“Gold originated from the collision of neutron stars and supernova explosions that forge heavy elements. These particles later merged into cosmic dust, settled into forming stars, and eventually became concentrated in the Earth’s crust through geological processes. They either rose as mountains or settled as strata. Mountains, therefore, are repositories of ancient celestial events, preserving traces of elemental origins across millions of years. Contrasting the time when supernova blasting created precious metal, the blasting used today in the search for gold causes damage that unethically impedes all organisms, including humans, dictated by the power of what we call “capitalism.””
“When place, people, time, and capitalism converge in an act that damages nature and exhausts resources, the investigation is no longer merely a surface study. It becomes a descent into hidden dimensions: social, political, economic, and financial power, including the state of being “Alive-Dead” that engulfs people in the communities who cannot escape the consequences.” —curatorial essay for Magic Mountain: Ontology of Blue exhibition
A “hidden gem” and “minefield” in a central Bangkok art gallery
Recently, I was walking to get a cappuccino and do some writing in Central Bangkok and spontaneously visited an art gallery exhibition along the way, which was not only thought-provoking but also revealed an important and worrying social issue about foreign commercial gold mining in the Thai mountains, the origin of gold and alleged cyanide poisoning of the local community there.
I was drawn to enter the small gallery Warin Lab space by a sign outside saying “The Magic Mountain: Ontology of Blue”. My specialist subject when I was studying for a postgrad in philosophy in London, was on Aesthetics and Philosophy of Mind and Perception. This interest led me to curate and co-edit a collection of contemporary philosophical essays by scholars and intellectuals called “Aesthetic Experience” (published by Routledge) [1]. So, the colour of lapis lazuli blue, termed Cyanide Prussian Blue and the word “Ontology” lured me in naturally in terms of my interest in the metaphysics of colour and perception.
I was initially lost in terms of the meaning of the exhibit but instantly felt and appreciated the energy of the peaceful, healing walls and of the lapis lazuli blue of the exhibit space walls and artworks. The gallery owner later explained to me the reason why the artists has used this blue shade for the exhibit as it was connected to the ‘cyanide” used in the gold mining extraction. As the color name “cyan” and the chemical “cyanide” both come from the Greek word κύανος (kyanos), meaning “dark blue enamel” or lapis lazuli, because the cyanide radical was first isolated from the deep blue pigment Prussian blue in the 18th century, initially called “blue acid” (Blausäure) in German. So, the “cyanide blue” connection links the colour name directly to this historic blue pigment and its derivative chemical.
Fortunately, on entering the art gallery assistant, and then the female Thai owner of the gallery, helpfully offered to explain the conceptual art exhibition. They had been expecting a journalist from Italy to meet them, but she had not turned up, so by that simple twist of fate, they were ready and willing to speak to me and I learnt something I never would have expected, the origin and process of extracting gold and the connection between cyanide poisoning and goldmining in Thailand. And the connection between cyanide and the colour of lapis lazuli blue, a colour associated with the ultimate nature and medicinal healing in Buddhism. Here is my art review of the exhibit (below). For other published art reviews I have authored, see here.
Music? Simple Twist of Fate by Bob Dylan, Across the Universe by The Beatles, Money, Power and Glory by Lana Del Rey, and Go Off by MIA
Dedicated to all local communities effected by commercial goldmining, may we become more aware of the processes by which the consumer goods we buy and value get to us, and may human and animal health be considered more important than capitalist profit and lust for cheap ‘gold’.
Written by Adele Tomlin, 17th December 2025.
ART EXHIBIT REVIEW
Collison of the stars: the cosmic origin of Gold
On entering the gallery space in the Warin Lab Gallery, Bangkok, one is immediately faced with a large golden molecule-like structure hanging from the ceiling and surrounded by lapis lazuli (cyanide) blue walls and carpet.
Prior to visiting, I had not thought about gold mining and its processes but was fascinated to learn that gold is not made on the planet earth but comes from the universe in terms of combustions of stars and then drops down into the earth/rock. This is the reason why mining has to be done to get it. The exhibition essay explains:
“Gold originated from the collision of neutron stars and supernova explosions that forge heavy elements. These particles later merged into cosmic dust, settled into forming stars, and eventually became concentrated in the Earth’s crust through geological processes. They either rose as mountains or settled as strata.
Mountains, therefore, are repositories of ancient celestial events, preserving traces of elemental origins across millions of years. Contrasting the time when supernova blasting created precious metal, the blasting used today in the search for gold causes damage that unethically impedes all organisms, including humans, dictated by the power of what we call “capitalism.””
One artwork image, “The Reflection” hand-drawn on oversized blue carbon paper , the act of tracing, marked by the removal of carbon, places the work in a liminal state, neither original nor copy. The art gallery states that “the work carries a poignant message from a community enduring ongoing torment, suspended in a condition that feels like living death.
The gallery owner explained to me that the use of “in-between” art process was deliberate to reveal the “in-between” nature of life and death for those living next to the gold mine.
“The exhibition unfolds the ongoing damage inflicted on the environment and the community at the hands of humans. It focuses on the ontology of life, death, and the third state. Here, we see beings who live toward death and presences that fade slowly through time. The power of this liminal space lies in its atmospheric tension – a dense, unspoken energy residing in the psychological chasm at the community’s heart.”
Although the art exhibit interestingly never mentions the name of the company, it is public knowledge that it is about the presence of an Australian commercially-owned “Akara gold mine” in the northern mountains of Thailand, and the cyanide poisoning of the local community there caused by the cyanide use of the mine to extract golf in the mountains.
In 2016, the Thai government had closed the mine due to its alleged harmful effects on the local community and nature, but were then opposed by the Australian company, who wanted the mine re-opened under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) [1]. Recently, in November 2025, a resolution was issued of the case but the media reported that: “While the Thai government insists the resolution of its years-long dispute with Australian mining company is in Thailand’s best interests, a local mining watchdog begs to differ.
The dispute had dragged on for more than eight years after General Prayut Chan-o-cha, exercising his absolute power as chief of the post-coup National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), ordered the mine closed in 2016 following complaints by locals that mining operations were poisoning their environment. The Chatree mine – straddling the three provinces of Phichit, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok – has a maximum production capacity of over 5 million tonnes of gold ore per year.”
The dispute began in 2014 after complaints from local residents near the gold mining area, citing environmental and health impacts. In 2016, the Thai government issued a temporary suspension of gold mining activities nationwide to prevent anticipated environmental and health issues.
However, the resolution of the 8 year long dispute with the Thai government and the Australian mining company led to no benefits to the Thai people or government, according to those who oppose the mining.
Huge amounts of land and work, for small amounts of gold
As someone who has visited many Thai Buddhist temples over the past few years, there are many massive pure gold Buddha statues which take huge amounts of gold and cost a small fortune. However, the industrial scale mining of gold, like that of mass animal slaughter, is hidden from the public consumption of it, and yet it is also a process whose toxic and lethal effects are severe on humans and wildlife living in those areas:
“Gold mining relies on complex scientific processes using chemical compounds to separate gold from ore. Cyanide is a key agent in the procedure known as cyanide leaching or heap leaching. The chemical substance effectively binds with precious metals such as gold or silver. However, the procedure leaves behind hazardous tailings. When poorly managed, these tailings can contaminate local communities. Yet the management “standards” often shift as they move through invisible chains of power. What remains visible is the contamination spreading through the community.”
For example, I was informed that to get just 2.5 g of gold, 1 ton of rock has to be detonated and mined. One particular artwork shows that, a small scale view of the mountains containing 2.5g of gold.
“A Leap into the Void”: the “in-between” presence of Buddhist land, monks and buildings
Interestingly, one of the exhibits inspired by Yves Klein’s photographic artwork Leap Into the Void, shows a half-finished constructed building of a Buddhist temple right next to the gold mine site, that the monastery was unable to finish due to the gold mine there.
The gallery owner informed me that Thai law forbids the buying of land that has Buddhist temples on it. Yet the head monk still lived there but because the public were unable to visit the temple, the gold mine company paid him a salary. So, the gold mine is not only toxic but disrupting religious activity.
Making gold “cheap: The hidden costs of the extraction of gold and cyanide
The exhibit also features a video art exhibit, The Extraction. The location of the video is in another province where a mountain of gravel mounded up like a mountain. The artists are not allowed inside the actual mine. The video subtly unveils with images, narratives and music its harmful and haunting effects and lack of consideration for humans and nature. See images from the video artwork below.
When discussing the exhibit with the Thai gallery owner, I mentioned the obvious parallels between gold mining and mass meat production in terms of the hidden suffering and harm they cause animals and humans (as I recently wrote about in this petition here), and also how they interfere with spiritual and Buddhist sentiments and practice.
How the process is not only hidden from people so they remain unaware of the catastrophically harmful effects on nature, animals and humans. But also how such a horrific, unnatural process that tramples all over the rights of humans and animals makes the finishe product “ugly” and “cheap”. Like fur, wearing gold is no longer beautiful, when one understands the process it took to get it.
So it was interesting to then read, after our conversation in the artists’ statement that:
“In this era, labour and nature have been rendered “cheap” (Cheap Nature) (Moore 2016), facilitating the extraction of economic value from the natural world.”
The connection between “cyanide” and the colour lapiz lazuli (or Prussian) blue
The reason the exhibit was called The Ontology of Blue, the gallery owner explained was because the colour name “cyan” and the chemical “cyanide” both come from the Greek word κύανος (kyanos), meaning “dark blue enamel” or lapis lazuli, because the cyanide radical was first isolated from the deep blue pigment Prussian blue in the 18th century, initially called “blue acid” (Blausäure) in German. So, the “cyanide blue” connection links the color name directly to this historic blue pigment and its derivative chemica name for cyanide, comes from the Greek name for Blue. And as artists know there is a Cyanide Blue colour. The colour blue used in the exhibit is a blue often associated with healing and the nature of mind, such as in medicine Buddha and Vajradhara.
Yet, the exhibit was revealing the nine-year investigations and artistic provocation on the goldmine’s harmful processes and the “in-between” nature of the people living there and their invisibility when it comes to the harmful processes of cyanide poisoning. It also exposed how the money and power speaks louder than health and protecting the planet, when it comes to gold mining.
The “Akara” Australian-owned goldmine, and the “invisible plight” of Thai locals and cyanide poisoning
“The exhibition unfolds the ongoing damage inflicted on the environment and the community at the hands of humans. It focuses on the ontology of life, death, and the third state. Here, we see beings who live toward death and presences that fade slowly through time. The power of this liminal space lies in its atmospheric tension – a dense, unspoken energy residing in the psychological chasm at the community’s heart.”
Although the art exhibit interestingly never mentions the name of the company, it is public knowledge that it is about the presence of an Australian commercially-owned “Akara gold mine” in the northern mountains of Thailand, and the cyanide poisoning of the local community there caused by the cyanide use of the mine to extract golf in the mountains.
In 2016, the Thai government had closed the mine due to its alleged harmful effects on the local community and nature, but were then opposed by the Australian company, Kingsgate Consolidated who wanted the mine re-opened under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) [1]. Recently, in November 2025, a resolution was issued of the case but the media reported that: “While the Thai government insists the resolution of its years-long dispute with Australian mining company Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd is in Thailand’s best interests, a local mining watchdog begs to differ.
“Kingsgate is the winner and the people of Thailand are the losers,” said Lertsak Kumkongsak, chairman of the Network of People Who Own Mineral Resources.
On November 25, Kingsgate – parent company of Thailand-based Akara Resources – announced the end of its arbitration case brought against the Thai government under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), stating the two sides had reached an agreement. Akara was seeking 30 billion baht in compensation over the 2017 closure of its Chatree mine, the largest gold mine in Thailand. The dispute had dragged on for more than eight years after General Prayut Chan-o-cha, exercising his absolute power as chief of the post-coup National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), ordered the mine closed in 2016 following complaints by locals that mining operations were poisoning their environment. The Chatree mine – straddling the three provinces of Phichit, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok – has a maximum production capacity of over 5 million tonnes of gold ore per year.”
The two artists: Jiandyin
The Warin Lab website states that the artists are:
“Jiandyin (Jiradej Meemalai and Pornpilai Meemalai) are an interdisciplinary artist duo and curators based in Ratchaburi, Thailand. Since 2002, they have been developing research-driven, collaborative, and socially engaged works. jiandyin employ a wide range of disciplines and media to create platforms that analyze relationships between people and society, particularly in relation to local history. Their work often delves into the complex paradoxes of the nation-state, political conflict, and their impact on marginalized communities. In 2011, they founded Baan Noorg Collaborative Arts and Culture, a not-for-profit artist initiative that runs community-based art and cultural programs.”
The Art Gallery: its animal conservation origins and eviction notice from real estate plans for hotel
The promotional literature for Warin Lab is its “distinctive commitment to engage the global audience by addressing vital social issues through leading-edge curatorial projects, working with artists and curators from around the world to create meaningful dialogues through works that provoke thought and stimulate action.” Since its inception in 2021, the theme of it social issue focus has solely been “Environment.”
While there I was at the gallery, I met and spoke to the gallery owner, Fon. A lovely, stylish Thai woman (with excellent English), she interestingly informed me that the space the gallery was in, used to be the office space of Dr. Boonsong Lekagul, a well-known and respected animals rights and conservationist in Thailand.
Sadly, Fon told me that the gallery would have to shut next July, as the real estate company who bought the building and land, wanted to transform it into a big hotel. Yet again, as she also acknowledged, another example of how big commercial business and money, care little for small, social enterprises that support creativity, and raise important questions about social, political and environmental issues.
Nature’s traces and philosophical reflections of cosmic processes and human harm and the roots and nature samsaric suffering
As I sat by the Bangkok river in a slightly melancholy state about the goldmine’s effects that evening, observing the scarlet-red fiery reflection of the sun setting in the water, like the gold ore traces running into the depths of the Earth. Combined with the juxtaposition of the stunning outline of an old Thai Buddhist temple, next to a modern building, it was yet another symbolic reminder of the “ugly” harm that humans inflict on the landscape to fulfil their greed and need for money and power.
As Buddha taught, the samsaric suffering causes by human afflictions is endless and this art exhibit was a great reminder of that too, and like all “great art” and writing, one which educates and reveals “hidden truths” forcing one to reflect on a situation one has never properly considered before: how gold is extracted from mountains.
Screenshots from the video artwork: The Extraction
Endnotes
[1] For a downloadable pdf of my Introduction to this book, see here: https://dakinitranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/introduction-contemplating-the-undefinable-adele-tomlin.pdf
[2] Kingsgate Consolidated Limited, an Australian company and shareholder of Akara Resources Co., Ltd., filed the case through arbitration under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) since late 2017. The dispute began in 2014 after complaints from local residents near the gold mining area, citing environmental and health impacts. In 2016, the Thai government issued a temporary suspension of gold mining activities nationwide to prevent anticipated environmental and health issues.
However, the resolution of the 8 year long dispute with the Thai government and the Australian mining company led to no benefits to the Thai people or government, according to those who oppose the mining:
“Lertsak of the Network of People Who Own Mineral Resources disagrees, arguing that the government gained no benefits – aside from avoiding compensation. The only beneficiary on the Thai side was Prayut, he said. The settlement effectively absolved him of responsibility for issuing an executive order that appeared to breach the free trade agreement with Australia, triggering Kingsgate’s 30-billion-baht compensation claim, Lertsak said. “The order was not issued under normal laws. I have no doubt the NCPO acted recklessly in issuing it.”