THE POWER & ILLUMINATION PROJECT

and SWOP NETWORK

 

Annika Lundgren, Andrea Creuz, Lise Skou

Opening: July 31. from 7 to 11 pm

August 4. - 28. 2004

 

THE POWER & ILLUMINATION PROJECT and SWOP NETWORK are both interdisciplinary projects, investigating ideas of economics, politics, and environmental research. Visitors are encouraged to participate in the respective processes in different ways.

 

THE POWER & ILLUMINATION PROJECT - a project by Annika Lundgren

THE POWER & ILLUMINATION PROJECT, PRESENTATION 1 - BERLIN is the first presentation of a project under development. The project aims to take advantage of the kinetic energy being generated at fitness-centers, converting it into electrical energy.

THE POWER & ILLUMINATION PROJECT does not operate with an economy based on financial profit, but with a target oriented gathering and distribution of resources that would otherwise have gone to waste. An important aspect of the project is the relationship between the power-source and power consumption. The current extracted from the fitness-centers will be used for lighting up different elements in a street-level campaign, designed to increase social and political awareness. From this perspective, THE POWER & ILLUMINATION PROJECT can be viewed as a way of converting physical power into the "power of knowledge".

The model presented in Berlin has been adapted to the state of California, as circumstances there provide an optimal basis for putting theory into practice. The fundamental idea, however, is applicable on most industrialized societies today, large or small. Consequently, California could just as well be replaced with Sweden, Shanghai, Great Britain, or Australia. Or Berlin.

Sparwasser HQ got a tip from a radiostation in New York: listen to Sweatshop Gym

 

SWOP NETWORK presents
THE SOUND ARCHIVE and THE HIDDEN FLOW, SHOP

SWOP NETWORK - initiated by Andrea Creutz and Lise Skou
is a platform for the production and dissemination of material and ideas surrounding contemporary political, economic and social debate. The project investigates the potential for local economic systems to impact global economy, and advocates for the egalitarian distribution of resources
.

THE SOUND ARCHIVE
The interviews in the sound archive were conducted with people involved in local alternatives to the dominant monetary economy. The project is structured as a relay. It began with two interviews. At the end of each interview, the interviewee is asked to introduce two new persons to be interviewed next. In addition, they are asked to exchange two of the ten initial questions. The structure itself aims to illustrate resistance to profitable systems, in the sense that it supports network building, is anti-hierarchical, equally distributed, and without copyright.
Extracts of the interviews can be found at www.swopnetwork.dk

THE HIDDEN FLOW SHOP
The project is based on the implications of the term "ecological backpack," coined by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. The "ecological backpack," also called hidden flow, signifies the raw material, fuel, and transport services used to produce the material/product, but that are not found in the final product.

At Sparwasser HQ, Creutz and Skou arrange a THE HIDDEN FLOW SHOP, constructed from crates used to transport of commodities around the world.

Visitors are requested to bring commodities to the shop to be exchanged for Hidden Flow Currency that is viable in the shop. This currency, introduced by the artists, is based on the notion of the "ecological backpack." E.g. if you hand in a T-shirt you will receive a 225 Hidden Flow bill equivalent to the total amount of raw material, water, and air that went through the system when the cotton T-shirt was produced.

The name of the currency emphasizes the irony of the term "hidden flow," as the process is not perceived as hidden by the people living in the areas from which most of the materials are extracted.

Sources of information: Jakob Jespersen, NOAH; Wuppertal Institute.