Diffusion

Diffusion:
Right now, in developing countries, such as Ghana, rural China, and areas of rural South Asia, children are desperately sifting through our old IPods, Computers, and other E-Waste to find small amounts of copper and gold, amongst plastic, ceramic and silicone computer boards and hand held devices, that can be sold for what we would consider an inconceivably small amount of money. Women sit in clouds of chemicals, burning away the plastics that hold these valuable materials. The risk to their health, water supply and futures are immeasurable. The United States is one of the few developed nations where shipping our E-Waste in large shipping containers, from the numerous “recycling” centers where we ignorantly and trustingly take our old electronics, is virtually without penalty.

In Diffusion, delicate, fractured waifs of ceramic will be fused to wire and tipped in copper an gold luster, and will be suspended in the environment. Shadowy images of children in toxic play will be projected onto the ceramic and filtered onto the wall behind them. Viewers are invited to walk into the environment, becoming part of the piece as the projection covers their bodies and their shadows join the projection on the wall, at once with and apart from the children so desperately sorting through our old electronics.