Concealed within their familiar glossy casings is an intricate network of precious metals, rare earth elements, minerals, finite resources, arsenic and mercury. The most positive interpretations of contemporary technological forms imbue them with embryonic potential capable of giving life to new ways of thinking, creating new forms of knowledge, expanding human capabilities and leading us into the future.

These impenetrable shells shield silent signals that flow between up to 75 of the 83 stable elements of the periodic table. A meeting place for micro-electronic components of a global identity yet condensed and miniaturised to fit neatly within the palm of a hand. After being in the consumer’s possession for two years on average, the mobile device is set sail on a new journey. Unwanted and discarded, these handheld icons of modernisation culminate in 352,474 metric tonnes of hazardous waste: the UK is the biggest exporter of illegal e-waste in Europe.

Examining the flows of these exports speaks volumes about the systemic imperialism of this industry: from west to east, and north to south, with Ghana, Nigeria and Pakistan receiving the bulk of this.

Free-range chickens forage amongst the debris at e-waste dumping site, Agbogbloshie (Ghana). A single egg produced by these chickens contains 220 times the safe limit of chlorinated dioxins (as defined by European Food Safety Authority guidelines).

These small ‘houses without doors’ have been broken into by a cabal of consumers eager for the next model of smartphone, tech manufacturers designing with planned obsolescence, and unethical disposal companies shipping illegal hazardous waste under the pre-text of recycling.

A fusing of animal and electronic technology, the egg and the e-, these land-based wanderers become cyborgs.