Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled on this install. Learn more.
Final ProjectMain MenuHomescreenSettingsPhotosMapsBatterySpotifyNotesBeatrice Goyerff421ec25d840568ecaafd89e541d03e3d388a0b
Map
1media/Image 3-22-26 at 22.03_thumb.png2026-03-22T19:03:43-07:00Beatrice Goyerff421ec25d840568ecaafd89e541d03e3d388a0b483251plain2026-03-22T19:03:44-07:00Beatrice Goyerff421ec25d840568ecaafd89e541d03e3d388a0b
This page has annotations:
12026-03-22T15:11:49-07:00Beatrice Goyerff421ec25d840568ecaafd89e541d03e3d388a0bDemocratic Republic of the CongoBeatrice Goyer32plain2026-04-13T16:08:36-07:00Beatrice Goyerff421ec25d840568ecaafd89e541d03e3d388a0b
1media/Image 3-22-26 at 22.03.png2026-02-23T14:57:48-08:00Google Maps31plain2026-04-11T16:45:57-07:00
The smartphone is often understood as a compact, self-contained object, but its materials are sourced from geographically dispersed and politically unequal regions. Cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rare earth processing in China reveal that the phone depends on global supply chains structured by extraction, labor exploitation, and environmental degradation. These processes are not incidental to the phone’s production; they are foundational to it.
Situating these sites on a map makes visible what is typically obscured by a smooth interface. The phone does not originate in a single place, but is assembled through a network of locations where ecological damage and human labor are unevenly distributed. In this sense, the smartphone is embedded within the broader dynamics of the Anthropocene, where environmental transformation is tied to global systems of production and inequality.