Tsunami, Koh Phi Phi Thailand 2004

mixed media, 8”x8”x9” (20cmx20cmx23cm), 2016

I am a SCUBA diving instructor. In 2004 I traveled to Thailand and arrived on the island of Koh Phi Phi, 4 months after the tsunami that devastated South East Asia. On the ferry there, a Belgian journalist, coming back for a follow up, remarked that he was happy to see that the place did not smell of death anymore. When the wave hit, it destroyed 60 percent of the buildings on the island and claimed nearly 1300 lives. You could see the desolation everywhere, only locals and volunteers inhabited the island and had just the most basic of amenities.

For the following 4 months to the rate of 3 dives a day and 6 days a week, I became part of the volunteer clean up diving crew. We collected literal tons of debris strewn 12 metres deep in the bay of Koh Phi Phi. Working with the amazing dive/snorkel teams, we filled our underwater nets with every conceivable remains we could grasp.

This piece is a commemoration of that experience; and a small monument to it. All the materials used are second hand, found, or given to me in the spirit of sharing resources. The snow globe shape is a reminder that the tsunami happened on December 26 while the sand and metal pieces are a representation of the countless undulated iron sheets we pulled out of the bottom of the sea. Those were the main roofing materials for the 800 bungalows and buildings that disappeared. The debris retrieved from the water has ranged from trees and construction materials to personal effects vital in helping identify those missing in the wake of the disaster.