e-Galaxy is an immersive, participatory installation by Suzon Fuks made from discarded electronic waste. Combining video, delicate miniature sculptures, artist books, and jewellery, the work invites audiences to activate the ‘galaxy’ by dismantling old devices, responding to guided prompts, and adding components to an ever-changing spiral. Challenging our throwaway culture, e-Galaxy uncovers the beauty within the mundane while raising awareness of recycling, sustainability, and the social and environmental costs of electronic production. It reconnects people with the material origins of technology—an archaeology shaped by accumulated inventions and minerals that took billions of years to form, yet only moments to extract.

“I approach obsolescence to explore the hidden side of things, uncovering layers of knowledge accumulated over time and gaining a deeper understanding of what often escapes us in the use of our tools. Although marketed as new, every electronic device holds a long lineage of technological evolution. By dismantling so-called obsolete objects and repurposing their components, I make these embedded histories visible. Reconfiguring these parts helps us recognise the full life cycle of our devices—from design, extraction and production to use, disuse, partial reuse, waste, and eventually a slow decomposition process that unfolds over a ‘galactic’ time scale, far longer than all previous stages combined.

I also aim to highlight the inequitable global distribution of these processes. Access to new technologies is concentrated in wealthy nations; meanwhile, workers in developing regions mine the rare earth minerals that make our devices possible. These same regions often become the final destination for electronic waste, whether buried in landfills, burned in informal recycling sites, or drifting as space debris in Earth’s orbit.

As robots, AI and the Internet of Things increasingly replicate aspects of human cognition and physicality, it becomes even more vital to recognise what distinguishes us from our machines. Our senses, perception and creativity form a knowledge system rooted in our bodies, our relationships, and our interrelation with the natural world.

I feel an urgency to question the difference between our tools and our senses, to dig inside, to stay aware and mindful, and to keep exploring the layers.

‘e-Galaxy’ stands as a counterpoint to throwaway culture, drawing attention to beauty in the everyday, the mundane and the discarded. It embraces ecological consciousness and encourages reflection on recycling, sustainability and the human and environmental costs embedded in the technologies that shape our lives.”

I feel an urgency to question the difference between our tools and our senses, to dig inside, to stay aware and mindful, and to keep exploring the layers.”
Suzon Fuks