How e-waste art is giving strength to a new creative movement in Hyderabad

A ‘deer’ in Banjara Hills was built out of the electronic waste abandoned in the constituent signature towers. Kama sculptor Ranganadh Commor

A 14×22-foot green ‘tree’-white, pink and yellow flowers raises one of the walls at Hatek City in Hasila-Hyderabad. At first glance, it looks like a lively wall. But closely see: This 600 kg tree of tech is made from metal plates from fully abandoned electronics – motherboard, circuit boards, keyboard wires, switch, mouse cables and old desktops. Its symmetry and depth are alive through the painted MDF cut-out of leaves, flowers and branches, giving the piece a striking, sculptural effect.

Ranganadh Commerce | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Artist and sculpture Ranganadh Commerce is called, “E-waste recycling in art is a small step,” the three also prepared a life-shaped deer from e-waste in the group’s Sattva signature towers in Banjara Hills. “In JNAFAU, our professors continuously encouraged us to locate scrap as a medium,” Ranganad recalled, saying, referring to his interest in recycling in 2010 dates.

Tree of tech, made of electronics made from. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Beyond the World Environment Day on 5 June, such work is attracting attention to the role of the role artists in re-preparing e-waste. For Chetan Sai Singh, working with an art student, scrap was a creative turn. Her recent 3×2-foot furnace of Padmapani uses the garaboard, wires and vintage television parts drawn from the caves. “I first sketched the figure on plywood, then lay down and cut the electronic parts to fit the form,” they explain.

Padmapani, motherboard, wires and vintage out of television parts. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

But changing tech waste into visual story comes with challenges – from sourcing components to making them hypnotized. Rangnad of Tree Murali says, “The concept was ‘development’. “We sourced components from Secunderabad and Mumbai, and used Photoshop to prototype the design. But just the e-waste felt very flat. So we introduced the carved MDF for 3D effects.” The structure created by its 25 mm plywood base was eventually divided into four parts for transportation. “It is difficult to cut the motherboard, they chip easily, and some sharks are faster enough to injure.”

Leading stability

Vishwanath Mallabadi Davangare ‘disconnect to re -connect e waste installation’. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

While artists from across India are experimenting with e-waste, one of its early adoptions is Vishwanath Mallabadi Dawangare in Bengaluru. For more than 30 years, 64 -year -old birds, animals and resistors, capacitors, coils and keyboard are designed abstract figures. “I was always fascinated by lying inside a gadget,” he says. As soon as his studio was filled, he started selling pieces to make a place. In 2019, a stability conference in Hyderabad was a twist. “This gave me a platform to show this niche form of art,” he remembers. He now operates online workshops, introduces others to through.

Nevertheless, Vishwanath is practical. “Creative expression is important, but art alone cannot solve the e-waste crisis,” they say. “Recyclars face many challenges – extracting gold from circuit boards is chemically complicated and economically unattainable.”

A close-up of ‘deer’ was made out of electronic waste abandoned in the power signature towers in Banjara Hills. Kama sculptor Ranganadh Commor

The United Nations Global E-West Monitor is a great picture in 2024. Electronic waste is growing five times faster than formally recycled. As mentioned in Hindu, India’s e-waste has increased by more than 150% in six years-2017-18 from 7,08,445 MT to 2023-24 from 17,78,400 MT. This is an annual growth of about 1.7 lakh tonnes.

Given the magnitude of the crisis, e-waste art can only scratch the surface. But it provides an equally important objective – raising awareness, motivating dialogue, and inspiring creative solutions. Because sometimes, the best way to face an emerging environmental challenge is to stop and see people.