Motherboards (2025) is an installation derived from Selma Selman’s live performance centred around the artist, alongside her family members, destroying and disassembling electronic waste such as computer motherboards, wires and CPUs, with the intention of extracting 18-carat gold from the discarded materials. Marking the opening of the 18th Istanbul Biennial’s public programme, the performative act underscores this often invisible form of economic subsistence pursued by Selman’s family members, who earn a living by recycling discarded electronics.
Gold, in this work, functions not only as a measure of value, but also as a conduit of destruction and desire. The metal recovered as a result of the communal performance, cast as a sculptural object in the form of a golden spoon, is presented in the exhibition space in stark contrast to the smashed remnants of over 100 dismantled computers and discarded material components surrounding it.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Selma Selman (b. 1991, Bihać) is a visual and performance artist of Romani origin from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through her work, she aims to protect and empower oppressed women by fostering collective self-emancipation. Her approach to contemporary political resistance is rooted in her personal experiences of various forms of oppression. Selman is also the founder of ‘Get the Heck to School’, an organisation that empowers Roma girls worldwide who face societal ostracism and poverty. Her solo exhibitions include Sleeping Guards, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2025); Flowers of Life, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2024); Crossing the Blue Bridge, Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg (2024); her0, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2023). Her work was also included in documenta fifteen, Kassel (2022); Manifesta 14, Priština (2022).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Selma Selman (b. 1991)
Motherboards (A Golden Spoon), 2025
Silver spoon gilded with gold extracted from motherboards
14 × 3 × 1.5 cm
Courtesy of the artist and ChertLüdde
Selma Selman (b. 1991)
Motherboards, 2025
Deconstructed computer cases
Variable dimensions
Courtesy of the artist and ChertLüdde
