MFA Thesis Exhibition Hope/Fear
Fourth Wall Project, 132 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215
April 3–12, 2013; 12–6 pm
Opening Reception + Artist Talk: April 6, 5–8 pm

Hope/Fear is a video installation that uses environmental documentaries on electronic waste (e-waste) to re-examine labor that is inextricably connected to its environment. E-waste from the U.S. and other wealthy nations is exported to processing and dump sites in Asia and Africa. With little to no regulation on the importation of e-waste and its subsequent processing, workers use crude methods to salvage metals and other parts for re-sale. As more and more electronic products become obsolete, the rate of e-waste accumulation increases dramatically, intensifying poor living and working conditions. Thus, the labor of e-waste workers is both unsustainable and inescapable. Using video footage of e-waste processing in Accra, Ghana, Hope/Fear frames this landscape through silhouetted layering of e-waste labor.

Jasmine Higbee is a video installation artist based in Boston, MA. Her work explores group identity and notions of legacy and sustainability. She experiments with political and environmental rhetoric to investigate contested histories and challenge current understandings of stewardship.

www.jasminehigbee.com

Image: Jasmine Higbee, Hope/Fear (still), 2013. Single channel video with audio.