ANA ALENSO

​Part of the group exhibition Landscapes of Labour at KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION

Curated by Julia Höner

Supported by ​NEUSTART KULTUR / BBK-Bundesverband

25.08.22 until 08.01.23

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A rotating machine, oil barrels, earth mixed with water flowing through hosepipes and colouring the room’s walls, metal bowls and spinning objects: Mad Rush Extended (2022) by Ana Alenso is reminiscent of a production plant or building site that is continually in use. The perpetual movement and the spatial arrangement of individual elements made from pieces of scrap metal and worn-out materials appear poetic. A sensory realm opens up alongside the factual context from which they are borrowed: the imagery of gold mining and its associated industries.

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Gold, as a raw material, is indispensable for digital technology; the physical work underground is closely connected to the seemingly locationless, immaterial digital world. Finally, gold is becoming increasingly important as an element in electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptops. Once these devices have become obsolete, they are dismantled into their component parts, recycled and sold in the same countries where the raw materials were extracted – the largest electronic waste salvage yard in the world is located on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital Accra. In the future, recycling e-waste could be the only way to extract gold.

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Excerpt from curatorial text by Christina Danick