- small hand blenders
- kettles
- toasters
- electric alarm clocks
- small lamps
- desktop fans
- irons
- hairdryers
- electric shavers
Photographer Sam Oster investigates electrical waste and the ‘trash and treasure’ culture of consumerism in her solo exhibition, Short Circuit.
Concerned with the growing issue of electrical waste, Sam Oster has photographed discarded appliances from suburban hard rubbish and local dumps. The photographs examine the form and function of the ‘electrical artifact’ and are presented in a combination of still photographic and moving image work. The images highlight our electrical dependency and the environmental impact of our high consumption.
The still photographs draw on the typographic style made famous by photographers Berndt and Hilla Becher in the late 1950s. Electrical goods are photographed in site-specific landscapes and also presented in cabinets reminiscent of a curiosity display. The incongruity of these placements examines the idea of disposal and dysfunction, with the objects remote from any electrical power source that would allow them to be domestically functional.
Using time-lapse techniques the moving image work further examines the electrical artifact, Frozen appliances melt in contemporary landscapes and a discarded fan passively observes the life cycle of plants surrounding it.
Sam says, “While bringing our attention to ongoing consumerism this work also transforms trash into treasure by turning e-waste into art, with the aim of encouraging a ‘re-use, re-cycle’ approach to a more sustainable lifestyle.”
Sam Oster is a photo-media artist working across a range of creative and commercial applications including as a stills photographer in the film and entertainment industries. She lectures in photography at the Centre for Creative Photography and runs photographic studio Silvertrace. In 2009 Sam was invited to exhibit in the core program of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. She was a commissioned artist for the inaugural SBS Federation Square Art Award and her work has been broadly published.
eye2eye fine art gallery fosters the growth of emerging artists through to celebrating the extraordinary talents of professional artists in all artistic media.
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