The Great Recycle

Where Are We on the Circular Economy in Art?

The world spins faster with each news cycle, making it difficult to keep pace with urgent global threats like humanitarian crises, resource conflicts, ecocides, and war crimes. In this polarised climate, discussions often fall victim to self-interest, affecting both the wealthy elite and the millions living in poverty. The blame game, disinformation, and the misconduct perpetrated by leaders and organised networks erode our sensibilities and ability to respond, ultimately leading to feelings of loneliness and despair.

Counterbalancing A.I.: No-Tech Environment and Recycling Electronic Waste
The Great Recycle installations and sculpture projects focus on counterbalancing A.I. and technology through no-tech initiatives, featuring installations and sculptures made from recycled electronic waste. The installations TIME MACHINES, #LightHackSculptures, are not time travel machines but rather machines that produce time. Today, time has been commodified, measured, and digitally recorded. We are constantly pushed forward in a breathless agenda of meetings, doings, tasks, and deadlines. TIME MACHINE represents the infinity of time by presenting light and video loops that, in a random and poetic light travel, create a space free of time. There is no commitment, no expectations from the spectator, but to visit and produce time with the work.

The LightHackSculpture series is inherently site-specific, adapting to and complementing the unique characteristics of each location where it is set up. This approach ensures that every installation becomes a distinct and engaging experience for the audience. At the core of the project is an exploration of light as both a physical and metaphorical element. Functioning as projectors, the sculptures utilise lighting, lamps, and machinery to cast intricate plays of light and shadow into their surroundings. Metaphorically, these installations project a contemporary narrative, highlighting destructive behaviours within production, consumption, and the mishandling of waste materials. In transforming these materials into objects of beauty, I aim to provoke contemplation on our collective responsibility towards environmental sustainability.

A distinctive feature of the #LIGHTHACKSCULPTURE series and the 2024 The Pleiadian Guardians is the utilisation of everyday over-the-counter electronics and discarded digital gadgets. By repurposing electronic waste and recycled materials, the project addresses the issue of overproduction and the abundance of inexpensive, disposable products saturating consumer society. The resulting aesthetic, marked by the visible presence of electric cables and extension cords, challenges conventional notions of beauty, offering a new perspective on materials we often seek to conceal.