Dismantling the deceptively pristine image of the high-tech industry »The Cleanroom Paradox« unveils the systemic suppression of information on occupational and toxic hazards at semiconductor production sites.
| location | Vienna |
| year | 2021 |
| filed as | essay-film, installation, research |
| project by | Felix Lenz, Angela Neubauer, Eszter Zwickl |
| initiated at | Design Investigations (ID2), University of Applied Arts Vienna |
| special thanks | SHARPS [activist group] |
| exhibitions | Digital Art Festival Zurich, Ars Electronica Festival 2021, Angewandte Festival 21, Paadmaan Video Event, Projection – Young Curators Club, Biennale Warszawa 2022 |
| awards | Honorary Mention – Prix Ars Electronica 2021, STARTS Prize 2021 Nomination |
| aquistions | Hans Peter Riegel, Digital Art Festival Zurich, 2021 |
| photography | Felix Lenz, Angela Neubauer |
Digital Art Festival Zurich 2021 – Kunstraum Walcheturm
Get in touch for a private screener!
Description
Jin is a former Samsung factory worker whose employer failed to acknowledge the lack of adequate precautionary health measures during work procedures. After her time in the industry, she is left alone to deal with the drastic consequences: a kidney cancer diagnosis.
The work comprises a gradually disintegrating, custom print of Jin and a video documenting the portrait’s creation. The video-essay is superimposed with her own as well as experts’ personal stories, shedding light on the industry’s latent practices.
Interweaving stories and fibres, the used ink is made of chemically dissolved smartphones. Analogous to the industry’s etching processes, the toxic agent will corrode the print over time, skinning a surface in which’s lower layers Jin’s story is already inscribed.
But this is not only a bodily exposure; the toxicity hidden behind the many steps in semiconductor manufacturing and the extent and effect of the labour necessary to shape high-tech products shifts focus towards the main actors, towards the middle-west, demanding responsibilities.
Fates like Jin’s are not isolated cases and can be traced across the industry in the Eastern as well as Western Hemisphere.
Stillframes
»The Cleanroom Paradox«, 2021
11:03 min, HD, stereo
Cyberarts Exhibition at Ars Electronica Festival 2021
»The Cleanroom Paradox« won an Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica 2021 and was nominated for the STARTS Prize 2021. The work was thus prominently featured in the Cyberarts exhibition along with the other winners.
During the festival we have also been invited to participate in a panel discussion themed »Artistic Journalism«.
Paadmaan Video Event
The work was also invited to be shown at »Paadmaan«, an independet platform for contemporary art in Tehran, Iran.
Credits
PROJECT BY:
Felix Lenz
Angela Neubauer
Eszter Zwickl
PRODUCED AT & SUPPORTED BY:
Design Investigations (ID2)
University of Applied Arts Vienna
VIDEO-DIRECTOR, CINEMATOGRAPHER, EDITOR:
Felix Lenz
VIDEO CO-DIRECTORS & STORY EDITORS:
Angela Neubauer
Eszter Zwickl
SOUND DESIGN & MIX:
Lisa-Maria Hollaus
VOICE EDITORS:
Ganael Dumreicher
Lorenz Embacher
INTERVIEWEES:
Jin [name altered]
Seong-Ho Jeon
Seung-Gyu Jo
Dr. Richard Clapp
INTERPRETER:
Semi Kwon
SCREEN PRINTING SPECIALIST:
Ute Huber Leierer
SPECIAL THANKS:
SHARPS [activist group]