Renewable energy sculpture

A renewable energy sculpture is a sculpture that produces power from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal.

Such a sculpture is functionally both a renewable energy generator and an artwork, fulfilling utilitarian, aesthetic, and cultural functions. The idea of renewable energy sculptures has been pioneered by ecofuturist visionaries such as artists Sarah Hall, Julian H. Scaff, Patrick Marold [1], architects Lauri Chetwood and Nicholas Grimshaw, and University of Illinois professor Bil Becket. Echoing the philosophy of the environmental art movement as a whole, artists creating renewable energy sculpture believe that the aesthetics of the artworks are inextricably linked to their ecological function.^{[citation needed]}

Artists

Artist Sarah Hall is a glass artist who has recently been embedding solar photovoltaics in her artworks. The solar cells are an integrated part of the artworks, and the energy generated by them can be used for lighting or other purposes. Hall believes that "Incorporating colour, light and art with solar energy inspires us to think about our future in a new context."

Artist and filmmaker Julian H. Scaff has been working for several years with creating wind turbines that are also public artworks. In 2006 he proposed turning a planned wind farm in Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts into an enormous public artwork by dazzle painting the wind turbines and transforming the visual quality of both the machines and the landscape. His Venturi Towers designed for the island of Crete incorporate the scientific principle of the Venturi effect into sculpted towers. Scaff says that "We should think more freely about the aesthetics of wind turbines." Scaff's proposed Carbon Sink Sculptures are public artworks that utilize solar energy for carbon capture and storage.

Patrick Marold's [2] in Vail, Colorado developed out of the artist's desire to create a visual map of the wind as well as to harness its behavior. On the slopes of the Rocky Mountains he installed hundreds of small windmills, each with a light whose intensity matches the intensity of the wind. Marold explains:

"This sculpture momentarily embraces the wind allowing for a more attainable vision of this natural element, systematically creating a slight delay in the viewers’ sense of time. Some people have compared the visual representation to that of a flock of birds collectively swarming in the sky, or the uniquely animate northern lights. The impressive living body of light provokes a deeper perspective of the wind as it passes by."

Artist Christine Corday's international project "Instrument for the Ocean to Play" utilizes tidal energy to produce a new sound through a temporary installed nautical work of monumental sculpture. The sculpture's intent is to inspire the imagination of a yet undiscovered sound, however its technology brings attention to a renewable energy.

Further examples of this approach to renewable energy is British artist and inventor Dan Hughes McGrail, [3] who has taken an aesthetic sculptural approach to solar thermal technology. His background includes sculpture, heritage and eco building. He is a practitioner of Ecodesign. He believes, with the power of computerized design tools and the research resources now freely available, that aesthetics in design should be seen not as luxurious but as a normal priority: "There is no excuse to not make it beautiful", and "Form needn't follow function anymore. We have the power to model, visualize and consider them one and the same."^{[citation needed]}

On a larger scale, potentially able to power entire cities, the Land Art Generator Initiative, a collaboration between artist Elizabeth Monoian and architect Robert Ferry and a project of Society for Cultural Exchange, merges renewable energy sculpture with public art. The project's first international design competition in 2010 invited interdisciplinary teams of artists, architects, scientists, landscape architects, and engineers to design large scale renewable energy sculptures for sites in the United Arab Emirates. The second Land Art Generator Initiative competition is being held for Freshkills Park (the former Fresh Kills Landfill) in New York City. Jurors for the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative include professionals such as Bjarke Ingels (BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group) and Dr. Henry Kelly (Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy).

Architects

Architect Laurie Chetwood created a 10.5 meter tall (35 foot) tree-like structure on Clerkenwell Green in London that is called the London Oasis. Also deemed a kinetic sculpture, it is powered by solar cells, a hydrogen fuel cell, and wind energy. Interacting with the environment around it, the London Oasis provides shade, light, and energy. In addition, it offers what Chetwood calls "People Pods" which people can pull down over the heads. The pods block out noise, provide clean filtered air, and play music and birdsongs.

Architect Nicholas Grimshaw, designer of the Eden Project, has designed an enormous sea-based wind turbine sculpture called the Grimshaw Aerogenerator. The double-masted structure rotates very slowly compared to typical wind turbines, only three times per minute, yet generates up to nine megawatts of power.

See also

• Sustainable art
• Environmental art

Further reading

• The Art Gallery of Renewable Energy, http://www.lope.ca/artrenewable/index.html
• Kastner, Jeffrey, Land and Environmental Art, Phaidon, copyright 2005
• Grande, John K., Balance: Art and Nature, Black Rose Books, NY, copyright 1994
• Grande, John K., Art Nature Dialogues: Interviews with Environmental Artists, State University of New York Press, copyright 2004
• Strewlow, Heike, Ecological Aesthetics: Art in Environmental Design: Theory and Practice, Birhäuser Basel, copyright 2004