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Culture & Arts14 Oct 2026 · about 6 min

64-YO Artist Turns 2000 Kg of E-Waste Into Birds, Jewellery & Robots Sold Worldwide by

The brief

Vishwanath Mallabadi Davangere gives discarded electronic parts a second life as art. Instead of seeing broken gadgets as useless waste, he studies their colours, textures and shapes. He then imagines how they might become sculptures, murals, jewellery or other creations. His artworks include birds, flowers, robots and wall art. One six-foot sculpture uses discarded computer keyboard keys. Another work recreates a landscape inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, using electronic resistors fixed to wood. He also began by making small animals from gadget scrap. This approach matters because it turns unwanted electronics into objects with creative and practical value. Vishwanath has created more than 1,000 artworks and upcycled two tonnes of e-waste. His work shows that discarded components can become distinctive art rather than simply being thrown away.

01

What has Vishwanath Mallabadi Davangere made from discarded electronic parts?

Vishwanath Mallabadi Davangere gives discarded electronic parts a second life as art. Instead of seeing broken gadgets as useless waste, he studies their colours, textures and shapes. He then imagines how they might become sculptures, murals, jewellery or other creations.

His artworks include birds, flowers, robots and wall art. One six-foot sculpture uses discarded computer keyboard keys. Another work recreates a landscape inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, using electronic resistors fixed to wood. He also began by making small animals from gadget scrap.

This approach matters because it turns unwanted electronics into objects with creative and practical value. Vishwanath has created more than 1,000 artworks and upcycled two tonnes of e-waste. His work shows that discarded components can become distinctive art rather than simply being thrown away.

02

What is e-waste, and what does it mean to upcycle it?

E-waste generally means unwanted or discarded electrical and electronic equipment and its parts. In this story, it includes old computer components, keyboard keys, electronic resistors and scrap from gadgets. These items may no longer work as intended, but their materials can still have useful shapes, colours and textures.

Upcycling means transforming a discarded item into a new product with creative or practical value. Vishwanath studies individual components and decides what they could become. He has made sculptures, jewellery, murals, birds, flowers and robots from electronic scrap. His work gives the parts a new purpose without simply treating them as raw waste.

This matters because upcycling can keep discarded materials in use for longer. Vishwanath has already upcycled two tonnes of e-waste and created more than 1,000 artworks. His example shows one imaginative way to respond to growing piles of unwanted electronics.

03

How much e-waste has Vishwanath upcycled, and how many artworks has he created?

Vishwanath’s work has reached a striking scale: he has upcycled two tonnes of electronic waste. He has also created more than 1,000 artworks from discarded electronic materials. These figures show that his practice grew far beyond a small weekend experiment.

His collection includes sculptures, murals, wall art, jewellery, birds, flowers and robots. Notable pieces include a six-foot sculpture made from computer keyboard keys and a landscape inspired by The Starry Night, assembled from electronic resistors on wood. Each work begins with components others might throw away.

The scale reflects a long creative journey. Vishwanath experimented with e-waste while working as a senior executive at Wipro, then made it a business after retiring. His artworks have found buyers in Europe, the Netherlands, the United States and Delhi, showing that reused electronics can attract interest far beyond his studio.

04

How does he transform components such as keyboard keys, resistors, and circuit parts into sculptures, jewellery, and robots?

Vishwanath transforms electronic scrap by looking closely at each component before deciding what it could become. He pays attention to colours, textures and shapes. This turns the process into both design and reuse. The discarded part is not merely broken material; it becomes a starting point for an artwork.

For example, he assembled a six-foot sculpture from computer keyboard keys. He also created a landscape inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, using electronic resistors on wood. Other pieces include jewellery, birds, flowers and robots made from various gadget components. His earliest experiments involved small animals.

The time required depends on the work. A jewellery piece may take only two to three minutes, while a sculpture may take weeks or months. Vishwanath’s method combines careful observation, imagination and assembly. It gives electronic parts a second life as objects people can display, wear or buy.

05

What happens to discarded electronics when they are reused as art instead of being thrown away?

When discarded electronics are reused as art, their journey does not end in a rubbish pile. Components that might have been thrown away are selected, arranged and assembled into new objects. Vishwanath sees potential in their colours, textures and shapes, turning them into artworks with a second purpose.

The results include murals, sculptures, jewellery, birds, flowers and robots. A keyboard-key sculpture stands six feet tall, while electronic resistors form a landscape inspired by The Starry Night. Small gadget parts that once seemed useless can therefore become objects for display, sale or personal use.

This reuse also creates an alternative livelihood and creative business for Vishwanath after his retirement from Wipro. His work has produced more than 1,000 artworks and reused two tonnes of e-waste. Buyers in several regions show that discarded electronics can gain fresh value when imagination and careful assembly replace disposal.

06

How is making art from e-waste different from recycling electronics for their metals and other raw materials?

Making art from e-waste and recycling electronics are different kinds of reuse. Upcycling keeps selected components recognisable and combines them into a new, higher-value object. Conventional recycling usually processes discarded devices to recover useful raw materials, such as metals, rather than preserving their original shapes or appearances.

Vishwanath studies parts before assembling them. Keyboard keys become a six-foot sculpture, while resistors arranged on wood create a landscape inspired by The Starry Night. His jewellery, birds and robots also depend on the individual component’s colour, texture or form. The part remains central to the finished artwork.

Both approaches can give discarded electronics a new use, but they produce different results. Recycling focuses on material recovery through processing. Upcycling focuses on creative transformation with minimal change to the component’s identity. Vishwanath’s work demonstrates how artistic reuse can turn electronic scrap into objects people value, display and buy.

07

Why can e-waste harm people and the environment, and why is responsible collection and processing important?

E-waste can harm people and the environment when discarded electronics are broken apart, burned or dumped without proper controls. Electronic equipment may contain hazardous substances, and unsafe handling can expose workers, communities and ecosystems to pollution. Responsible collection keeps these items out of ordinary waste streams and directs them to safer processing.

The article notes that Vishwanath learned about the environmental implications of e-waste and then began creating murals and sculptures from it. His work does not replace safe recycling for every device, but it shows that some components can be reused creatively. He examines parts before assembling them into artworks.

Responsible systems matter because they separate creative reuse from materials that need specialist treatment. They can reduce careless disposal, protect people involved in handling waste and recover valuable materials. Vishwanath’s two-tonne effort shows how reuse can be part of a broader, more careful response to the growing problem of discarded electronics.

This brief was written by AI from the original reporting and checked by other models. Names, figures and quotes come from the source; read it for full context.

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