a cross-generational piece that repurposes electronic waste into technologically mediated messages to future generations. Plastic comprises a vast amount of the material used to make the electronic consumer products that have become so much a part of our lives. The majority of these products will eventually become waste. From ipods to mobile phones, once the an implement has exhausted its usefulness, or is subsumed by a more up-to-date technology, it will probably wind up in the trash despite state and local e-waste recycling e orts. In fact, New York City will allow for the disposal of all electronic waste (except batteries) in regular municipal trash collection until the year 2015. What does this wanton waste production say about our concern for future generations and ourselves? Letters From the Earth o ers the possibility of a dialogue with those future beings, by reconstructing the impermanent messages on computer screens and cell phones into permanent physical missives that will last for centuries. This will be accomplished by creating a website that will allow users to suggest the content of ve messages to be preserved. The website will feature live streaming information of Twitter feeds. Users will be able to click on the message they nd most deserving of preservation. The chosen tweets will go into a pool of other entries where site visitors will be able to vote for the messages they nd most compelling. The top ve entries are then made permanent in the following manner: E-waste is culled from local landfills. The plastic is removed from this waste and the remaining components sent to recycling facilities. The plastic is then melted down and formed into simple cubes. These cubes are then cemented together to form letters and sentences, as pixels would form words. These completed sentences are then placed back into the landfill and covered over. Since all the electronic components will be recycled, the net environmental impact will be a reduction in land ll waste. Because plastic takes so long to break down (up to 500 years or more in a land ll) the messages will remain in the earth inde nitely. This is done in the hope that future inhabitants might stumble upon them in the course of archeological, geological, or subsistence exploration and consider the attitudes and sensibilities that previous generations had toward their lives, triumphs and follies. Similarly, Letters from the Earth calls on the present day technological operators and consumers to consider the impact their seemingly innocuous tool and toys might have on their descendants. In exhibition, Letters from the Earth will be installed as one or more kiosks where patrons can interact with the website and compose and/or vote for messages. The site will include clear descriptions and instructions for the piece including illustrations and diagrams. In addition, the kiosk area will include sculptural signage of the project title made from the above described process. These kiosks will be able to be installed wherever there is su cient power and internet connection. After the initial exhibition has ended and the nal messages chosen, the process will be carried out on the chosen sentences and placed in a local land ll. Video and still documentation will be produced which will be uploaded to the website for public view.
a cross-generational piece that repurposes electronic waste into technologically mediated messages to future generations. Plastic comprises a vast amount of the material used to make the electronic consumer products that have become so much a part of our lives. The majority of these products will eventually become waste. From ipods to mobile phones, once the an implement has exhausted its usefulness, or is subsumed by a more up-to-date technology, it will probably wind up in the trash despite state and local e-waste recycling e orts. In fact, New York City will allow for the disposal of all electronic waste (except batteries) in regular municipal trash collection until the year 2015. What does this wanton waste production say about our concern for future generations and ourselves? Letters From the Earth o ers the possibility of a dialogue with those future beings, by reconstructing the impermanent messages on computer screens and cell phones into permanent physical missives that will last for centuries. This will be accomplished by creating a website that will allow users to suggest the content of ve messages to be preserved. The website will feature live streaming information of Twitter feeds. Users will be able to click on the message they nd most deserving of preservation. The chosen tweets will go into a pool of other entries where site visitors will be able to vote for the messages they nd most compelling. The top ve entries are then made permanent in the following manner: E-waste is culled from local landfills. The plastic is removed from this waste and the remaining components sent to recycling facilities. The plastic is then melted down and formed into simple cubes. These cubes are then cemented together to form letters and sentences, as pixels would form words. These completed sentences are then placed back into the landfill and covered over. Since all the electronic components will be recycled, the net environmental impact will be a reduction in land ll waste. Because plastic takes so long to break down (up to 500 years or more in a land ll) the messages will remain in the earth inde nitely. This is done in the hope that future inhabitants might stumble upon them in the course of archeological, geological, or subsistence exploration and consider the attitudes and sensibilities that previous generations had toward their lives, triumphs and follies. Similarly, Letters from the Earth calls on the present day technological operators and consumers to consider the impact their seemingly innocuous tool and toys might have on their descendants. In exhibition, Letters from the Earth will be installed as one or more kiosks where patrons can interact with the website and compose and/or vote for messages. The site will include clear descriptions and instructions for the piece including illustrations and diagrams. In addition, the kiosk area will include sculptural signage of the project title made from the above described process. These kiosks will be able to be installed wherever there is su cient power and internet connection. After the initial exhibition has ended and the nal messages chosen, the process will be carried out on the chosen sentences and placed in a local land ll. Video and still documentation will be produced which will be uploaded to the website for public view.