BEYOND THE BLACK BOX: Darsha Hewitt on Media Archaeology and Technological Intimacy.

The article focuses on Darsha Hewitt's artistic practice, which repurposes obsolete consumer electronics to explore the material histories and social implications of domestic technology. Hewitt's work, including installations like *Electrostatic Bell Choir* and *High Fidelity Wasteland*, investigates how discarded audio devices such as CRT televisions, baby monitors, and loudspeakers carry embedded narratives about technological obsolescence, planned product failure, and cultural memory. Through media archaeology and hands-on engagement with vintage electronics, Hewitt reveals the intimate and political dimensions of everyday objects, highlighting shifts in repair culture, community connections, and the environmental impact of technological waste. Her projects also address the gendered and ideological aspects of consumer electronics, while fostering new sensory experiences that challenge conventional relationships with sound and technology.