Perhaps it is the nature of malfunction in general that causes a project not to run as smoothly as expected... the social aspect of the project I proposed for Chiba City Art Triennale was to collect unwanted and obsolete technological products from the local community, and the stories behind them, their original use and value, and subsequent shift to become disused and outmoded. It took some time to get the word out to the people of Chiba, so at points it seemed I would have quite a small scale project to present. However, in the final weeks of my time in Chiba I received a great number of devices, which have been adapted and combined in various ways in the installation on the 8th floor of the Yamazaki Building in the city centre. The range of objects collected is incredible, as can be seen as you venture through the space, triggering action, sound and light that also changes the space and how you experience it.

 

The point of the project is to provoke renewed interest and value in these worthless electronic relics, so as the audience move around the three rooms of the exhibition space, they will reanimate them in various ways: through their movement, their proximity to the objects and through sudden sounds.

 

The work is a playful experience that has a serious subject – how many of us have lusted after and then spent a great deal of money on any number of technological treasures, only to want (or need) to replace them after a couple of years? And what then? What happens to them, even though they still generally function perfectly well? Repurposing them in an art project is just one solution. In one piece of the installation, an old headphone, you are able to listen to some of the stories about the donations, which are insightful and often moving.

 

Thanks go to the teams of Chiba City Art Triennale, Mikey House and Yamazaki Building, plus all those who donated their once prized possessions.