We tend to quickly forget about technology that's no longer shiny and state-of-the-art, which is part of the reason that piles of discarded electronics are becoming larger and larger. Polish sculptor Marek Tomasik, however, thought of a way of bringing them back to life ... sort of. He created an enormous and disturbing rectangular, walk-in sculpture made of several thousand discarded computer parts. The piece, entitled "Sometimes You Have To Be Open," is in the form of a room measuring 5m x 4m x 4.5m (16' x 14' x 15'), based around a wooden structure.
The installation is located in a 14th-century castle in the town of Ĺwiecie, central Poland, and it is open to visitors from May 28, 2011. It took Tomasik three years to gather all the discarded parts from over 300 old computers, mainly searching through electronic junkyards.
The electronic waste issue is the first association that comes to mind. Ninety percent of American e-waste is actually exported to China and Nigeria and 68 percent of Americans store their old televisions and computers at home, as there's nothing else to do with them, 1800Ewaste reports.
Tomasik, however, does not provide guidance on how to read his piece. He said in an interview that it's best to "walk in, close the door and feel it." He also noticed that younger visitors tend to ask less questions. Those youngsters just step in and simply enjoy the piece or not, but without trying to find logic and purpose in the installation.
