Electronic waste is a category of refuse that continues to befuddle attempts to close the sustainability loop. There is no great solution for what to do with our electronics in their afterlife. Going even further, there is question of what a responsible way to dispose of e-waste even means. Many of the parts that make up our electronics are highly toxic and dangerous to deal with once discarded.
While artist intentions will not solve the problem of what to do with e-waste, they can, require viewers to reconcile with the idea that their electronics are not just gone; that they often go on to be shipped away to parts of the world they will likely never see; that they will be broken down, parts salvaged and parts in landfill. Through the work of several artists, such as Rodrigo Alonso and Sarah Frost, who create art out of e-waste, the question I ask in my exhibition is: How does the repurposing of e-waste by these artists tell stories about the life of our devices and our relationship to them?