Gold is a controversial material. Today, it’s largely used on the ground
of its physical properties - electrical conductivity, resistance to corrosion and radiations, ductility - for the functioning of consumer electronics, digital media, telecommunications, and even as shield foil in space explorations. It is one among a group of rare minerals on which our daily interactions, entertainment needs, communications and access to information rely. Think of the mobile phones we carry in our pockets, computers, videogames, and television screens. Gold is diluted into all of these devices. It’s at the base of their secret functioning.
Using a domestic form of mining to process impure gold from e-waste
by extracting it from discarded electronics and other sources (like space-shuttle debris for its gold-plated mylar). Gold Rush intended to look closely at the relationship between jewellery and electronics, and to explore the boundary between adornment and portable technology.
What do these typologies of objects reveal about our bodies and identities, about our desire for interconnectedness and communication?
