CYCLE | FORMATION (in just a few words)
Mimicking below a visual of a fluctuating FTSE 100 Index from March 2020 (lockdown) - present day
Mineral Extraction ▸
Gold
Silver
Lithium
Mercury
Lead
Silicon
Platinum
Palladium
Potassium
Copper (Chuquicamata)
As highlighted in...
Heap & Situ Leaching
Extreme Working Conditions
that light at the end of the tunnel
Human Health Risk
Toxic Chemical Release
Released Acidic Mists = Skin & Crop Deterioration
28% Global Output
Exported to CHN
Via Vessel (& air)
Coprorate Sales Projections
Undisclosed Targets
Worldwide Marketing Strategy
Incorporating Emotion In Your Advertising
Sophisticated Product Design
Price Comparison
Functionality Testing & User Experience
Mass Production
Zhengzhou Manufacturing Site
400 Step Assemblage
Specialist Manufacturers
Machine Configuration
500,000 iPhones Daily
350 a Minute
Packaging Process
Sleek White Fibreboard Box
Stacking
StacKING
STACKING
Wrapped
Palletised
Distribution Model
Worldwide Exporting
Via Vessel (& air)
Local Currency & Inflation Rate (¥, $, €, ARS.)
Value-Added Tax
Customs Declaration (country specific)
Curious as to what's next?
Used Item(s)
Purchased From Outlet Store
Territorial Cost Applied
Gradual Wear & Tear
Increasingly Shorter Shelf Life
Redundant Item?
Unrepairable?
Item Hoarding (somewhere in a drawer)
Frequent Recycling Signposting??
What if your item is recycled improperly?
Unsold Item(s)
Sales Targets (NOT MET)
A Costly Process to Recycle Correctly
Slow Levels of Efficient Recycling & Dismantling
Exporting the Problem
Driven by Commercial Demand
Illegal Distribution of Unused Goods
Destinations for Uncontrolled E-waste Shipping
GHAN, IMD, BANG...
Landfill Build-up
3rd World Manual Extraction
Exposed Workers
High Contamination Levels
Lead
Mercury
Beryllium
Thallium
Cadmium
Arsenic
Open Air Burning
Acid Bath Metal Recovery
3rd World Manual Extraction
Chemical Traces Left Behind
Geological Deterioration
Soil
Air
Waterways
2023: 347Mt of Generated E-waste
Growing Yearly By 57.4 Mt (Million Metric Tonnes)
Highest E-waste Producers: CHN, USA, IMD
17.4% Correctly Recycled
BACK TO MINERAL EXTRACTING? or CHALLENGE THE LIFESPAN? ▸
REFLECTIONS (on a series of recent studies & accounts)
The used, the abused & the anthropocene
Part 1 (2017-2020) Mineral extraction & becoming a foreign object
Increasingly the individually extracted minerals occupy a shared cell (a plastic casing), plucked from distant lands (including Chuquicamata in the North of Chile, the largest open pit copper mine in the world), embarking on a journey via road, vessel & air, across international waters and borders, passing through ports and customs controls to undertake a new role as a supporting act in the making of a modern electronic device, a device that would provide an immediate user satisfaction, later to reveal human and long-term geological deteriorations, knows as electronic waste (e-waste).
In 2017 the World Health Organisation recorded that hazardous e-waste such as old mobiles, computers and circuit boards had been piling up at alarming rates with over 45 million metric tonnes. When e-waste recycling develops into landfill, hazardous and toxic substances can leak out, causing water and soil contamination and such can be harmful to the environment.
While environmental conservation is the primary concern, social and economical matters also pose significant threat. In 2017, as part of an international touring exhibition programme, I flew from London Heathrow to Ezeiza International Airport, Buenos Aires, accompanied with two suitcases full of 'fragile' electronic items in virtual and augmented reality headsets. Used for non-commercial reasons (and with the correct declaration to indicate display purpose only), arriving at customs, basic questions arise from security officers - where are you coming from? how long will you be here? will you be returning home with those items? etc..etc..More importantly I am asked to declare the items in my luggage again, to alleviate further enquiries about the status of them which might be considered dutiable or illegal to bring into the country. Remember, item costs are also subject to their local currency & inflation rate (e.g. ARS).
Now imagine certain minerals being plucked from Chile (for example), sent to China and Silicon Valley for mass production purposes, later to be exported back, with a significant value-added tax, making the item(s) 'elite' - once a local resource, now a foreign object. As seen in the interactive installation Belongings, in order to engage with the touring project, a viewer is to use their mobile phone as a cursor to select one of the six narratives on screen - the only problem, the project is naively configured to only work with Apple phones, and not tailored for the then local audience. At the time, an Argentinian journal (unnamed) highlighted that a lower priced mobile phone was more commonly purchased in the region, compared to say an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy.
As part of the same touring exhibition programme, I was in a white cab travelling west across Montevideo with 2 colleagues. Arriving at our destination, I get out and begin to walk down the road, suddenly standing dead in my tracks, nervously going through my pockets - AARGH! I’VE LEFT MY PHONE IN THE CAB. I turn around quickly to see the white cab disappear into a sea of others, indistinguishable and indelible. A short while later, remembering my phone had little battery left, I anxiously attempted to remotely ‘find my iphone’, knowing that the moment it faded to nothingness, was the moment it was lost forever, as I watched it inexorably disappear...,leaving a ghostly presence of forgotten memory behind.
Part 2 (2021-2023) Waste management (S1, S2, S5) & the need for local participation
Shifting back to the recent past, in 2023 the amount of generated e-waste was estimated at 347Mt (Million Metric Tonnes), roughly 57.4Mt yearly since 2017, primarily emanating from CHN, USA and Northern & Western Europe. 17.4% was correctly recycled...
And so here we are….you’ve used your electronic item, your phone, your iPad, your computer to their fullest, now what? What happens when they come to the end of their lifespan?
Developed from ongoing research, between 2021 and 2023 I curated a series of public programmes in international screenings and exhibitions that aimed to provide an understanding of the cycle and formation of electronic waste (obsolete or discarded electronic devices) and the processes involved from the mining and extraction of minerals, through to the manufacturing and product distribution setup. The programmes addressed the improper ‘methods’ of electronic recycling globally and highlighted the need for clearer and cleaner methods of recycling in our local communities and the roles individuals could play to decrease their carbon footprint.
The programme also acted as a carrier of e-waste, as all visitors were welcome to deposit their redundant electronic items at the drop-off points within the gallery space. Following the programme, Aspire Sheffield (a Social Enterprise that specialises in computer recycling) were enlisted as a partner to ensure all donated/discarded electronic goods were recycled appropriately or refurbished for a longer lifespan. Over 75 mass donations of redundant electronic items were made, ranging from mobile phones - data cables – computer screens – printers – hardrives and more.
Undertaking a working residence at Aspire, I'd understood that the constituent parts of the donated/discarded electronic equipment that can’t be refurbished, economically repaired, or repurposed are segregated, graded, and then shipped to various refiners. This raw material is then processed by various mechanical and chemical processes to recover precious metals (as seen in Configure Crude Complexities) or transform the material into other by-products which can be reused. Material that absolutely can’t be recycled in this way is normally burnt to generate heat and power.
Part 3 (2023-) Waste management (SE1, SE15) & the potential of hyperaccumulators
Forma Associate Artists Programme (Research Residency): Reflections coming soon