This past year has made it clear how integral supply chains are to modern life. But despite growing awareness of their importance, they remain abstract and invisible to most of us. Supply-chains.us is a living archive of the geographies, processes, and people behind supply chains, particularly those required for consumer technology.
Collected as visual narratives, these stories trace the “social lives” of these materials: from the mines where they are extracted, to the factories that smelt, manufacture and assemble them into products, to the global shipping routes used in between, ending with the consumer – and ultimately at landfills, recycling centres, and e-waste sites around the world.
At the discussion session, users can participate in a facilitated reflection about supply chains, chat with the exhibit’s creators, and learn how to contribute to this living archive.
This Art and Media piece is hosted on a third-party website: www.supply-chains.us
The supply-chains.us exhibit will be progressively released throughout MozFest, with new features and information released on a daily basis. Users can return to the website daily to learn more about supply chains, and/or leave feedback for the project's creators. This iterative release was designed to test a variety of features, and sustain engagement and interactivity.
At the discussion session, users can participate in a facilitated reflection about supply chains, chat with the exhibit’s creators, and learn how to contribute to this living archive.
You can access this exhibit at www.supply-chains.us.
We're hoping that many efforts and discussions will continue after Mozfest. Share any ideas you already have for how to continue the work from your session.:This project aims to be a living archive of the labor and materials required for technology supply chains.
As new information, research, and reporting emerges, this project will be updated accordingly.
How will you deal with varying numbers of participants in your session?:This project aims to involve as many people as possible, and does not have a minimum or maximum attendee limit. Previews of the project will be posted on social media channels (Instagram, Facebook) during MozFest, and the site will be accessible (and progressively released) throughout the event.
Research Fellow at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Graduate student at the Graduate Institute, Geneva.
Graduate student at the University of Amsterdam, Institute for Social Science Research.