madagascar gemstone mining human conveyor belt stillframe unknown fields with Toby Smith
Copyright: Unknown Fields
Date
2018
Material
Installation with human tooth made of 24 carat gold, laboratory diamond and video installation, 9:42 min.
Description
On a journey through Madagascar, Unknown Fields encountered illegal dealers of luxury brands from all over the world and filmed them for their work. 50 grams of rice daily is the wage paid to workers in Ilakaka in Madagascar for digging for precious stones, working as a "human conveyor belt" in a malicious choreography. Wages are so low there that humans are used instead of machines even for the simplest tasks.
Unknown Fields have translated this type of payment into a synthetic diamond, made in a laboratory under high pressure from Madagascan rice and set into a gold tooth. The gold tooth and video in collaboration with Toby Smith show the dark side of luxury goods and the exploitation that lies behind them.