden on society.”

Meanwhile Goh M is building himself a new home with a studio in Ratchaburi that will have a shelter big enough for his current companions and another 30 stray pooches. 

 

ANIMAL FARM

Goh M’s “Love All Life” continues until February 29 at Gaysorn. 

For more details, check www.Facebook.com/goh.m.family and www.Facebook.com/marhgarb.