AMBER LANDSCAPES
A work commissioned by VodafoneZiggo Netherlands
AMBER LANDSCAPES is a group of eight sculptures commissioned by VodafoneZiggo Netherlands with the objective of raising awareness about the importance of responsible disposal and recycling practices to protect the environment and promote sustainability.
E-waste is an escalating environmental concern. It is currently the fastest-growing solid waste stream, and by 2050, its volume is expected to have doubled compared to 2019 - a real challenge for our planet and the ecosystem we live in. But how can we tackle this issue? How to create value from something that is supposed to have no more purpose?
The artwork resources to the iconic element of the amber fossils: 'I saw old phones as fossils: elements part of our ecosystem and in which memories and traces of the past are trapped. That gave me the idea of encapsulating the devices in an amber-like substance, creating a futuristic landscape containing amber fossilized e-waste. As small insects trapped in amber can provide us today with plenty of useful information about the planet and ecosystem we live in: I wanted to apply that principle to e-waste. This way these old phones, with apparent no more use to fit, once encapsulated in a translucent substance, would find a new, positive purpose'.
Central in the design and making of Amber Landscapes is the use of caramelized sugar and isomalt (a sugar substitute derived by sugar beet).
'In addition to its amber resemblance, sugar is alive. Amber Landscapes is a work that isn’t frozen in time — it evolves, just like everything else in nature. In a way, it’s a reminder that tackling e-waste shouldn’t rely on rigid solutions. Instead, we should take cues from nature’s own adaptability and embrace more fluid, ever-changing strategies'. (D.S.)
Check the video realized by Studio van Steenis and explore the process behind the making of the work (below).
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AMBER LANDSCAPES
Discarder telephone devices, isomalt, sugar, iron.
(2025)
E-waste is an escalating environmental concern. It is currently the fastest-growing solid waste stream, and by 2050, its volume is expected to have doubled compared to 2019 - a real challenge for our planet and the ecosystem we live in. But how can we tackle this issue? How to create value from something that is supposed to have no more purpose?
The artwork resources to the iconic element of the amber fossils: 'I saw old phones as fossils: elements part of our ecosystem and in which memories and traces of the past are trapped. That gave me the idea of encapsulating the devices in an amber-like substance, creating a futuristic landscape containing amber fossilized e-waste. As small insects trapped in amber can provide us today with plenty of useful information about the planet and ecosystem we live in: I wanted to apply that principle to e-waste. This way these old phones, with apparent no more use to fit, once encapsulated in a translucent substance, would find a new, positive purpose'.
Central in the design and making of Amber Landscapes is the use of caramelized sugar and isomalt (a sugar substitute derived by sugar beet).
'In addition to its amber resemblance, sugar is alive. Amber Landscapes is a work that isn’t frozen in time — it evolves, just like everything else in nature. In a way, it’s a reminder that tackling e-waste shouldn’t rely on rigid solutions. Instead, we should take cues from nature’s own adaptability and embrace more fluid, ever-changing strategies'. (D.S.)
Check the video realized by Studio van Steenis and explore the process behind the making of the work (below).
***
AMBER LANDSCAPES
Discarder telephone devices, isomalt, sugar, iron.
(2025)
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