Monday 28 June 2010

Death in the digital era

On the January 23, 2010 the body of the Chinese worker has been found laying on the ground. he worked 286 hours in the month before he died, including 112 hours of overtime. The factories in Shenzhen, with about 400,000 employees, make products for global companies like Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. For all of that, even with extra pay for overtime, he earned the equivalent of $1 an hour.
His name was Ma Xiangqian.

When I looked at his factory ID card for the first time it struck me how emotionless he seemed.
He's stripy shirt reminded me of two things:
The first one was the camps during II WW where people worked themselves to death. Perhaps because the most famous of these labour camps where in the country I am from and every time I see the picture of it I feel inside the terrible sadness.
The second thing was the product bar code. He's Foxconn ID number was F9310372. The same number that can be scanned and decoded with your very iPhone using a free code-39 scanner application.
Please try to remember his story when the next time you rush to the store to cherish yet another of these "wonderful, must have" products - it is just an object. After all it is because of our consumer society - me and you - someone paid the ultimate price.


Death in the digital era
Acrylics on canvas 
60" x 48"
2010 

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