WORKSHOP: WITHIN A MILE – FOUND MATERIALS AND RESOURCES OF TOMORROW

Within one mile – in the immediate vicinity of the home over a period of six weeks the students collected different recyclable waste that could potentially serve as “raw material” in the future. The findings were then photographed at the location. The findings were very diverse and ranged from defective headphones to blunt saw blades and crown corks.

From one of these “valuable materials” a defective electronic device was selected and manually taken apart in order to identify and determine the material of all components. The devices were very different in terms of disassembly. While some were easy to dismantle, others were non-separable. The process of disassembly was documented photographically and all materials were listed, including weight percentages. In addition, the material properties of the objects (e.g. material type, alloys, coatings etc.) were characterised and analysed with regard to recyclability and circulatory ability.

On the first day of the workshop each student arranged the found objects and relevant information in order to start a collective evaluation of the exhibits.

text: Johanna Abendroth, Anna Freudenberg