Badak

Commissioned by Thailand Biennale, Phuket.

In Badak, an Indonesian miner ventures down a deep mountain shaft on the island of Java in search of untouched ore. Instead of discovering treasure, he descends into the afterworld and encounters angel of death, who transforms him into a human–rhinoceros hybrid. Re-emerging on a beach in Phuket, now in the guise of a female tourist—a seemingly detached critical observer—he eventually meets the spirit of Toh Thami, a local deity who presides over modern mining ventures. Their dialogue probes the nature of extraction and the decisive role non-human beings play in mediating between humans and minerals. The woman’s body fades into a semi-visible Javan rhino that wanders the Phuket Mining Museum before she is returned to Java and to her original form. This circular journey invites both protagonist and viewer to reflect on belief, and on the intertwined destinies of minerals, humans, and places.

Linking the Javan rhinoceros, tin ore, and tourism, Badak reflects on extraction as both method and worldview—on the pulling of value and meaning from creatures, minerals, and landscapes, and the scars left behind. With Java’s rhinos now endangered and its mineral wealth depleted, many mining sites have become tourist destinations, echoing the transformation of Phuket. The protagonist’s cyclical journey traces this more-than-material economy, posing the question: what is unearthed, and what is lost?

Duration 31’26"

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Film stills

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Installation view at Thailand Biennale, Phuket (2025).

Single channel video: Colour, quadraphonic sound, 30 minutes in circular frame with two sunloungers; Sculpture: Tin, cow bone, copper, plywood, wire, paint, 40 x 244 x 122 cm

Photo by OCAC, Thailand.