“e-Galaxy” by Suzon Fuks
e-Galaxy by Suzon Fuks - MeGalaxy
Title:
- e-Galaxy
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Filmmaker, Video Artist, or Animator(s):
Symposium:
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Artist Statement:
‘e-Galaxy’ video loop is part of an immersive and experiential installation with public participation, made of electronic waste, miniatures, and artist books, created by Suzon Fuks, with music by Bob Vanderbob.
In this video, a character explores ‘MeGalaxy’, ‘Sim’, ‘WeavilLED’, ‘KeyCaps’, ‘TekTonik’ and ‘Spinwheel’.
Since 2019, she works with locally sourced electronic waste, performing and activating installations in both human and miniature scale, used also in her videos. Suzon designs wearables with repurposed electronic parts, and creates artist books relating her passage from analogue to digital technology. Suzon’s immersive installations have been exhibited internationally, including at the Prague Quadrennial-PQ2023 and Magdalena Montpellier Festival 2023.
Suzon’s focus on obsolescence and technology explores the hidden side of things, the layers of knowledge amalgamated over time, and seeks to create a better understanding of our current electronic tools. All these devices, although marketed as new and innovative, hold a long history of technological development. Dismantling the ‘obsolete’ ones and repurposing their components highlights a ‘galactic’ time scale going through their full life cycles. It raises awareness of the unfair technological global distribution, highlighting how access to new technologies is predominantly in developed countries while workers mining rare earth elements are often exploited in developing countries. This is also where much of the electronic waste ends up, buried in landfill, or alternatively, as space junk orbiting the planet.
With the creation of robots, AI and the Internet of Things, some of the ways in which we use our minds and bodies are being replaced. While we are researching and quantifying how human brains function, our senses, perception and creativity are arguably what differentiates us from our machines and makes us unique as humans. Suzon has a feeling of urgency to address the need to delve into the knowledge of our bodies, our relationships with each other and the natural world. This includes questioning the difference between our tools / technology and our body / senses, to dig inside, to be aware and mindful, to explore the layers.
‘e-Galaxy’ is a counterpoint to the throwaway culture by drawing attention to beauty in the everyday, the mundane and the discarded. It raises awareness about recycling, sustainability and some of the human and environmental costs involved in making our electronic devices.
