E-Waste is Brought to Life
In a modern society that is increasingly keen to keep up with the latest technologies, a new problem has been created, that of E-Waste. This is the informal term used to describe the many discarded monitors, televisions, computers, mobile phones and the like, which are increasingly becoming an issue.
Over the past few weeks, students of the MA in Communication Design here at the Winchester School of Art have been engaged in a project to produce 3-D data visualisations on the topic of e-waste and the materials.
They focussed their work around sub-topics, including: Production & consumption, Resources & materials, Circuits of disposal and repair, Salvage, and Recycling. The resulting installations were designed to quickly and simply communicate complex information to a public audience unfamiliar with the topic, and were displayed at a public exhibition of post-graduate work on 9th March 2016.
The project itself, was led by James Branch who has recently published a journal article on the topic of communications media infrastructure — and launched by Jussi Parikka, Professor in Technological Culture & Aesthetics and author of; A Geology of Media and The Anthrobscene .
The photos below give some idea of the fascinating range of ways in which the initial brief was interpreted, providing useful ways to spread the word about this issue.