Over 60 million tonnes of electronic waste is produced every year, posing a growing environmental and health threat. Taipei-based artist KJohn is repurposing discarded e-waste materials to create distinctive works of art as well as start a conversation.
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00:00Taiwanese artist Keijon is reimagining what it means to upcycle.
00:07He's known for his creative sculptures, crafted from old electronics that have been cast aside.
00:13At first, I was only interested in this.
00:16I didn't think about going in this direction.
00:18I just thought that it would be fun to create things that I didn't want.
00:21From then on, I kept doing it.
00:25The more I did it, the more fun it was.
00:27A former graphic designer, Keijon has been making his artworks for nearly a decade,
00:33prompted by what he calls his childlike imaginings
00:36and a strong sense of environmental responsibility.
00:39Not wanting to contribute to the growing global problem of e-waste,
00:43he re-envisions components from broken electronics, reassembling them into art.
00:49Keijon's workshop and his sculptures of spaceships, robots, and even King Kong
00:56are located in Taipei's iconic Treasure Hill neighborhood.
01:00This area was once an illegal hillside settlement founded by military veterans in the 1940s.
01:06It was revitalized in 2010 by the city government working with NGOs.
01:11This initiative was criticized for having displaced many of their original tenants
01:15while simultaneously praised for fostering a new environmentally conscious artist community,
01:21which includes Keijon.
01:23Aside from keeping waste to a minimum,
01:26Keijon says his art is also motivated by the need for sustainability.
01:31In 2022, over 60 million tons of electronic waste was produced globally,
01:38of which less than a quarter was recycled.
01:41It's one of the world's fastest surging solid waste streams.
01:45The WHO says the toxins in unrecycled e-waste could pose adverse environmental and health effects,
01:52especially for children and pregnant women,
01:55a concern that Keijon hopes to help address.
02:00There will be more and more waste.
02:02But we can't get rid of the waste.
02:05It's impossible.
02:06We can only reduce the amount of waste,
02:08and try to make our lives greener.
02:11We can only use what we have,
02:13and make it a part of our lives.
02:15Though the world's waste problem doesn't seem easily surmountable,
02:19Keijon says he wants his art to inspire creativity
02:22and meaningful conversations among his community
02:25and those who visit Treasure Hill.
02:28And he doesn't intend to slow down,
02:30aiming to keep finding innovative ways
02:32to repurpose one man's heap of trash
02:35into another man's hill of treasure.
02:38Fu Huahong and Wesley Lewis for Taiwan Plus.