Times of Waste exhibition on tour

Photo: Omar Lemke

Waste is perceived differently depending on the context. It may be a promising resource or an unavoidable residue. Times of Waste – The Leftover focuses on the life of a smartphone: this typical example of the everyday technology of our age leaves many types of waste behind, starting from when the raw materials are extracted.

The exhibit follows a smartphone and its component parts as they are shipped and recycled, encountering landfill sites and shredders, repair shops, research laboratories and a variety of materials and people along the way. Examples of current challenges are illustrated and questions asked about possible courses of action in the era of electronic waste.

In different variations, the exhibit will be shown over the next months at Stedman Gallery Rutgers University-Camden, Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, and Haus zur Glocke Steckborn. The exhibition forms part of the IXDM research project Times of Waste.