CansSingapore | 2017The Cans series examines the state of the economy, social inequality, and consumption patterns.The visual assembly of 1,000 unassuming aluminum cans represents... Read More
Cans
Singapore | 2017
The Cans series examines the state of the economy, social inequality, and consumption patterns.
The visual assembly of 1,000 unassuming aluminum cans represents the many individuals from the vulnerable parts of society, often faceless and hidden.
Throughout its life cycle, the aluminum can intertwine with the multi-layered social stratum: as an income source for waste pickers in their immediate local environments; a consumed product for middle- and high-income consumers; and an output of the global trading system of commodities and industrial products.
In 2016, a single discarded aluminum can in Singapore was worth S$0.015 to a can collector. A thousand of these recycled cans, collected and photographed individually on the grounds of a waste metal collection centre in Singapore, formed a combined value of S$15.00. We juxtaposed a single protective case for the iPhone, one of the most popular smartphones in the country.
The monetary value of the smartphone case is exactly equivalent to that of the 1,000 cans.
