‘Obsolete Components’ is a multi-channel audio-visual installation, using ten analogue televisions, a projector and a six channel speaker system. The images on the televisions refer to the absurdity of planned obsolescence, which is the practice of designing a product with an artificially limited life span, so that it becomes obsolete after a certain pre-determined period of time upon which it ceases to function. The purpose of this design feature is to force people to purchase functional replacements. The work is also influenced by the concept of ‘technofossils’, a term coined by Professor Jan Zalasiewicz to describe the material footprints that humans will leave behind through their material goods. Due to the scale and density of landfills, most will fossilize before they can decompose. Zalasiewicz’ study suggests that technofossils will be humankind’s equivalent of a dinosaur footprint and take the forms of highways, smartphones, cities, computers etc. Archaeologists of the future will be excavating landfills to learn about us, potentially restoring the motherboards and hard drives they uncover in the process to gain information about our era.

In 2021, 448 billion US dollars were spent on household appliance globally. This does not include the retail of smartphones and computers. In 2017, the world generated 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste and only 20% was recycled properly. Discarded electronic and electrical equipment contains potentially harmful materials that pollute the environment and increase the risks for people involved in recycling e-waste. Cobalt, one of the elements
used in lithium-ion batteries which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against climate change, are caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship. ‘Obsolete Components’ does not blame the consumer, but shines a light on the feedback loop the consumer is trapped in as part of this process.

The Sound of Public Space is a short film about an extended research project carried out in King’s fourth year at The Glasgow School of Art. Through analysis of the design methods of sound installations that benefit communities and the possibilities of sonification to provide experiential representations of data, we can learn how public sound art can embrace sonification and contribute to the design choices that improve our auditory experiences in public places. Biosonification is an increasingly used technique to create performance works intended to change perspectives by conveying statistics and biological data in ways the human ear can understand. These techniques can be recognised in the field of public sound art, where practitioners work with space and sound to influence perspectives on a variety of issues, ranging from the political, social or environmental. How ever, there is little work intersecting the two fields. Site-specific approaches to installation design can embrace sonification technologies as a valuable new addition to its tool kit. Representing data through audio is a relatively un-explored avenue in the field of public sound art. The findings of this research show how sound design can act as an attraction and benefit the communities they are designed for.