Write a short summary of what happens in the ambient or digital execution or campaign.

“Making Merit or Creating Hurt” is a thought-provoking ambient experience, a collaboration between 2 non-proït organizations; the Buddhist Priest Hospital and the Baramee Dhamma Hall, a Buddhist learning center. The idea is curated by turning the medium that spiritually connects with the Buddhists, ‘the monk sculpture’ into media that raises awareness about the monkhood’s health issues caused by unhealthy food given as alms. Within 4 weeks during Thai New Year, the peak season for merit making, the sculpture transforms from an average-built, life-sized ïgure into a shockingly obese monk. It was displayed at the hospital, learning center, temples and local markets, locations where the audience regularly visits, to provoke them in real-time ambience at the moment of merit making. Mobile Location-Based technology is utilized to provide information about obesity and chronic diseases visually related to the sculpture and offer solutions of nutritious meals that will improve the health of monks.

Cultural/Context information for the jury

95% of Thais are Buddhists and they are unaware of being the cause of the monkhood’s health crisis: 70% of the 300,000 monks suffer from chronic diseases. This ‘obesity epidemic’ caused by unhealthy alms giving has rocketed the monks’ average BMI(Body Mass Index) from 18.0 to 41.6 within the past 10 years. This causes USD 30 million for the annual medical care. For over 2,500 years, giving food as alms is a daily ritual that the monks depend on to survive and a way for the Buddhists to connect with ancestors. Nowadays, the ancestors’ favorite dishes including unhealthily indulgent, high fat and sugar foods are given to monks, in the hopes that they would be enjoying them in the afterlife. Buddhist ecclesiastical law also stipulates that monks cannot refuse the food, and, because of their revered status, exercise is considered unseemly. We want to enlighten Buddhists and reshape their behavior.