Monday 16 March 2015

whetstone or rolling-stock

The incomparable BLDGBlog has a feature called “Intermediate Geologies,” where artists have reversed engineered an ore, a nugget out of discarded circuit boards and other electronic detritus. Of course, whether as accoutrements or artefacts, the metallurgical composition was always present, but it is an interesting demonstration of another, less invasive approach to mining and the importance of scrap and salvage. The author speculates that, like burning the midnight oil in an attempt to outwit a Rumpelstiltskin and to eke out a bit of pocket-change—real work versus rather than a proof-of-work incentive scheme, people might keep the equivalent of rock-tumblers churning for extended periods, panning for gold.