November 8th to November 18th 2022 : Tech Beyond the Myth¶
The two weeks called Tech Beyond the Myth are dedicated to unpacking electronics. We looked at the current state of the electronics industry and its different models of operation, thinking critically about the various flaws in the global system. From mining, to programmed obsolescence and e-waste, these are myriads of issues with the electronics sector . We lingered especially on the « Black Box » issue: the fact that our electronics are more and more complex, hidden and inaccessible. Self-repair is becoming less and less of an option, and the consumer’s power to dive into their own black boxes are being stripped away. The question then was: where does the ownership actually lie?
We then spent some time unpacking appliances and writing a forensic report. The goal was to take apart a machine, and be able to tell what it was made of and how it worked. My team unpacked a ten year old conferencing webcam called the Polycom Eagle Eye which was made of a plastic casing, several pcb boards, optical lenses, and a few motors. It was not entirely difficult to take apart, save one circuit which was embedded in the casing and which we had to tear out. It’s clear it was still functional, simply obsolete in terms of camera quality, and not integratable with common conferencing softwares like zoom. Its main downfall was how proprietary it was as a system.
Looking into the entrails of our appliances was fascinating, especially the detail with which pub boards are made. The sheer level of complexity and ingenuity encased in our everyday electronics is astonishing, and yet they’re mostly so affordable for the average person - hence so disposable.
It was also fascinating to have the time to see the patterns of electronic. Our appliances, for the most part, are all based on the same basic components. Motors, sensors, cables, switches, batteries. The same patterns we see in our bodies.
In fact while working with electronics was interesting, these past few weeks mostly helped me explore these larger ecosystem patterns. Life is electrical. And electricity is also biological force, essential to the functioning of our bodies. Our hearts and muscles are analogous to valves and motors, our nerves like cables and our brain a myriad of systems but perhaps quintessentially a controller. Our microbes our sensors.
The field of bioelectronics has not emerged much yet. It’s still hidden in deep tech, biomedical applications, or in artistic explorations. But I wonder what our appliances would look like if they were made of organic systems. The same components would appear, but how would the instructions flow?
Assignment: Build a Useless Machine and Craft a Narrative around it.