CultureLab Newcastle

A Newcastle University artist is using pedal-power to help grow his own food and create a 'living' art installation.

Jamie Allen, an artist working at the University's Culture Lab, is heading to Japan to take part in SIGGRAPH Asia 2009, a festival designed to showcase the latest in tomorrow's technology.

His project, Human Potential (Movement) involves a bike generator powering a hydroponic plant system. All the energy needed to light and pump water for the plants is provided by the cyclist and the bike itself.  The aim is for the system to sustain the growth of Japanese spinach and soya bean plants, providing the artist with his evening meal for the duration of the festival.

“I'm interested in how we engage with complex systems, especially the ones we come into contact with on a daily basis but often without really thinking about them, like water, food and electricity,” he said. “The piece won't last very long, but that's kind of the point.  It's a little ridiculous, but then the way we talk about 'sustainability' today has also got that way.  It's a very popular word these days, but I'm not sure we really know what it means.”

'Sustainable art' such as this evolved partially from the environmental art of the 1970s, where artists such as Andy Goldsworthy created artwork that reflected and responded to its surroundings, often with a conservationist agenda.

“These days it should be about the natural environment and how we relate to it, and how we negotiate with nature, beyond simply conserving it,” said Jamie.  “I think there's too much emphasis on being 'at one' with nature and in 'harmony'.  It's a bit too idealistic, and hasn't served us well over the course of human history.

“In a sense, we should think of ourselves more like travellers in a strange land when it comes to our relationship to resources like trees and oil.  You learn the best kinds of lessons about yourself and your environment when you acknowledge, not gloss over, incompatibilities, friction and points of failure.  It seems to me we need to deeply rethink our relationship with the material world - what we are taking away and what we are giving back.”

Jamie's piece, Human Potential (Movement), is presented as part of the SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 Art Gallery in Yokohama, Japan.  He will also be giving an Artist Talk as part of the proceedings and taking part in the DIY Hardware: Reinventing Hardware for the Digital Do-It-Yourself Revolution section at the festival, which runs from 17-19 December 2009.  Jo Kazuhiro, also of Culture Lab at Newcastle University, will be collaborating with Jamie on this satellite event.

published on Newslink: 11th December 2009