Electric Ghosts: Memory, Obsolescence, and Reused Screens

Electric Ghosts is an interactive installation built from a stripped CRT television, a UV light source, and a domestic lamp, connected through a shared electrical circuit. The work reverses the expected logic of control: switching on the lamp activates the light inside the television, while switching on the television activates the lamp. Each device becomes dependent on the other to function. The television’s interior has been opened and reconstructed as a miniature world using neon paint, found objects, and reused materials. When activated, the UV light inside the TV reveals this hidden landscape, glowing through the screen as an afterimage rather than a broadcast. During the process, the television’s original power switch stopped functioning. Instead of repairing it, the malfunction was preserved as part of the work. The broken switch emphasizes the project’s engagement with obsolescence, failure, and the limits of technological control. The installation no longer behaves as designed, but as it has become. Electric Ghosts explores how obsolete hardware can be repurposed through open experimentation rather than optimization. By exposing wiring, dependency, and breakdown, the project treats electronic waste as a site of inquiry and care. The installation invites viewers to reflect on how everyday technologies age, fail, and continue to shape meaning even after their intended function has ended.