Material Thinking:
lectrical Wire
Harvesting and reusing old/ broken wiring
This experiment focused on determining whether old wires could be reused and, more importantly, how easy the process would be. Through disassembly, I successfully extracted various wires, though the process proved tedious. A surprising discovery was the presence of dye inside some wires, likely to deter disassembly, which stained my hands blue.
To gather materials, I explored the interaction station and the trash bunker, where I found broken electronics and discarded wires. I carefully disassembled these electronics to extract the internal wiring using wire cutters, a box cutter, pliers, and a screwdriver. Some wires were easier to retrieve than others, with certain casings being more stubborn. During the process, I encountered dyed wires that left a blue stain on my hands, which led me to speculate about their intended purpose.
While reusing wires is an environmentally beneficial practice, the effort required to extract them makes it a labor-intensive process. The discovery of dyed wires raised new questions—do all electronic wires have this dye, and could it be toxic? Further exploration is needed to understand the properties of different wires and their potential for reuse.