What if our devices kept talking back to us after we disposed of them?
The Backtalk project asks this question and poses a solution.
Turning turned used laptops and other electronic devices into independent reporters that document their ‘second life’, sending images and GPS co-ordinates from remote places.
The information they report back offers first-hand perspectives – glimpses into e-waste recycling villages, local thrift stores, public schools and libraries – that prompt a reflection on our society’s relationship with our electronic devices.
By collecting information from the devices Backtalk sets out to investigate one of today’s key unknown stories – that of global e-waste.
The project is currently exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects.