emiko-o reware

Well, not literally, but man, I haven’t seen such excitement in the bloggisphere for men’s underwear until now. Population Control 2.0 is on fire! All it takes is one good blog (and something tech related like circuit boards) and the rest follow suit (or manties, I should say). Ecouterre.com broke the story Jan 27th (featuring many of the Metal Art Critique Collective members work from our Jewelry_cycle show!).

Population Control 2.0 was originally created as part of a collaborative project by the Metal Arts Critique Collective to bring public awareness to the issue of e-waste and the benefits of recycling. Each member of the group was given access to small, pre-cut circuit board rejects to make a piece of “green” jewelry. The works were showcased in the exhibition Jewelry_cycle at the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design in fall 2008. An accompanying catalog documented the artists’ process in making.

GreenMuze.com

While the circuit board pieces used for Jewelry_cycle were mostly from cellular technology, I tend to associate circuit boards with computers and guys and all that is geekery, this being the impetus for my Population Control 2.0 boxer briefs. Having a boyfriend who uses laptops for endless hours daily led me to revisit medical studies on continual laptop use linked to male infertility. Could it be a male form of birth control? My process in making the briefs became a public crafting event in which I brought all my tools, parts, and male dress form “Julian” to a 3-day chill music festival/campout and constructed the piece right out on the lawns. Working on “Julian” became the perfect icebreaker to engage the public in a dialogue about recycling, circuit boards, and art.

It gives one pause to think how technology will affect our generation’s health 10-20 years from now. Not only is the production and conspicuous consumption of computers toxic to our environment, it may possible hinder our ability to repopulate future generations.

Greendump.net

Shortly after Ecouterre posted the circuit boxers, then followed Apartment Therapy Unplggd, GreenMuze, Green Dump, Tree Hugger, Techtv101, Earth Blips, tweetmeme, Eco Friendly Mag, the Find Buzz, etc etc. Who knows where it will end (perhaps in traditional print?), but in the meantime I’m coming across some great eco blogs. Click on the links and see what I mean.

Treehugger.com

EcoFriendlyMag.com

EarthBlips.dailyradar.com

Tags: Apartment Therapy Unplggd, circuit board boxes, circuit board jewelry, Earth Blips, Eco Friendly Mag, ecouterre, Green Dump, GreenMuze, Jewelry_cycle, Metal Arts Critique Collective, Population Control 2.0, recycled jewelry, Techtv101, the Find Buzz, Tree Hugger, tweetmeme

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 5:41 am and is filed under my art, recycling stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.