Loop:recycle ~ 2009

In the UK, we produce 434 million tonnes of solid waste every year. As a nation, we only recycle 17.7% of it – one of the worst rates in Europe. Due to the aggressive marketing of new technology and a throw away lifestyle, the amount of electrical waste we throw away is increasing by around 5% each year, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. The UK produces 3 million tonnes of plastic waste each year. Approximately 85% is landfilled, 8% incinerated and 7% recycled. Over 75% of waste electrical goods end up in landfill, where lead and other toxins contained in the electrical goods can cause soil and water contamination.

These loudspeakers were collected over the last 2 months from locations across London.

Using freecycle.org, a site designed to allow any useful item to be collected and re-used for free, and a civic amenity site that sorts re-usable goods, I visited these various locations and recorded my journeys… announcements on the underground, birdsong alongside rail platforms, my own musings and comments on newspaper articles or things I have seen along the way, visits to the dump and freecyclers’ houses.

The collection of 192 sound files is played back randomly through 50 of the collected loudspeaker drivers which are arranged in 8 channels/clusters of varying sizes.

Loop:Recycle presents a type of aural map of London, explores issues of re-use and recycling, the circular relationship of the object to the sound it is emitting, the aesthetics and sculptural presence of the loudspeaker, and investigates sound and space through 8-channel diffusion.

ABC Show 09 – Yan White- Loop:recycle from Sound Arts & Design @ LCC on Vimeo.

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