A Twitch and a Tug


A photosynthetic installation.
Exhibited as a part of the group exhibition After the Sun - forecasts from the North at Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Buffalo NY, 2024. .

Situated in the main staircase of the museum, the visitor can see two solar panels in the windows that connect through long channels of cables and devices to two LED screens, hanging on the wall. The solar panels generate electricity for the installation and the amount of energy available determines how the installation behaves. Digitized walnuts and potatos can be seen rolling in and out of the screens as if rolling through the space itself, catching speed and brightness with increased sunlight. Only when enough sunlight is available another video sequence is unlocked and the walnut and potato sprout joyfully on the screens. Metal cast sculptures carry the electricity from the panels to the screens while real potatos and walnuts placed in the windows, sprout and grow slowly, equally dependent on the available day- and sunlight. The installation therefore grows and changes over the duration of its exhibition, interacting with the seasons and conditions of its surroundings.

Materials: 2x 500W solar panels, 80m of electrical wire, aluminium casts, batteries, charge controller, 2x transparent LED screens, video controller, 2-channel video, Mac Mini, potato sprouts, walnut sprouts, water, plastic bottles, metal shelve sculptures.

Curated by Helga Christoffersen.
Image curtesy Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Photo: Brenda Bieger.
3-D rendering by Ignas van Rijckevorsel.
Programming by Halldór Reynir Tryggvason.