Thailand Loburi Providence-thamkrabok Monastery

The primary objectives of my funded research were two fold in construct and dealt with systems of management on both an industrial and individual level. The first was to examine the environmental and socio-economic burdens of resource management in relation to copper ore extraction in Chile, the world’s largest copper producer. Secondly, I visited a unique detoxification program at the Thamkrabok Monastery near the city of Phraputthabat in Thailand. This monastery helps individuals manage their addictive tendencies in regards to substance abuse. I combine these two very different avenues of research by drawing a direct correlation between copper and addiction management and the role these two subjects play within my interests as a creative practitioner. Copper is the primary material in silicone bronze, my preferred material as a figurative sculptor. As an object maker that continues to examine the human condition throughout the maturation of my work, it is necessary to examine all aspects of the creative process, including the environmental impacts associated with copper ore extraction and the measures that are currently being undertaken by the mining industry, specifically Codelco (Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile), Chile’s nationalized copper conglomerate, to reduce the negative environmental and socio-economic burdens that have plagued the copper mining industry for over a century. My research at Thamkrabok Monastery offered a non-western perspective to the issue of substance abuse management, a central theme in my past creative work. Thamkrabok Monastery is heralded as on of the most difficult drug rehabilitation programs in the world, combining various ceremonial practices, manual labor, and a personal commitment to sobriety as key aspects to recovery. In addition, I researched a unique fine art basalt casting process that was developed by the monks of Thamkrabok to construct very large ceremonial figures throughout the confines of the monastery. This casting technique provided additional correlation between my research in Chile and Thailand in that I was able to examine a new artistic media outlet that is less resource intensive than bronze casting but still archival in quality.