akwasi afrane uses discarded devices to question human needs at driving the human

TRANSMIT YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS INTO THE SYSTEM

trons ‘r’ us is one of the 21 selected projects by driving the human, the berlin-based festival focusing on eco and social renewal. in november 2020, driving the human launched an open call inviting several participants to engage with multidisciplinary know-how, in order to develop future-proof concepts. the results of these explorations will be shared by 2023, and will deploy strategies for action in the form of physical experiences, with a strong individual and collective impact.

akwasi bediako afrane is a ghanaian artist, and works with discarded electronic gadgets which he refers to as ‘amputees’, repurposing them into machines and micro-organisms which he calls trons. stripped bare of their familiar housing, the trons become mechanical gizmos subsumed with the consciousness of previous owners of these gadgets and himself. akwasi presents trons instead of people as a blank slate to provoke conversations about the nature of the human, and how our quest for sustenance burdens the environment.

designboom spoke with the akwasi to find out more about his latest project.

all images © designboom.

HUMAN QUEST TO ENHANCE OURSELVES

designboom (DB): can you tell us more about trons ‘r’ us?

akwasi bediako afrane (ABA): I’m an artist, and in 2015, I started working with discarded electronic gadgets, I was looking at the relationship we form when we purchase them. so we have this idea of prestige when we look at the gadgets as a way to enhance ourselves. for example they let us reach someone on the other side of the planet. so that is where the idea of the prosthesis came in, then I look on how we store all our personal information on mobile phones, computers, any device really.

all images © designboom.

WE DITCH DEVICES THAT STILL WORK

DB: do you only use discarded devices?

ABA: yes. so most of them are old, because these are the ones that people are willing to part with, because they look to newer models that are arriving. my interest has to do with the ones that work, not their waste, the ones that are dead. we trash gadgets that we can still make good use of, we simply want to ditch them for a new one. the trons r us is actually based on this idea of prestige looking at how, by ditching these gadgets, we actually try to ditch our personal history.

all images © designboom.

I AM PLAYING AROUND WITH DEVICE FORMER OWNERS

DB: there is a strong connection between the device and its owner?

ABA: I’m looking at how the discarded devices kind of hold on to parts of ourselves because information is actually embodied. so when we part with them we leave these informations about ourselves, our consciousness. I like to play around with these gadgets by also playing around with the people that have been transferred into the gadgets. in this project, I am presenting the trons as a white box, which opposes the idea of the black box where you only think about input and output of the processor, you don’t really pay attention into the process. that is why my gadgets are presented open.

all images © designboom.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST

DB: the project is also strictly connected to africa exploitation

ABA: it’s not really about the garbage. I mean, the media like to show how discarded gadgets are being pushed into the country, forming a huge mess and all those things. for me, it’s actually about technology. the production of these things, from materials, minerals that are mined mostly from africa, also plastic producing. all this natural resources that are coming from the environment, mostly from africa. and people are even dying because of this when you come to illegal mining in our hometown, for instance. but the funny thing is, we don’t have access to actually the production, it is taken outside and then brought back to us.

all images © designboom.

DB: how is the VR experience connected to the project?

ABA: it’s a simulation. when you wear the VR headset, you’re actually trying to transmit your consciousness into the system in order to power it.

DB: did you connected all those machines together by yourself? do you have a technical background?

ABA: I did it by myself. I made a much bigger tron back home (in ghana). in 2015, when I started, I learnt a lot by myself, but I’m actually still on a novice level. I’m here to learn more.