Critical Mineral Practices: Conversation with Jussi Parikka

​Critical Minerals are the raw materials of digital technologies and electrified infrastructures. They are now considered vital resources to sustain national economies and maintain national security, but global supply chains are geopolitically monopolised and enmeshed in both regional conflicts and unethical labour practices. With our contemporary societies so entwined with these minerals and rare earth elements, we are bringing together a group of people whose creative practices engage with or offer directions through which to explore such entanglements.

​Winchester’s identity as a centre for research around media materiality begins from the work of Professor Jussi Parikka, much of whose work on media archaeology, in particular his book Geology of Media (2015), was written here. Over ten years later, the legacy of this work has been to create a unique concentration of media geological research and practice in the department of Art and Media Technology. In this conversation we will discuss the relationship between Jussi’s work on media materiality and artistic practice, and the legacy of this important book, including his current focus on environmental media.